Ice Cold Tectonic Silver 2015 In Minnesota

[Rhynri]

Hello all!  I recently leased a 2015 Tectonic Silver FFET.  I got a pretty good deal on it, 18k a year for 425$/month.  It's an interim step between our 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI and our goal, a Tesla (S or X, not sure yet.)  The money we're earning on the trade in (also a great deal, they pretty much gave us private party price) will go towards some outstanding debt we have (a home improvement loan - our HVAC is now 97% and 14.5 respectively - not just your car can be efficient!).  Loving the car so far.  Was wondering if anyone had experience with EV+ Mode, because I see a lot of stories about flipping between Auto and EV Later, and had thought this was roughly the point of EV+.  As excellent as the FFE is, it's fairly easy to see places that Ford could have tweaked it to make it better.  That and I still haven't gotten the stereo where I want it sound-wise.  It's got some really strong midrange and the adjustments seem unresponsive.  What ever happened to those 10-position or 8-position EQs that cars used to have?

 

Photo attached!  It got dirty pretty much as soon as it left the dealer... thanks Minnesota winters.  It's hard to tell it's actually dirty though.  We didn't pick out the color, just said "Get us this car with these features".  Can't say I don't like it though, reminds me of a 2000 Camaro I used to have.

[murphy]

EV+ is usually locations where the car has been charged.  I have only ever seen it at home and at my brother's house.  The idea is since you are approaching a charging location it doesn't matter if the battery is run all of the way down.  It only means anything if the HVB is already empty and you are running on the hybrid portion of the battery.  Usually gets you that last 1/2 mile without the ICE coming on.

[larryh]

EV+ stores frequent destinations.  The destination does not have to have a charging station. 

[Rhynri]

Thank you.  I must admit that the verbiage in the Quick Reference sheet is quite misleading if this is the case.  It would be a lot better if the car analyzed frequent trips and then applied EV power at the most beneficial places.  This would take some forward-thinking on Ford's end.  

[murphy]

It depends on how you use the car.  I've used about 19 gallons of gasoline so far in 2014.  The vast majority of my driving is electric only.  I only need gasoline when it is really cold out and the battery efficiency is cut in half or when I take a trip.

[Hybridbear]

Congrats & welcome! How was your dealer experience? I've had some pretty awful experiences with Twin Cities dealers and am always looking for a good one. I'm in Owatonna periodically for work and could check out that dealer if they do a good job.

Edited November 16, 2014 at 02:42 AM by Hybridbear

[Rhynri]

I had a great experience with them.  My salesman was a great guy named Todd.  They did have an issue as they sold a lot of cars (5 within the day) the day I was supposed to pick up and had some extra warranty service work so my pick-up appointment got pushed back about two and a half hours or so, which frustrated Todd to no end because we'd been on the schedule for a day.  Aside from that hiccup it was a great experience.  They don't push anything on you and give no-nonsense answers.  He also spent almost an hour walking us through every feature before we even asked to purchase one.

Edited November 16, 2014 at 03:23 AM by Rhynri

[FordService]

I had a great experience with them.  ...

 

Congratulations, Rhynri! Sounds like a wonderful experience; I'd love to document it. To do so, please send me a PM with your full name, contact number, VIN, and dealer info. :)

 

Rachel

[Rhynri]

It's great to know that someone at Ford is watching these boards.  That's proactive customer service right there.

[Hybridbear]

I'm curious about what led you to the Energi. And how much a rural dealer knew about it. For most ppl living in a rural town like Owatonna I'd think that the 20 miles of EV range would be pretty short and wouldn't cover much driving.

