Parting thoughts on our FFE

[EastWestBrothers]

After 3-years and 24k+ miles, we turned our FFE back into Ford. It was a great car and delivered an impressive 113 mpge while offering up decent versatility. The short range was largely a non-issue, but did restrict our travels a bit. Luckily, we have access to several vehicles so it never really became an issue. The limited cargo space also largely was not a problem, but it took some creative packing sometimes when we needed to move stuff. I will miss the surprisingly good handling and fun to drive nature of the car, but not the lack of acceleration.

All in all, it was a great few years and it was definitely our gateway into electric cars. For our personal vehicle, my wife and I will likely continue to drive electric so long as we can.

More detailed thoughts and pictures here: http://www.eastwestbrothersgarage.com/2017/12/long-term-test-2014-ford-focus-electric.html

 

[jmueller065]

You should have taken it into the dealer for the rattle. It is likely something was loose or a suspension part was rattling (I know there is a shock tower service bulletin on my C-Max it is likely similar for the FFE as my coworker with an FFE also experience a shock rattle and had it fixed).

My FFE was completely silent--it always mesmerized first timers riding in it how quiet it was.

 

[Guest]

Just a bit off topic but my ffe has this rattle and the dealer is just throwing parts at it. He replaced the lower control arms today. Still there. At least Ill have a completely rebuilt front end by the time hes done. LOL. To me it sounds like its coming from the upper strut mount area but Ill let him replace everything. Its under warranty and free for me. LOL. On topic, Im glad you enjoyed your ffe. I hope mine treats me as well.

 

[fbitz777]

Hey I had a 2014 FFE and then 2016 FFE with over 30k miles total...first was taken back by Ford and second was sold locally after zero issue over 20k miles.

Anyhow I just got a Bolt Premier too and I noticed that you have one. I like the Bolt (65kwh battery) but I miss some of the Ford features

 

[EastWestBrothers]

Funny enough, the suspension rattle was not particularly audible from the inside of the cabin. I only really found out about it because my brother told me one day as I was driving up his driveway that there was a rattle coming from the suspension area. By that time, the car was less than 6-months from being returned so I just didn't bother worrying about getting it fixed.

The rattle I heard the most came from within the cabin and was located around the shoulder belt height adjuster. It came and went and I could not figure out a consistent pattern that caused it. Since it was intermittent, and often could be quelled with a quick tap of the adjuster itself, I opted not to worry about it.

 

[EastWestBrothers]

Hey I had a 2014 FFE and then 2016 FFE with over 30k miles total...first was taken back by Ford and second was sold locally after zero issue over 20k miles.

Anyhow I just got a Bolt Premier too and I noticed that you have one. I like the Bolt (65kwh battery) but I miss some of the Ford features

What features do you miss? The only feature I feel like the FFE has over the Bolt is that all the windows were auto up/down. Otherwise, the Bolt is pretty much better in every way equipment wise.

I do wish the Bolt had the FFE's 50/50 weight distribution. It would improve the handling some more.

 

[NightHawk]

Hey I had a 2014 FFE and then 2016 FFE with over 30k miles total...first was taken back by Ford and second was sold locally after zero issue over 20k miles.

Anyhow I just got a Bolt Premier too and I noticed that you have one. I like the Bolt (65kwh battery) but I miss some of the Ford features

What features do you miss? The only feature I feel like the FFE has over the Bolt is that all the windows were auto up/down. Otherwise, the Bolt is pretty much better in every way equipment wise.

I do wish the Bolt had the FFE's 50/50 weight distribution. It would improve the handling some more.

So are only some of the windows on the Bolt auto up/down and by that do you mean hold the button for a sec and the window keeps going all the way?

How does the handling of the Bolt compare to the FFE? Is it rougher on the road or what?

How did the front seats end up on your Bolt? Has that issue been improved since the models from earlier in the year?

 

[EastWestBrothers]

So are only some of the windows on the Bolt auto up/down and by that do you mean hold the button for a sec and the window keeps going all the way?

How does the handling of the Bolt compare to the FFE? Is it rougher on the road or what?

How did the front seats end up on your Bolt? Has that issue been improved since the models from earlier in the year?

Only the driver window is both auto up and down. The others are auto down only. A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but we used the windows a lot so it was nice to have on the Focus.

As far as the handling, the Bolt is definitely not as athletic. It plows a noticeable bit more going into corners and the steering feel and feedback is less communicative. The rear suspension is also noticeably less able to provide grip in really fast transitions compared with the setup of the Focus. However, the shorter wheelbase means it rotates readily once you've committed to a line through the corner and the ability to balance the car through a corner using just the throttle is really fun. Ride is not significantly different thanks to the battery, though the springs on the Bolt are definitely stiffer. That is mostly felt on surfaces with really broken paving.

As for the seats, they are not uncomfortable for me, though I can see why some people might find them a bit snug. The seats in the Focus were better, but the ones in the Bolt work plenty well. I've done a two-hour stint behind the wheel without issue. As far as I know, Chevy has no plans to modify the seats at the moment.

 

[jeffand]

Funny enough, the suspension rattle was not particularly audible from the inside of the cabin. I only really found out about it because my brother told me one day as I was driving up his driveway that there was a rattle coming from the suspension area. By that time, the car was less than 6-months from being returned so I just didn't bother worrying about getting it fixed.

The rattle I heard the most came from within the cabin and was located around the shoulder belt height adjuster. It came and went and I could not figure out a consistent pattern that caused it. Since it was intermittent, and often could be quelled with a quick tap of the adjuster itself, I opted not to worry about it.

On my 2013 FFE I had a rattling noise for any bump in the road. This was traced down to the interlink bars for the stabilizer bar on the front end of the car. The swivel joints had worn out. This happened in about 25,000 miles for me.
This seems to be a common problem for all Ford Focuses.

 

[Guest]

The rattle in the "front end" of my 2013 turned out to be the linkage bar for the windshield wiper clunking around. It was found after they replaced the whole front end for free, so I cant complain.