fastdriver

I live in California's PG&E territory, and I agree gas can be cheaper. I agree calculations need to be at tier 3 or 4 depending on where you actually fall. To make matters worse, you can easily take advantage of supermarket gas rewards programs via the purchase of store gift cards to knock the price down to $3/gallon or slightly below. Oh well. It still functions well as a comfortable gas car. And I still have the green carpool sticker.

My employer charges $0.50/kwh and I will not use it. Do these people think we are bad at math? I will very reluctantly accept $1/hr.

We should be more precise and careful when quoting the price: Real Car Price = Supposed car price + destination charge + documentation fees + any other fees not paid to the government Dealer fees and destination charges count as part of the price. Anything not paid to a public offical or government counts. Do not include the fed tax rebate, any state rebates, or Ford rebates into the price. Mention if you have a trade-in. Dealerships make a lot of money on trade-ins. Dealers are good at shell games to make you think you got below dealer's invoice when you really got ripped off way worse than someone who bought with X-plan.

Yeah, it would be sweet to compare between EV later full battery and with the battery depleted on the same commute with the same driver. My gut feeling is that the 46 MPG is not doable with an empty battery.

One thing I don't like about plugshare is that people enter in power outlets when permission hasn't been granted by management or the owner. I don't plug into wall outlets advertised in plugshare unless there are comments suggesting that management is cool with it. Most of the garages are not OK with you using the outlets in the garage as a charging station. The exception may be an employer who is the sole tenant or owner of the garage. But you have to ask for permission first. That is what I did prior to plugging in for the first time.

I'd like to get 40 mpg or higher for a long highway drive down I-5 from Northern California to Southern California (400 miles) with our Energi Titanium. Except for the initial charge at home, assume there is no opportunity to plug in. 1) I'm thinking I should use EV later, but I'd like to strategically use EV mode (eg. always use EV later except when not on the freeway?). At the end of the trip, the number of EV miles left should be close to zero. I will be able to recharge when I get there, so there is no need to save EV at the destination. 2) What speed would be best for best MPG on ICE? I've read in the hybrid forum that results are bad at 61 mph with ICE kicking in and out. I'm guessing that is the same for us with EV later. 3) ECO-cruise the whole way or not? I've found that downhill should have ECO-cruise turned off to trick the car to not use ICE. We have adaptive cruise control. We use the +/- to change speed or let the computer do it. 4) Can I get EV miles back if the battery is totally depleted like during the long and steep downhill on I-5 from the Grapevine to the valley? Any hints for this upcoming trip would be greatly appreciated. If there are places to plugin I don't know about on I-5, that would be great too. :)