Scooter80

I think maybe the problem, as you are now alluding to, is a defect in your car. It seemed your original post was to do with the 2013 Fusion Energi as a whole and had some erroneaous material in it when looked at that way. Now, if Ford can't fix the problems you're exhibiting and they have confirmed, then I can see your dissatisfaction. But, even re-reading your original post again, leads me to believe you just weren't going to be happy. I for one hope Ford can address your problems and you come out happier on the other end. I'm sorry you had to get the bad egg, but I guess there's always one.

Yikes! He pointed out a defect in your car that even you were apparently not aware of as you didn't mention in your post and he gets flamed for it?! Cool off dude. We can't make you happy with your car if you don't want to be. We can only try to help you come to terms with your gripes.

Yeah, I don't recall that part in the manual. I just assumed it'd act the same as my Audi. If the vehicle is running, the Audi prevents a shift from park when no key is detected. Kinda scary if the Fusion doesn't! Kind of vague in the manual: ---Fast Restart The fast restart feature allows you to restart your vehicle within 20 seconds of switching it off, even if a valid key is not present. Within 20 seconds of switching your vehicle off, press the brake pedal and press the start button. After 20 seconds have expired, you can no longer start your vehicle without the key present inside the vehicle. Once your vehicle has started, it remains running until you press the start button, even if a valid key has not been detected. If you open and close a door while your vehicle is running, the system searches for a valid key. You cannot be able to start your vehicle if a valid key is not detected within 20 seconds.--- Does "start" mean drive too or is it literally start?

Whoa, that's not good! I thought the lack of a smartkey prevented the vehicle being driven. It appears it doesn't.

There are a few ways to tell what mode you're driving in. Probably the easiest way is to press the EV button on the console near the shifter. It will then tell you on the left screen what mode you're in. The left screen can also display one of several different driving aid layouts. Most will show what mode you're in by varying the color or layout of the power being used. You can also use the large multimedia display in the center stack to monitor energy use. Press the small leafy icon in the lower center. That will display a picture of the car which will show exactly where power is coming from and where it is going to. There are more, but this'll get you started. And I think half the fun of a new car is learning this on your own! Enjoy it! :-)

I have to push the button on the end of the turn signal stalk to even turn my lane assist on, so maybe check your settings in the left screen. And if you're learned at parking, why may I ask, would you purchase the parking package? It is strange to me that people complain about their dislike of a purchase this large in this manner. Did you not research before you dropped you $46k+? You've had it for five days. Is a little time before judgement unreasonable? I would expect mileage and efficiency to increase as the engine wears in and you acclimate to its characteristics. It tells you the same in the owners manual. Like some have said already, if you bought this for extended commutes you likely did not research and should have gone with the less costly and more efficient in that role hybrid-only. The plug-in Energi was designed for shorter commutes and those with point-to-point charging available. As for the brakes, maybe after 100k+ miles, your Energi will also have 50% life on them. No way to tell that at the moment. But I dunno how that lifts a 2010 FFH to the penultimate level. A brake job costs a DIY'er all of maybe $300 rotors and pads. I'd think you'd have a hard time complaining of having to do a brake job even at half that mileage. And if you did have to, if half a cent a mile savings in brakes is what lifts a car up on high for you, then you're probably right. The new Fusion Energi wasn't for you.

I'm not sure where you got the 9.6kW number from. If it was simple math of 240v x the 40A rating of the chargepoint, then, no, your numbers aren't close. The car won't accept anywhere near that wattage, so your chargepoint will never provide that much. As I showed in my previous post, a full charge only took 6.9kWh, nowhere near your 24 guesstimate. That with the fact my electricity is apparently cheaper than yours makes EV and plug-in hybrid quite a bit more affordable than you guessed. Sorry you feel the way you do about your car and your purchase, but maybe if you use accurate figures you'll feel a bit better? Like that it should only cost you about 77 cents to net a full charge on a 240v unit equal or similar to a GE Wattstation? Maybe a bit more during peak hours.