[Rhynri]

Owatonna, although it's only 25k, actually has pretty much everything you'd need.  Fleet farm, Target, Walmart, Lowes, etc etc.  Pretty much every chain restaurant, and five (yes, five) Kwiktrips, as well as almost 20 public parks (that I've found), and a metric crapton of bike and walking trails.  If it wasn't for school and temperature, I wouldn't have used any gas yet.  We have some massive manufacturing plants here - Truth Hardware (if you have a window they probably made some part of it), Viracon, Bosch, a gigantic greenhouse facility, and some other stuff I'm probably missing.  For anyone who works here you could easily never put fuel in your Fusion, especially if you have two.  The dealer I bought it from also sells Lincoln, Dodge, Chrystler, etc.  They do have a tech trained on Energi, and my salesman was trained on it as well.  I had to go to Rochester for a test, but based on my experience I would have probably bought it sight-unseen.  The dealer's problem is more "inventory space" due to their location than "lack of sales" as they sold 4+ cars every day I was there during some frigid weather, which usually isn't much for car sales.  They also gave me great value on my trade.  I did have one or two questions he had to research, but they were really nuts-and-bolts stuff, whereas the Chevy dealer knew literally nothing about the Volt.  I have no idea how they've sold any of them, but there are three or four in town, so clearly they do.  I have the only Fusion Energi they've sold though.

As for why I am interested: I was looking for a PHEV because a Tesla is too expensive, and the Lit Motors C1 isn't out yet, and those are the only two BEVs that could make the range I'm looking for my daily driver.

Edited November 19, 2014 at 08:22 PM by Rhynri

[Hybridbear]

Owatonna, although it's only 25k, actually has pretty much everything you'd need.  Fleet farm, Target, Walmart, Lowes, etc etc.  Pretty much every chain restaurant, and five (yes, five) Kwiktrips, as well as almost 20 public parks (that I've found), and a metric crapton of bike and walking trails.  If it wasn't for school and temperature, I wouldn't have used any gas yet.  We have some massive manufacturing plants here - Truth Hardware (if you have a window they probably made some part of it), Viracon, Bosch, a gigantic greenhouse facility, and some other stuff I'm probably missing.  For anyone who works here you could easily never put fuel in your Fusion, especially if you have two.  The dealer I bought it from also sells Lincoln, Dodge, Chrystler, etc.  They do have a tech trained on Energi, and my salesman was trained on it as well.  I had to go to Rochester for a test, but based on my experience I would have probably bought it sight-unseen.  The dealer's problem is more "inventory space" due to their location than "lack of sales" as they sold 4+ cars every day I was there during some frigid weather, which usually isn't much for car sales.  They also gave me great value on my trade.  I did have one or two questions he had to research, but they were really nuts-and-bolts stuff, whereas the Chevy dealer knew literally nothing about the Volt.  I have no idea how they've sold any of them, but there are three or four in town, so clearly they do.  I have the only Fusion Energi they've sold though.

 

As for why I am interested: I was looking for a PHEV because a Tesla is too expensive, and the Lit Motors C1 isn't out yet, and those are the only two BEVs that could make the range I'm looking for my daily driver.

And if you have a window there's a good chance that it has some Viracon glass in it too ;)

 

Interesting. The smaller town atmosphere probably does mean that someone who lives & works in Owatonna could likely use very little gas. It just seems that everyone I know who works at our facility in Owatonna does a ton of driving all over southern MN. I'm really surprised that rural residents don't buy more diesel cars with how much highway driving they do.

[Rhynri]

And if you have a window there's a good chance that it has some Viracon glass in it too ;)

 

Interesting. The smaller town atmosphere probably does mean that someone who lives & works in Owatonna could likely use very little gas. It just seems that everyone I know who works at our facility in Owatonna does a ton of driving all over southern MN. I'm really surprised that rural residents don't buy more diesel cars with how much highway driving they do.

 

I do think the Fusion would be a better car with the VW's diesel lump (the 1.6) in it.  I think Minnesotans in general like to explore, and we have very few large cities with a lot of space. I don't know what company you work for, but that could be why you see a lot of driving.

Edited November 19, 2014 at 09:45 PM by Rhynri