Where is the 2017 Focus Electric???

[electrons]

A 2017 Focus Electric at 100+ miles range is a better deal than the new Chevy Bolt, unless you can't live without the Bolt's huge 238 mile range.
The Focus is wider (more room), handles great, is proven (bugs out), arguably looks better, and is about $8,000 cheaper.
Bolt has better acceleration though, making it fun to drive, probably equaling Ford's overall fun experience.

To me, the 100+ range EV is the sweet spot, since it costs less. My 2016 Focus Electric is great, although just a little more range would be nice. Its already immensely useful to handle almost all local driving needs at just 76 miles range.

By all means, run to a Ford dealer and order the new 17 Focus Electric for its enhanced range and proven chassis, systems. Solid buy or lease.
Consider the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, although I hear its only in California starting next month. You might find a good deal on a slightly used Kia Soul Electric, at 93 miles range. Some are for sale near me used, imported from California where they were sold new.

 

[Pearl]

To me, the 100+ range EV is the sweet spot, since it costs less. My 2016 Focus Electric is great, although just a little more range would be nice. Its already immensely useful to handle almost all local driving needs at just 76 miles range.

Once a 100+ mile EV is the new minimum, not too long after I would assume owners would say the same thing,
"just a little more range would be nice"

 

[NightHawk]

I consider a 200+ mile range EV would be great for a longer term ownership allowing for up to 50% battery degradation over years plus the ability to run the electric heater in the winter and still have >100mile range!

 

[Jamez]

The red 2017 FFE has arrived at the dealership. I've just been alerted.

 

[michael]

I consider a 200+ mile range EV would be great for a longer term ownership allowing for up to 50% battery degradation over years plus the ability to run the electric heater in the winter and still have >100mile range!

I totally agree. I consider the Bolt range to be 120 miles, in the winter, after three years and 50,000 miles, with reasonable reserve

After three years in an 80 mile car, I will settle for nothing less than a 200 mile car

 

[EVA]

This is going a long ways off topic, my apologies.

The discussion about over 200 mile range being a great thing reminded me of the trip I took this weekend. I'm afraid there will be a lot of very unhappy Bolt owners the first day they try to take their car any distance. They will be super happy running around town, going to grandma's house out in the country, and the like. But one day they will try to take a trip farther away, and they will have a very sad rude awakening.

From my signature you can see I have an FFE and a Tesla. I've done a ton of long distance driving in the Tesla (first summer was a 5,000 mile round trip - best driving trip I have ever taken in my life). Actually, the FFE was our first electric and I toyed with the idea of taking the car on a long trip. Wanted to be one of those pioneers that gets the car to go farther than you would imagine possible. The problem was getting out of the city - no place to charge the car. And then if I had a place, it would take hours to charge. Never bothered with that trip.

So this weekend I drove to a place around 400 miles away in the Tesla (264 mile range fully charged). Call it a 6 hour drive. With time change (central to eastern), 7 hours. I had someplace I needed to be at a certain time. Thought I had the timing down right. Well how wrong I was, between the time change and charging time, I was off a good 45 minutes. I missed adding an hour for charging time. Stupid me, if I'd gotten in the car the night before and done the route, I would have known that. Notice the key comment though - get in the car and use Tesla's tools to tell me how long to get there. Using their superchargers on the route, the timing is super simple.

So a person with that magic Bolt would think - sure I could drive 400 miles one way. My car has a 238 mile range. All I have to do is stop and charge once, maybe twice. No problem.

Here's the rub - Chevy isn't building a network to charge that car. They are just relying on what is out there. I'd also guess they aren't giving anybody decent trip planning tools in the car. Hey owner, you are on your own, go figure it out. And they aren't really doing much about rapid charging (that new person will have a lot of trouble getting their head around how many miles of range per hour at their stops given L1, L2, or Chademo / CCS). And they won't have a clue about what affects range. Cold weather is the least of their worries - driving 70 or 80 is what they will want to do. And that car will drop range really fast at those speeds.

And the most difficult part, round trip or once you get where you are going - how will you charge to get back?

So they bought the car thinking they have all the range they ever need. Just like the Volt - get in and go. The early adopters will probably be fine - they will probably be willing to use Plugshare and EVTripplanner and monitor energy use. It's the casual new buyer that is going to be in for a super rude awakening. And there will be a ton of them.

I think GM has made a lot of mistakes with the Bolt. The thing they did right, they just happened to beat Tesla to the punch on the price and range. But they did nothing with buyer support, or charging the car. I'd hate to be the owner that gets stuck.

And I agree on the 100 mile range. That is a super sweet spot for commuting. It works almost every day. I honestly think 200 miles, without a charging network, is just a lot of extra bonus range so you can forget to plug the car in once in a while. It doesn't really get you down the road any further.

 

[EVA]

Just after writing that post, somebody on the Tesla forum linked to an article. Yeah, kind of exactly what I said. Chevy isn't helping anybody out with charging.