Checked my kWh meter tonight after my wife came home and threw the car on the lvl2 GE charger with a completely drained battery. I had read the meter earlier at 25.1 kWh. After the charge and the charger sitting idle for a few hours, kWh meter read 32.0. At my current rough rate of 9 cents a kWh, that's about 62 cents for a full charge with an estimated 19 EV miles. Gas is currently 3.96 a gal. Loving EV motoring! So... Total for a full charge using GE Wattstation ~6.9kWh roughly = 62 cents for ~19 miles.

Aarrrggghh!!! A lack of heated steering wheel, cooled seats, and heated rear seats were the only things holding me back from trading my aging Audi instead of my wife's car! And the only thing she really wanted that the fusion didn't have was the heated steering wheel. To have two of those wish list items added just after purchase is a bit of a punch in the gut. Color me disappointed, but still loving the 2013 despite.

LED replacement? Now you're talking! Details on this kit?

Very cool! You'll love the color. And the car.

You should have a hill descent/grade assist button on the side of the shifter. Great for you hill-dwellers. Rarely needed for us flatlanders. Putting the trans in L will also increase this regen action during hill descent.

Yeah, when I hop in to drive, mine always drops 2 miles or so pretty quickly (much quicker than 2 or 3 miles anyways). I chalk it up to the cold weather, climate being on, and the car predicting my wife's lead-foot as she is the primary driver.

I believe go-times only work with 240v charging. I certainly never had any luck on the 120v anyways.

