FFE now available at the closest dealer to the plant.

[ben450]

Today I test drove the 2013 FFE at Jack Demmer Ford - the dealership across the street from the Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP) in Wayne Michigan(the only plant that builds the FFE). The salesman Bob Pugh was waiting with the key to the demo when my wife and I arrived. They just got the demo yesterday, and I was promptly notified of it's availability via voice-mail by Elizabeth Duperon - yesterday, so it still bore the chalk marks and stickers it left the plant with. The demo we drove was tuxedo black metallic (interestingly, the only color I definitely don't want). I don't know what I was expecting, but it drove exactly like a regular ICE powered car. Construction on nearby I-275 prevented us from testing at highway speeds, but I was impressed with the ride and handling on our little 3 mile circle around the dealership. Bob told me delivery of a car I ordered this week would take about 4 weeks maybe a little longer due to variables in Ford's manufacturing schedule. I'm ready to order but there's an issue that relates to our ability to realize the complete $7500 federal tax savings. We have a large loss to show on 2012 taxes related to a real estate transaction and don't expect our tax liability to exceed $7500. This tax incentive seems to be a 'use it or lose it' deal - only to be applied in the taxable year in which the vehicle was 'placed into service'. We may be forced to hold off ordering until December to take delivery in January in order to realize the savings.

 

[Econenviro]

I would recommend going with a lease. Zero down and 389 per month, or 2190 down and 328 a month with a 45% (18000) residual gives a total cost of 32000. That is what you would pay if you bought it and got the federal tax credit. If you have state credits, you get them when you buy out the lease at the end of the term. If after three years there is a better option, you an always walk away from the lease.

 

[ben450]

I would recommend going with a lease. Zero down and 389 per month, or 2190 down and 328 a month with a 45% (18000) residual gives a total cost of 32000. That is what you would pay if you bought it and got the federal tax credit. If you have state credits, you get them when you buy out the lease at the end of the term. If after three years there is a better option, you an always walk away from the lease.

Thanks for the info Econenviro. I ordered my new FFE a few days ago and will be leasing it after coming to the same conclusion you suggested (although I didn't see your post till just today.... really). Although lease deals vary by region and dealer, the lease deal I got was similar to your example. It makes sense that three years from now the technology and battery efficiency may have advanced far enough to rob this vehicle of enough of the calculated 'residual value' to make me glad I leased instead of bought. To the best of my knowledge, Michigan is not offering any tax credits or incentives for purchasing or leasing electric vehicles.

 

[ben450]

Just thought I'd update my earlier post. We're going on 9 weeks from my order date and according to the dealer, the car has yet to be scheduled to be built by Ford. My salesman thought it would take 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. I'm also going to renegotiate my lease deal in light of Ford's recent announcement making leases on the FFE more competitive with the other electric and hybrid choices available. I think it's odd that Ford announces these lease and sales incentive programs in order to spur sales and yet I'm sitting on a 9 week old order that isn't even scheduled to be built yet. The good from it is that their delay in building my car has allowed me to benefit from the lowered lease payment deal. I'm trying to be patient.

 

[user 3729]

I read somewhere that Ford already built 1,600 units and has only managed to sell 600. It may be a long time before they build more. Can your dealer get you one from another dealer's inventory?

 

[jmueller065]

ben450: Any news on your car?

I just placed an order for a FFE from the same dealership--they quoted me a timeframe of 8-12 weeks.

 

[ben450]

ben450: Any news on your car?

I just placed an order for a FFE from the same dealership--they quoted me a timeframe of 8-12 weeks.

Still no word on a scheduled date of production for the car. I'm thinking that the sales staff was seeing orders for ICE versions of the car taking 4-6 weeks and told me that's how long it would take. From reading posts in other forums around the web, I've come to the conclusion that actual delivery will likely be closer to 12 weeks which is still a couple weeks away. Any longer than that would signal to me (and perhaps others in the know) that Ford is experiencing some level of dysfunction on the manufacturing side of things. ...Or there's suddenly a huge demand for FFE's - which everyone here knows is simply not the case.