A woman drove her Bolt 800 miles in California. She didn't have fun.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109117_chevy-bolt-ev-800-mile-trip-in-238-mile-electric-car-shows-challenges-remain

 

[cutler03gt]

I'd also guess they aren't giving anybody decent trip planning tools in the car.

Yeah, no navigation even. Just relying on CarPlay and Android Auto. They may have data that supports that call, but seems unlikely that either will be great for planning charge stops.

Also, regarding that article you just sent, this part rubs me the wrong way with the customer:

"We left the Bolt EV with the dealer and got a ride to the college in time for our meeting. It turned out to be a faulty USB cable, rather than the car.

However, when we got back from the college, we found the dealer hadn't put the car on any variety of charger—so we still had just 24 miles left. Thanks, Alfano Chevrolet."


If you brought your car in for a faulty USB cable (nothing wrong with the actual car), would you expect them to give you a free tank of gas? :roll:

Granted, if I were in that service department, I would probably always plug in customers' cars while it was waiting for pick up. But that's in CA, so who knows how many other customers were in for service, and needed the onsite charger(s) also.

 

[jmueller065]

I always wanted to take a long trip with the FFE as well. The farthest trip we took was one across town that needed one charge. All of my driving with the FFE was within a single charge away from home.

I finally resigned myself to the fact that this was the only way to take the FFE on a long trip:

 

[Jamez]

Silly OT question;

If you "toad" an FFE, could you regen the traction pack? (Obviously the front wheels would have to be on the ground)

 

[jmueller065]

Silly OT question;

If you "toad" an FFE, could you regen the traction pack? (Obviously the front wheels would have to be on the ground)

In theory if you flat towed it you could leave they key on and in D and regen all the way. If something happened, however, you'd be on your own as the owner's manual states that the only way to tow the FFE is with all 4 wheels off the ground. Technically what I did above voids the warranty--I didn't post any of those pics until after I turned in my lease; just in case.

 

[campfamily]

Personally I didn't buy my FFE for long trips, I have another car for that. I bought my FFE to commute. So, before I bought it, I made sure that it would meet those needs, with some margin for unforeseen events, and for the eventual battery degradation. The only reason I can think of for wanting an EV with more range would be for the number of miles I could continue using it as the battery degraded and my range reduced.

Keith

 

[cutler03gt]

Silly OT question;

If you "toad" an FFE, could you regen the traction pack? (Obviously the front wheels would have to be on the ground)

In theory if you flat towed it you could leave they key on and in D and regen all the way. /quote]

D or L? Seems like both would work, but L would just be quicker to charge the car, though more drag on the tow vehicle.

I heard there originally was intent to allow this as a feature. Not sure why it was decided against though. My guess is a lack of adequate air-flow for cooling, but that's just a guess. It's unfortunate though, as it'd be a pretty nice feature for such occasions. Even better would be "trailer braking" from the car, where it'd only regen or at least do so more agressivley when the brakes are being applied by the tow vehicle.

 

[EVA]

JMueller, I remember your stories of towing the car. Honestly, that's probably the most perfect RV car possible. Granted it is a little heavier than some of the small cars most people tow. But plugging in at your hook up site, having simple easy range to run errands.

Love the picture. And you were so right to not post those in public until you turned the car in.

 

[campfamily]

JBut plugging in at your hook up site, having simple easy range to run errands.

Bet the folks that run the RV parks weren't real happy with you when you did that!!!

 

[jmueller065]

Bet the folks that run the RV parks weren't real happy with you when you did that!!!

They don't really mind, and in my case with the C-Max they didn't even know: Camping with the C-Max. (Yeah granted the C-Max is only 3.3kW and not 6.6kW like the FFE is.)

 

[Texas FFE]

There are 54 advertisements for 2017 models on AutoTrader. All the adds show stock photos but not one of the photos is of a 2017 model with the larger charge door. It really makes you wonder about these Ford dealers that are advertising cars that they don't even know what they look like.

 

[twscrap]

On Cars.com there is one in Silver Springs, MD that includes actual photos instead of the stock 2016 photo.

 

[Texas FFE]

On Cars.com there is one in Silver Springs, MD that includes actual photos instead of the stock 2016 photo.

The amazing thing is that this 2017 model is listed for less than $24k!!! That would make the price for a 2017 model a little over $17k after federal tax credits. If that price holds across the country it's going to be very hard to walk away from a 2017 Focus Electric.

 

[cutler03gt]

I toured the Focus/C-MAX plant (Michigan Assembly/MAP) today. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see my FFE get assembled. Apparently, it was made yesterday and is sitting in the lot awaiting transport. Hopefully that means I'll get it in a few days.

Still, the tour was a great experience. Not my first plant tour, but still so much going on, you'll never absorb it all in one visit.

After walking through the different stations of various assembly processes, I saw a white FFE identical to mine getting "married", where they set the body down to the powertrain. Pretty identical to the German assembly video jmueller shared at some point.