New FFE owner

Iamsteev · Nov 21, 2019

Hi everyone,
I just purchased a 2014 FFE with 18k miles in it.
I have a 40 mile commute to work and there is an electrify America charge station next door. Can I get any suggestions as to range expectations and how long it would need to be on the charger at work? The price to charge almost seemed not worth the switch from my gas focus.
Also should I be worried about battery degradation? since it seemed like it has very low miles, and not sure if that’s normal.
And lastly can anyone recommend which charging service would be best? Ie between electrify American and charge point and any others that I’m unaware of?

triangles · Nov 21, 2019

Is that 40 miles round trip? If you live where it gets cold and snows in the winter your range may drop to not much more than 40 miles. Most people only charge at home or on a free charger at work. Many charge networks charge the equivalent to $16/gallon of gasoline, so yea totally not worth using except in emergencies. Use an app such as plugshare to find charging stations.

I also have a 2014 which I bough new. Short range EVs will have fewer miles as you can only drive a short distance before having to charge. I just got to 27k miles. BTW the charge time from flat to full is about 3.5 hours at 6.6kWh.

Try to avoid completely depleting your battery to minimize battery degradation. The FFE has a battery TMS that heats the battery when the battery temp is below 50F and cools it above 95F (going from memory so I might be slightly off on the temp range). If it gets below freezing where you live keep the FFE plugged in when not in use to keep the battery warm when practical. As far as charging services go I don't think I've ever used a pay charge station. I use plugshare to find free ones.

kalel14 · Nov 21, 2019

If you have a 40 mile commute one way, you don't need to fully charge if the cost per KW is too high. Adding 20 miles worth would be more than enough to get you back home to do the full charge there. And while in some instances, the cost comparison with the gas Focus might not be superior, the driving experience certainly is. The FFE is like driving a completely different, quieter, more powerful car.

Iamsteev · Nov 21, 2019

Thanks for the response guys.
Unfortunately it’s a 40mile one way commute. 80miles round trip, and I live in north west pa near Erie so temps do get pretty cold. I figured that if I got a full charge at home over night and then a partial charge at work to get me back that it may be ok. I have the app for PlugShare but was also wondering on the time needed to do a partial charge. I’ll have to see if there are any free chargers that will be compatible with the FFE in Erie. I don’t even know what connection to look for though as I have not taken possession of the vehicle yet. I’m kinda thinking that I should maybe switch for a Fusion Energi.

scottt · Nov 22, 2019

If you can find a local charging station (non-Tesla) then you'll be fine. FFE uses the standard charging connector.

triangles · Nov 22, 2019

You can look on plugshare. What you are looking for is a J1772. That is pretty much the standard level 2 charging interface. Unless your work has a charge station or will allow you to use a 240V plug the FFE is a bad idea for you.

Also of importance is what speed your commute is. EVs are the opposite of a gas car. You get much worse mileage on the freeway than in the city. I commute at about 70 MPH and that saps a lot of my range. I have a 28 mile round trip commute. With my winter tires and cold weather my range isn't much more than 45 miles and I rarely use any climate control unless I need to defrost/fog the windows. Climate control would easily take 5-10 miles off that.

I'm at the other end of the lake so I've got some winter pointers for you. Opening a window or two a crack eliminates 98% of all window condensation. Being in snow belt land you will want either a 2nd set of wheels for winter tires or some all season tires that are rated good for snow/cold wet roads. The FFE only has 49% of the weight under the drive wheels so winter traction is an issue. The OEM tires are downright dangerous in snow. You literally have to turn off traction control to get the car to move. I didn't want to trash the OEM tires because they are good for summer so I picked up a set of volvo wheels and bought some Falken ZIEX ZE950 tires because they are good for cold wet and snowy roads. Being all seasons they aren't as good as actual snow tires but we don't get lake effect snow and they are really good about plowing. In the winter you have about 15-16.5 kWh of usable battery. In snowy conditions 350-360 Wh/mi is typical and 400 Wh/ mi is about worst case. 15 kWh / 0.400kWh/mi = 37.5 miles of range worse case. So yeah you are on the hairy edge of not making it one way.

triangles · Nov 22, 2019

If that electrify america is the Walmart in Erie, they don't have any plugs you can use. These appear to just be level 3 charge stations CCS and CHAdeMO, both of which a 2014 FFE cannot use.