I do think it's quite possible Ford is building the FFE's in runs of 50-100 units - as the orders trickle in - which helps ensure more focused quality control for what, lets face it, is still sort of a 'boutique' vehicle for them as far as sales numbers go. Where my order fits into that queue will ultimately determine when the car is delivered.

That said, I'm still hoping to hear by the middle of this week that my car is scheduled for production.

 

[jmueller065]

Interesting: If they do batch them up mine may not take as long as yours--it may even be built around the same time..

(Two weeks in now with no news.)

 

[ben450]

Update: The salesman just emailed me that Ford has scheduled my car for production the 1st week in March! YEA!

 

[ben450]

I Picked up my FFE today..finally - Blue candy with leather. This car is GREAT! The heater slurps range from the battery, leading me to turn it completely off on the 20 mile ride home and rely more on the heated seat for warmth on this 35 degree day. The dealer did charge the battery but we burned several miles worth of range - parked - while he familiarized me with the Sync system and the other controls (the heater was on the whole time). I still haven't been able to get the MP3s on my phone to play through the sound system, the phone is connected to the sync system via bluetooth and it functions as intended, but I guess I need to play around with it a bit more to get my music to play.
A total of 14 weeks elapsed between the day I ordered the car and when it was delivered today. I think this wait was a bit excessive but I'm pleased with it (so far). I ended up signing a zero down 36 month lease. I ordered the Leviton EVB32-5ML charger for my garage (I installed the circuit for it two months ago) and have it charging right now with the 120 volt cord that came with it. I'll use that for a couple days till the level 2 charger shows up. It's slow but it'll get there.

 

[v_traveller]

Woohoo!

Neat color - I have yet to see one in person in these parts. All I've seen here is one other platinum white and two oxford white.

Congrats Ben!

 

[jmueller065]

Press the sync button and say: "Bluetooth audio" when prompted, if prompted for a 2nd command say: "Play". That should start playing audio via bluetooth from your phone (at least that works for me on my ICE Focus with MyFordTouch).

14 weeks wow! I'm into my 5th week now...

 

[ben450]

Tried it.. It worked... thanks jmueller065. This is a great car, it'll be worth the wait.

 

[Steve]

Congratulations on getting your car! I am glad we have another one on the roads here in Michigan. I am really enjoying my vehicle as well. I am really looking forward to the weather warming up here so I can see how the range improves. Also, at the moment I am obsessed with seeing how few kilowatts I use driving around, so I have been keeping the climate control turned off. It has made for some chilly drives.

 

[jmueller065]

Finally have progress here: 11 weeks after placing my order I have a VIN assigned. Getting closer--somewhat slowly.. lol

 

[francishsu]

I got my FFE (silver with leather) in Grand Rapids, MI a few days ago. As far as I know only one dealer in west Michigan had one and the salesperson didn't even know how they ended up obtaining it from a dealer in Illinois. So it looks like there are 4 Michigan owners just in this thread alone!

Also just ordered a L2 charger (Leviton EVB40-5PT) from Home Depot's web site and going to take advantage Consumers Energy's $2500 rebate covering the L2 charger and installation.

 

[jmueller065]

Well technically I'm not a Michigan owner yet--it won't be built until May 20th.

 

[francishsu]

Well you will be one of a handful, from what I can tell.. When I joined MyFord Mobile a few days ago, I looked at the local rankings within our 5 state region (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) and I started out ranked 24th in almost all the categories out of what was most likely 24 owners registered in our region. I'm not sure if there are many FFE owners who would not join MyFord Mobile.. I would think that most would join. Although if there are just over 1000 FFEs sold to date, I would think there would be at least 50 owners in those 5 states.

 

[jmueller065]

Just spoke with the dealer: My build date has been moved to "Week of 5/13" now. Great its been moved up a week!

 

[jmueller065]

Finally.... its here