stevedebi

You also have to factor in the inefficiency of the charger. My level 1 charger is only 72%. It isn't that much difference, but if you are counting...

I keep a running tab on my MPGe and electric costs. If gas got cheap enough, in theory I would be better off using hybrid only for my Energi - but only if my MPGe goes below 50. And actually, my last fill up was 49.21 MPGe. But that included a lot of road miles, and is not normal. Prior to that tank my worst was 56, and MPGe is right at 60.38 for the average. But you know what? I might still use plug-in - it is just so cool.

It is interesting, here in LA, the housing prices are such that it costs a half million to get a basic home in a decent neighborhood. My wife and I both work, so we get by. I gather you don't live in urban California? The taxes are killer out here. That 500K home would have 10K in annual real estate taxes as well. Then there is up to 9% state taxes and a 9% sales tax. We bring home less than 50% of what we make, including 401K deductions. My daughter starts college next fall and we are going to be sweating out the next few years.

Your company should establish guidelines. I would suggest a piece of paper with your phone number so folks can call to see if they can unplug. But also, you should use the MyFord site to set up text messages when the car is charged - and go out to move the vehicle when it is done. Are those free Chargepoint? Or will they cost?

Some folks, particularly self employed people, have lots of business expenses that can be deducted or are eligible for other credits. I think that is what got the OP. For a normal "employed" individual, I suspect they would always have a tax liability.

Well, I can't argue with your own experience. But it would appear that folks with more complicated returns would be well advised to check with their CPA when they buy their vehicle, to ensure what happened to the OP is not repeated. Not an issue with me, I'm leasing my vehicle, and the "credit" was applied to the cap reduction cost.

I don't follow you. Lets say that a person withholds taxes such that they will neither owe nor pay taxes at the end of the year. When they file their taxes they will not be able to collect the potential 4K credit because they owe no taxes. If that same person were to reduce their withholdings during the year so that they owe 4K in taxes when filing, then they can use the 4K credit to owe no taxes instead. The difference is that they will have been bringing in more money to their bank during the year. Presumably they will be 4K richer because they didn't send that withholding to the government. Am I missing something?

At this point I expect that Ford will only fix errors in the current Sync, not add features.

Yeah, with the vehicle nav units these days, I'm glad I learned to navigate the old fashioned way when I started driving. I still find that my sense of direction is vital when "following" the in vehicle GPS! My wife's VW is especially bad at direcitons, far worse than the Ford unit, but better at knowing the vehicle location.

Actually, if you decrease your withholdings so that you owe around 4K taxes, then you can claim the credit. If you have witholdings such that you want to pay little or no tax at the end of the year (as most people want), then you could end up like the OP, with no tax owed, and therefore no tax credit available for use. Maybe there is a semantics issue here, but that seems to be to be a matter that invovles withholdings, and planning in advance to be able to take the credit.

I don't know, I see news stories all the time about folks getting money back from the Government when they paid no taxes, because of a tax credit. But I'm not a tax attorney or CPA!

I ran the GPS diagnostics this past weeking while traveling at a (more or less) constant 71 MPH. The GPS was constantly going back and forth between 71 and 69. I think it is possible that the GPS diagnostics is reporting raw data, and the car software does the smoothing, but I was a bit surprised that it was exactly those two speeds back and forth. I had 10 satellites tracking all the way.

You were in my neck of the woods! Yes, I didn't live here then, but my wife is a native and she says the air is vastly improved.

You could ask one of us LA folks. There are a fair number of plugs around, but probably not more than a couple every 5 square miles or so here in the San Fernando valley. There may be more over the hill in LA proper. There are three at the local mall, a couple at some drug stores, and a couple at the nearby airport. The largest number is at the local Ford dealer (6) and I think the Nissan dealer. More than many places, but not at all what I would call common.

It should tell you if the GPS is locking to satellites.

Just a note on the GPS. Hold down right arrow and eject button until you get into the diagnostics screen. Select APIM diagnostics and scroll down to GPS information. That will provide updated information on what the GPS is actually doing. I've never heard of any GPS using the wheel rotation for routing, although it is used for the odometers and etc.

I tried it with my 2014 C-Max Energi yesterday - the button did not work and the car remained on - had no effect at all. Interesting. I suppose the programming is different between the 2013 and 2014, or the C-Max Energi is different (but that makes no sense). I'm sure Lexus did it so that the engine isn't inadvertently shut off at high speed.

That release in the trunk is made for anyone trapped there to release the trunk. It was not designed to be used to open the trunk under normal circumstances. Have you had the same issues with both cars, or is one better than the other?

Interesting scenario, but I believe the car won't shut down at that speed. This was the issue with that Lexus crash a few years ago - they kept pushing the button trying to turn off the car. (In that case, Lexus allows you to hold the button, but they didn't know that). The car is run by computer, and it is smarter than that.

Yes, I suppose if the electronics are powered up it can be done, but why the heck would anyone want to do so - put it in gear without being in "drive"? A lot of extra steps.

I tried it today. Mine will start in neutral, but I can't shift into neutral if I'm in park (prior to turning on the vehicle) - and there is a persistent warning if I shut it off in neutral, indicating to put it in park. So while it will start there, I can't see how it would get to neutral in the first place. The bottom line is that the vehicle is most likely going to be in park when starting, and you have to put your foot on the brake or it won't be in "go" mode (as many have mentioned). As I have said, I have a C-Max Energi, but I'm sure this part of the Ford Energi system is common between vehicles.

Thanks, good to know. I wonder if the Hybrid versions are different.

I've seen some references to starting in "neutral". Has anyone actually tried neutral? I had to be in "Park" with my old FEH, but then that was a hybrid. I could be that the C-Max and Fusion hybrid have to be in Park to start. Neutral won't work. But I don't have either car so I don't know.

Well, however you wish to phrase it, there is no ICE to power up the braking system. In the Ford hybrid system, there will be no brakes at all unless that pump powers them up. Hence the car won't work if the system goes south. And it can be expensive to fix, which is the point of this post (and thread).

I bought it on the last three cars. One was a 2002 Civic; the insurance paid for itself with just two repairs. The second was a 2008 Escape Hybrid. That one also paid for itself due to a couple of expensive repairs after 36K. The third is a 2014 VW; that one is too new to know if it will work out. The Ford Hybrid has some expensive parts that are used on the hybrid only (and yet don't come under the 8 or 10 year hybrid warranty). Check out what happens if the ABS braking system needs a replacement; I believe that is 4K. You can hear the braking system power up when you open the car; that is unique to the hybrid, since the brakes have to work when the ICE is off.