A couple of weeks ago I received my GE Wattstation after I saw it at a reduced price on Amazon and I placed my order. Price: I got it for $799 plus tax. Shipping: Shipped free due to Amazon Prime. Unfortunately the shipping carton was really tore up when I got it, but the retail packaging ended up being fine and the unit was untouched as well. Packaging: Unboxing of the retail package confirmed there was no damage to the unit in shipping as it is nicely packaged by the GE factory line. It comes wedged in the box with some nice heavy cardboard ribbing and the shiny black fascia is covered in sticky film, protecting it nicely. Prep for Install: I had a fairly easy time of this as I have experience in electrical work and am generally pretty handy. That coupled with the fact that my house's electrical panel is in the garage made this pretty simple. It took me about 3 hours to do it, and I added a couple extras for the future. Since the unit is rated 7.2kW/30 amps, 240v, I installed the recommended 40 amp double-pole breaker in my box and ran my EMT conduit (required in my area for enclosed AND exposed work) the 20 or so feet from the back of the garage to the side adjacent to where the vehicle's charge port is. I then added a NEMA 1 6x6x4 box which would house a kWh meter for just this circuit. I then dropped to the 4x4 box which would house the NEMA 6-50 outlet. I mounted the unit after I installed the 6x6, but before I mounted the 4x4 so I would know exactly where I needed to put the 4x4 since the cord on the unit is quite short (as required by codes, UL, and good practice). Got it all wired, pushing the three 8awg conductors from the 6x6 into the panel and then the other end form the 6x6 into the 4x4. I did this as it was a good height for the 20 or so foot push and made it an easy straight shot with only one 90 to turn. I also knew I'd need some slack in the 6x6 for the meter install. Got it all wired up and was met happily with my meter powering up as expected and a nice white LED ring on the GE as soon as I pushed the power button. I just need to cut out the 6x6's cover plate to allow the meter panel to fit through. It's pretty heavy gauge steel and I sold my band saw awhile back. I'm still debating how to do it. Install: Follow the instructions!! Some complained that the screws/bolts they used didn't clear the bracket. Use 1/4" lag bolts in an appropriate length into a stud or blocking as they recommend and there will be no such issues. There is also a recommendation for concrete wall anchors if you have that. Using the bracket as a template as the unit itself is quite heavy, I marked the wall and drilled pilot holes for the lags. Keep in mind when laying out and marking that the mounting bracket is a bit (4" or so) shy of the top of the unit, so you will need to account for the extra clearance you'll need. After pilot holes drilled, I ratcheted in the lags through the nice sturdy aluminum mounting bracket. A note on this: The unit has a key-lock that allows the unit to be locked to the bracket, preventing theft. Unfortunately the key cylinder does not have a notch in it to allow you to remove the key in the unlocked position. This makes sliding the unit onto the mounting bracket a bit more difficult as you have to "thread" the key through the hole in the bracket and then slide the unit onto the bracket. But once this is accomplished the unit sits on the bracket positively and securely. The only problem I have with it is I can rock the unit a bit as there is a bit too much clearance between it and the wall. I'll shove a shim of some sort back there to prevent it. It's nothing major, just a little less secure feeling, though there is clearly no danger of it falling off the wall. Review: I'd like to first point you to Amazon.com to look up the wattstation and read the reviews there. Those, and the sale price are what led me to buy this unit. Like others have described, the unit has a zero-draw power button so you can turn it completely off when you leave with the car so there is no phantom drain. When you power it on, it boots up quickly, cycling the LED lights to show you its working. The LED ring around the handle storage then illuminates letting you know its ready. This stand-by mode, even with the LED ring constantly illuminated only draws 4 watts. Plug it into the car (unfortunately the handle has no light itself, so beware of this) and in a second or two, a nice "thunk" of the relays inside the unit lets you know she's going to work. The unit emits a subtle electrical hum or buzz as others have described, but its nothing you'll hear through the wall or anything. Mine is on a wall that is directly below the wall of our master, so I'd know if it did! All in all, seems well built. Charge Time: My wife and I got home from the mall that night with a completely empty battery. Hooked it to the charger and got our nice thunk. I then looked on the MyFordMobile app and it showed a full charge was due 2 hours and 40 minutes later. I was notified 2 hours and 15 minutes later that the charge was complete with 20 miles range. It's still a bit chilly here, especially overnight, so I'd imagine that is why I haven't ever seen more than 21 on a full charge like some others. I couldn't be happier with a 2-2.5 hour charge time though! Awesome! The Meter: I went with an EKM Smart meter so I can expand it in the future with the ability to view usage via the web. This was also a pretty easy install. I ordered a package complete with the Current Transformers, power taps and fuseable links to completely install and protect the meter. I odered solid core CT's as I was running new wire and could thread my 8awg though the CT's with no issue. Those with existing work can order split-core CT's that "clamp" right over the power wires to prevent having to redo wiring. These CT's then wire right into the meter with their attached pigtails. EKM provides the option of power taps that clamp over the power mains, pierce into them via a weather tight gasket and allow tapping into them without creating a junction somewhere which can be extremely bulky with the required 8awg mains. I then ran 16awg stranded from these taps to the power feeds on the meter. It requires all three (L1, L2, and a N/G) to be connected so it can get a voltage reference to more accurately provide kWh). The draw from the meter itself is very minimal. Mounting the Meter: This was the most difficult part of the install. The meter mounts on a DIN rail. I ordered the short piece they offer on their website. I did NOT order their enclosure that they also offer as I have to be in a metal enclosure by code so i can pass secondary ground through it and all the conduit. So that is why I used the 6x6x4 NEMA 1 box. But this required some modification as it was too deep for the meter. This was also a plus though as now the space behind the meter will allow the power taps a place to reside without interfering with the viewing of the meter. Anyways, I needed to drill and tap the back of the box to allow me to mount the DIN rail about 1-1/2" off the back. This will allow the space and will allow the meter face to protrude through the box's cover plate. I used two short pieces of 3/4" aluminum square stock to space the DIN rail off the back. Attached with 10/24 screws into the previously tapped holes, it is a nice sturdy mount for the meter. I wired it all up and snapped the meter on the rail, fiddling with all the heavy wiring behind to make room. Thoughts on the Meter: Though I'll probably never see a payback on the cost of the meter and the materials to install it, I am pretty geeky and love tech, so the ability to view my usage on the web was a big draw to me. You can get a compatible EKM meter that will work with your L2 charger for cheaper, but you won't have the web access. I don't have it yet either as it will be another $100 or two in addition to my more expensive meter, and I couldn't justify it to my wife yet. But I did get the newer version of the meter to allow this expansion. I'll need to add an EKM push comm box and then some sort of web access. I think I'll go with a WiFi link as I do not have ethernet anywhere near the garage. Well, I hope this helps with anyone deciding on the GE or an L2 charger as a whole. I know the GE is overkill for the Fusion as it will only accept little more than half of the GE's output, but I did it with the future in mind. Maybe the Fusion will allow more amperage in the future or maybe I'll use the GE with a different car in the future. Either way, I am now prepared. That, in addition to mine and my wife's odd schedules, quick charges are sometimes in order, so the included Ford L1 charger didn't cut it. That has been wrapped up, put back in the car and will be used at my wife's work as soon as she finally gets the ok, :fingers crossed: She's on 12's so there'll be plenty of time for that! Edit to add charge data: 4-8-13: Full charge from completely depleted battery took 6.9kWh. My current rate is about 9 cents, making the full charge cost about 62 cents. Very cool! Edit to add Charge Profile Chart: 4-20-13: Another charge of 6.8kWh. Also found that the total stand-by draw of the charger (INCLUDING the LED ring), if you decide to not turn it off with the pushbutton, is 4 whole watts.

