4cylinder

I did not buy the Energi to save money. I bought it because I like the feel and (lack of) sound of EV driving but can't afford a Tesla, and most of the other PHEVs didn't appeal to me. In fact, most hybrids generally have a long payback period unless you really drive a LOT, e.g. rideshare/cab driver. If I wasn't a renter I'd install a 240V charger in a heartbeat to get the gratification of being able to charge right back up in 2.5 hours and use EV mode far more often. If you truly enjoy the EV mode, then by all means install the 240V charger. Treat it as a pleasure expense, not as an investment, just like buying a nice new cell phone or going on a vacation.

It was actually enabled in 2.0, in 2016. 3.0 just improved performance.

I saw the BMW 530e at the 2018 NAIAS - they even showed off a wireless charging pad for the car itself (you literally drive on top of it to charge, similar to charging a phone wirelessly). If it were reliable and had more than 15 miles of EV range, it would be my ideal car. The GLE 550e's existence is head-scratching - it gets about 8 miles of EV range...

FWIW I took a 2-week trip in the second half of December 2017, leaving the car in my unheated garage during an extreme Michigan winter. While the car was plugged in, the GFCI outlet in my garage got tripped by the home heater working extra hard, so the car never actually charged much when I was away. I did not hook up any smart battery maintainer like murphy does, though I plan to buy one eventually. The car still started when I got back. To be safe, I left it running for about 15 minutes with the charger plugged in, before actually driving 20 minutes to work. I suspect that if I'd parked the car outdoors I wouldn't have been so lucky. I keep a portable battery jumper in the glove compartment so I don't have to worry about being locked out of the trunk, and I also have larger jumper cables stored in my garage. I would recommend not leaving the car in airport parking. Leave it in the garage or at a friend's house - anywhere where you have easy access to necessary tools just in case the 12V dies, just to have some peace of mind. I do have to pay about $60 each way to use Lyft to reach the airport, but it's worth it.

Just booked an appointment for April 24. I'll be sure to tell them to disconnect the 12V when they do it...

I had the park assist on my 2013 hybrid and also on the 2017 Energi Titanium. I agree with the others - I can easily do it myself and it's painfully easy with a rearview camera. However, the park assist is the only way to obtain parking sensors in the front. I find that it's a bit more difficult to gauge where exactly the front corners are due to the slope of the hood, compared to other vehicles like my 2015 Escape. I could live without them, but they're certainly nice to have, especially when parking head-in in tight garages and trying to get as close to the wall as possible.

Congratulations! You got a great deal and you still have 20,000 miles of B2B warranty.

The dashboard has more leather on it, and the seats use Nappa leather which is of higher quality. The steering wheel position is also power adjustable. However the Nappa leather only comes in one color. When it comes to tech, the Platinum is identical to a loaded Titanium.

Agreed - even a Mondeo Estate Energi would be nice. Unfortunately the fans asking for plug-ins are a small minority of the overall market. The oil glut isn't going away anytime soon and as long as gas prices are low, the average Joe just wants a regular old gas-powered CUV.

No equipment differences between the '18s and '17s afaik. Maybe some color options were added or removed at best. The '19s make some driver assist tech standard on all models, but add nothing that isn't already available on the '17s and '18s. The Energi version gets a slightly denser battery pack that increases its range to 25 miles - but if you drive like a grandma and are very conservative about climate control usage, you can easily exceed that with even the '13-'16 Energis. Go with a '17 and negotiate hard. If they don't budge and the '18 is just a few hundred more, take the '18 instead. The Platinum was discontinued for 2019 btw - grab a remaining '17 or '18 Platinum while you can!

Yep not trying to imply anything, just a general rant about how our safety electronics aren't all that great ;) Mercedes-Benz and other luxury makes do make excellent adaptive cruise systems that likely address your concerns, but the base price without that feature is already double that of a loaded Energi... so yeah. I'm sure that within the next 5 years we'll see the superior tech trickle down into non-luxury makes.

I know you said you won't ship, but I'd be happy to pay for the shipping of the wheels alone :) (I already have a set of 17" winter tires, and just want to avoid the hassle of getting a shop to swap the tires onto the same wheels) Even if it's a few hundred bucks, it's a steal.

Correct, electronics can fail and nothing beats good old fashioned common sense :) I have BLIS but shoulder check before a lane change even if the light is off. BLIS just means I shoulder check slightly less often since if the light is on I don't even try. I have parking sensors and a backup camera but look behind me when I reverse, only relying on the camera to fine tune the very last bit (e.g. getting as close to the wall as possible without a thud). Regarding the stop-and-go, I found it works best when the guy in front of you gradually slows to a stop. If you're driving with no one in front and suddenly a lot of stopped traffic appears, I find that the car reacts too late for my comfort, even at maximum following distance. I prefer to use my feet and brake even sooner in that case.