So these will just plug right into the vehicle harness? No adapters? Where did you mount the ballasts? Is the light output much better than the halogens? Thanks for the input! I put HIDs on my '06 Mustang, but its been awhile since I looked into HIDs. I think you might leave it the way you have it and if that bulb continued to be sketchy, I'd request a new ballast. It doesn't sound like anything more than that. Certainly not error correctors unless you got a "bulb out" warning or lamp, but I can't recall if these cars have that. And this hooks straight into the vehicle harness (which is set up for the halogens, you shouldn't be drawing any more than that (should actually be equal or less with HID), so a new harness would be redundant. I'd bet its a bad ballast if you continue to have the problem.

Very cool! Could you give details on which kit (bulb type), why you went with the lower 35w, how the install went? Much appreciated. Looks very nice!

TY

Haven't been under it yet, but judging from some photos I've seen of the install, it's a black plastic "skid plate" sort of thing that attatches to the lower bumper fascia and prevents "pocketing" of air in the bumper cover. The Hidden Hitch brand of receiver shows you can trim it and reinstall it, so maybe the same is possible for the Curt.

Yup, clear on the sticker. Got it. 43 combined. Combined. Not highway. Yup. Got it. Consider me schooled if you like. I was asking if you had any insight as to where you found the highway number of 41 you're quoting.

My wife's commute home from work starts out on the expressway and ends with 12 or so miles of two-lane with lights, so I've instructed her to start using EV later on the ride home. I'm not sure that the car knows the routine yet though as she ends up with a bit of battery left when she gets home. We'll see if it gets better.

Lol, I haven't taken an ikea run in awhile, but last time I did, I had to call in my brother and his Excursion to rescue me! I can't think of much from ikea that would fit, other than some decor and utensils and such, but the "Hybrid-Only" parking spaces are tempting!

Well without arguing semantics, I believe combined would be a more accurate estimate in her case with her mostly city driving, but some expressway, but anywho. Where did you find the estimated highway mpg?

As we were waiting for the car, due to the lack of photography of the trunk, we grew wearisome of the trunk size and debated changing to the regular hybrid for that reason, but upon inspection during delivery, our fears were alleviated. Though its not huge by any stretch, it is sizeable enough for a few carryons during travel, and not a problem at all for daily trips, errands, and groceries.