I don't think Oxford White was ever offered for the higher trims, sorry. If you can spare a little more $$$ I'd strongly recommend looking at '17s as the adaptive cruise is superior (brings you to a complete stop and resumes), and Sync3 is leaps and bounds ahead of the horrible MyFord Touch system. While you can do an aftermarket Sync3 upgrade in a '13-'16, you can't do the same for the adaptive cruise (to my knowledge). You are also much more likely to have some factory bumper-to-bumper warranty remaining by going for a '17. The Ford ESP isn't a bumper-to-bumper warranty so if you buy a '15 or '16 and get something like peeling trim or rattle noises, you're paying out of pocket to fix that even if you buy the ESP. As you probably already know, depreciation is extreme on the Energi, and I did save about 40% off MSRP when I bought a 13-month-old '17 Energi Titanium (fully loaded minus ventilated seats) in November 2017. Look out-of-state if you need to - the Metro Detroit area, where I currently live, is a fantastic place to buy slightly-used American cars, as many employees of the Big Three are issued them as company vehicles, and turn them in after about a year, often with < 10,000 miles. My own vehicle is a former Ford executive fleet vehicle and it had just 7800 miles on it when I drove off the lot!

The sticker price before any tax credit was a hair under US$40k when the car was brand new. I bought it when it was 13 months old with 7,800 miles on it, for US$23k before trade-in - that's about 40% of value lost. This is because used cars are not eligible for tax credits, and that must be factored into resale value. I believe the tax credits are even more generous in Ontario which should further impact resale values. Before I got the Energi, I was driving a Fusion Hybrid from Canada that lost C$10k of value with 2000 km on it over 20 months (it was a demo car hence the super low odometer reading). That is some extreme depreciation that you'd never see on similar Toyota or Honda models. Great for used buyers, awful for new buyers! So if you want to get the adaptive cruise, I'd recommend keeping an eye on Autotrader for used Energis that have it. In fact, since you live in the GTA, you're just 3-4 hours away from the Metro Detroit area, where you can find plenty of cheap former Ford executive cars with low mileage (right now a 2017 Energi Platinum stickers for $23k with 11,000 miles in my area). You could try selling your Energi in Canada and going through the process of importing one from the US (I have experience importing cars in both directions and can assist by PM).

I have it, and I would never go back to any car that doesn't have such a feature. The fact that it can bring you to a complete stop during heavy traffic is just wonderful. In theory you could retrofit the system, but that requires you to source a new sensor under the grille and possibly a new front fascia to fit it. You would also need to program it in ForScan. If your car doesn't have the lane keep camera behind the rearview mirror, that would also be needed as it is part of the adaptive cruise system. In practice, it's not something I would recommend doing. Given the extreme depreciation on the Energi, I'm sure you can just trade up to a slightly used car that has the option without breaking the bank. I don't use it often as my commutes are entirely on suburban roads, but any time I go on freeways, I make sure to activate it. I'm driving to Chicago this weekend and the adaptive cruise will definitely make that road trip more pleasant!

There are indeed many other PHEVs with advantages over the FFE, not just in EV range but also in features, but I'd say the FFE is still a decent buy (especially slightly used due to extreme depreciation) for these reasons: It's quite luxurious for the price - you can get nice heated and cooled leather memory seats for the price of a base model BMW 3-series, while also getting pretty much all the safety tech you could ever need (adaptive cruise, BLIS, lane keep, etc). While the interior is looking a little dated (though still pleasant and functional), the exterior remains a sight to behold (this is very subjective of course)Sync3 is superior to many competing systems. It is baffling that in 2018 there are automakers who continue to refuse to include Android Auto. The lack of AA isn't an absolute dealbreaker for me, but the rest of the car better be really freakin' amazing to make up for it! Btw, if you own a 2013-2016 car and want a flawless Sync3 upgrade without breaking the bank, PM me for advice (you will need to be comfortable using tools).The EV range, while not great by any measure, still dwarfs that of many luxury PHEV sedans like the BMW 530e, BMW 330e, Mercedes C350e, etc. At the 2018 NAIAS I recall seeing a Mercedes GLE plug-in with just 8 miles of EV range... WHY???Fairly reliable in my experience (at least compared to German cars)If I could go back in time to when I made my purchase of the FFE, I would absolutely do it again - though I would only buy pre-owned of course. If I were rich, I probably wouldn't even be looking at PHEVs - probably at Tesla or at regular hybrid versions of luxury vehicles like the Lexus LS. If your priority is EV range and you're buying brand new, then by all means go for cars like the Chevy Volt or Honda Clarity - I did look at both those cars before buying the FFE and they are fine cars indeed. But they do have their downsides - the Volt is tight and lacks power adjustable memory seats (the latter is a dealbreaker), the Clarity's infotainment system is worse, and so on. If you just want a nice midsize car for < US$25k, you could do a lot worse than a pre-owned 2017+ FFE :)

Well, the Fusion is still a better car all-around :P The 2018 Accord is a worthy competitor though. I sat in the Clarity at the 2018 NAIAS, after checking out the all-new Accord. The Clarity felt a lot more low-rent compared to either the Accord or the Fusion. And the Clarity still offers only that stupid Lanewatch camera rather than a traditional blind spot monitor...

Easy answer: You're in Michigan :)

I'm guessing they didn't want to do any real re-designing of the battery/trunk area and just found a way to increase the battery density while keeping the trunk dimensions the same as the '13-'18 models. 2 years ago I was hoping Ford would follow the Sonata's lead and move the battery into the "spare tire" area when they announced the 2017 facelift - even if it didn't improve EV range it would at least make the car more practical.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2018/03/20/ford-fusion-update/33120431/ Sadly, the Platinum trim was discontinued - I actually really liked it. Wonder what that will do to resale values of '17 and '18 Platinums. The 2.5L gas engine (which is actually great - responsive and quiet with good fuel economy) is now restricted to the S trim. I was hoping it could migrate into the Titanium trim at least. Hilariously, the SEL trim has returned - brings back memories of my 2008 Fusion SEL. BLIS/lane keep/collision warning are now standard on all trims, likely to compete with Toyota/Honda/Hyundai who have made such things standard on even their entry-level cars.

It's tragic, but it's also the first pedestrian death out of thousands if not millions of self-driving hours logged on the roads over more than 5 years. And if it was the car at fault, no doubt the engineers will rectify the flaw that led to this tragedy, and prevent it from happening again. Meanwhile thousands of pedestrians die per year in the US alone, from accidents with human drivers.

Yesterday I was charging my car at a Chargepoint station while eating dinner at a nearby restaurant. The car wasn't quite done charging when I finished my meal, so I decided to roll down both front windows for ventilation and sit in the car for another 15 minutes to let it charge all the way. When I started the car and rolled up the front windows, both of them refused to go up, and bounced back down as though there were an obstruction in the way (there wasn't on either side - I checked). I tried using the key fob to lower and close all the windows simultaneously, but both front windows continued to defy me. Fortunately, I had my phone handy and was able to access this Youtube video: I had to try it 3-4 times for each window but eventually was able to reset both windows and they've been fine ever since. Is there some kind of module software update available that could prevent this problem from happening in the future? Disappointed as I've only had the car for just over 4 months, whereas I never had this issue on the 2013 hybrid I traded in, after 3.5 years of ownership (and it was 20 months old when I first bought it).

I also don't find the trunk space to be an issue - it can hold the contents of my weekly grocery shopping cart, and for road trips I can squeeze in a carry-on roller suitcase and two backpacks. For 99% of my use cases, the Energi's trunk is fine. For the rare moments when I actually need cargo space I have a 2015 Escape Titanium. I also live near an Enterprise so even if I didn't have the secondary car I could just call for an Enterprise pick-up and rent a minivan/SUV/truck. And yeah the Energi isn't exactly a cheap car when new, so most of us aren't stereotypical leftist tree-huggers (many such people even forgo car ownership altogether). Some of us just like the feel of the electric mode and/or the serene silence that comes from the engine being off. Some of us like the convenience of not stopping at the gas station too often regardless of the cost of gas. That's why you see Bentley offering a plug-in hybrid - the fuel economy is of absolutely zero concern to someone who can afford a Bentley, but the silence and feel of an electric car is something anyone of any income level or political ideology can appreciate. I myself can easily afford to fill up a V8 truck - I even drove an ancient V8 Lexus LS430 for a year once - but as a lazy person I love being able to just "fill up" at home instead of queuing at the pump after work. Anyway, glad to see that at least one climate change denier still supports clean air. Whether or not one believes in climate change, one needs to breathe the same air as everyone else, and whether the temperatures go up or down, dirty air is still dirty air. That's why the recent events with the EPA piss me off - even if climate change is a hoax, emissions still equate to dirty air! Even the mainland Chinese government got serious about emission control - I doubt they're as concerned about climate change as they claim to be, but their leadership still has to live and work in Beijing at the end of the day so it is in their interests to clean up the horrible air there!

Ironically I traded in a 2013 Job 1 Hybrid for a 2017 Energi a short while ago... and the 2013 models are not part of this recall! If it ain't broke, break it?