meyersnole

Oh, your other question.... I do not pull the jump drive very often, and when I do I don't change it's contents. It does reindex, but does not take too long. When I plug my iPhone into the USB it also reindexes each time... So it is best to just leave the jump drive in there to avoid the work. You will not be able to use voice commands until it finishes.

Sorry it has taken so long for me to respond. On an extended trip and have been very lax in keeping up with my forums... Especially slowed down by iPad vs computer. Anyway, FLAC is a no go on this system (but you are like me, I have a large FLAC collection as well). I chose AAC as my converted format but I think WMA is supported as well. Your biggest concern is going to be tagging. If the files are inconsistently tagged it really messes with the system... Hours and hours to index, and even if you keep it plugged in it will reindex from time to time. Worse this will really tax MFT and slow everything down... I think my phone has a better processor in it than this system. I would not even attemp your whole library, it will take forever to index and cause issues. Either go for a few 16 or 32g jump drives and switch them up or keep a smaller # of songs that you like. At the start of this you saw that I had major issues getting this to work... This all cleared up when I downloaded the tool to clean up the tags. Instead of taking hours to index it took minutes, and yes the voice commands work well. FYI, I use media monkey to manage my tunes and it has some great tools for converting from one format to another. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

http://www.plugincars.com/federal-and-local-incentives-plug-hybrids-and-electric-cars.html Ran across this today. Also read that the Obama administration wants to increase the tax credit to $10,000 in 2015 and let the dealership process it directly... Just won't apply to cars over $45,000 ruling out Tesla, Cadillac and Others like Porsche.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxphevb.shtml Site still lists as $4007. Just remember that it is a tax credit, all do not qualify for the full amount. Just re read your post and the 2015 tax code is not set in stone. There is even talk of increasing incentives for BEVs. I have not seen anything about lowering it though.

Interesting. I am surprised this is still happening, I would hope that the dealer would know to put the car on the charger after a test drive. Maybe set up an appointment to drive when it has a full charge? A word of caution, if acceleration is a priority for you this might not be a great choice for you. The Fusion is a much larger / heavier car than the Volt with half the battery capacity. While the Fusion will actually out accelerate the Volt, you will deplete a good portion of the range doing it... And you may not have the range to spare. Plenty of cars faster than both the FFe and Volt.

I can not speak to towing the car, but my last car was a third generation Acura TL and drove a BMW 528i prior to the Acura. I am surprised how refined the Ford feels. The biggest adjustment for me is when I drop the car off for service, you most likely get the same treatment as you are accustomed. That might be better with the Lincoln, but the lack of a plug in kept me from even test driving it. I did cross shop the Toyota Avalon limited and preferred the Ford and getting plug in ( also cross shopped the Volt ). If price is not of concern then I highly recommend loading up the Titanium trim. The adaptive cruise works very well and the stereo will be closer to what you are accustom to (don't expect Mark Levinson sound system though). BLIS works well. Nothing like driving around town on the battery.

This topic comes up a lot so I just pinned a poll I created back in April on the topic. I also linked the original post on this topic just under the poll as it has a lot of great insight from the board. You can find this in the buying section... I would normally post a link, but if am traveling now and away from my PC.

And I thought that Texas was a red state ;) Good stuff Mark... thanks for the update.

The Sony system is currently set up as a component system. You can add a 2 way or 3 way into the mix with the original tweeters, but you are going to change the roll off rate and you are going to have to watch your ohm load. Have not looked at this system so I do not know if it is already running at 4 ohm or 2 ohm load. Any good installer will be able to ensure that though. And the roll off will will just be personal preference. I am a little surprised that you think the Sony system sounds flat. Personally I think it is a little boomy with a strong mid preference (lacks that tight bass kick, but the bass tones are definitely there -- just sloppy). As I said earlier, everyone hears things differently. You really need to go to a store and listen to speakers to see which ones you like. Don't let them demo them to you off a $1000 amp either, try to get it as close to what you plan on hearing in the car. Also try to listen to different speakers with the same source. If you go through with it make sure you come back and let us know what you did and how you like it. Good luck!

Are you only having issue when multiple devices are plugged in at the same time? There is a limit of how many watts the system will support (12v 180 watts for the 12V DC power point and 115 watts for the 110 Volt AC Power Point). Check the owner's manual, there are a bunch of disclaimers on that page (page 142 on the 2013 PDF). It also states that the vehicle must be on. On Page 143 it states: The power point temporarily turns off power if the 150 watt limit is exceeded. It can also switch to a fault mode when it is overloaded, overheated, or shorted. Unplug your device and switch the ignition off then on for overloading and shorting conditions. Let the system cool off, then turn the ignition off then on for an overheating condition. The power point is not designed for electric devices such as: • Cathode ray tube type televisions • Motor loads, such as vacuum cleaners, electric saws and other electric power tools, compressor-driven refrigerators, etc. • Measuring devices, which process precise data, such as medical equipment, measuring equipment, etc. • Other appliances requiring an extremely stable power supply: microcomputer-controlled electric blankets, touch sensor lamps, etc.

Looks good! Did you have it installed or do it yourself?

Hi Crystal, welcome to the forum.

What speakers sounds good is different for many people. Are you looking for accurate reproduction of sound? (The Sony system does not, but I think it sounds better than a lot of other systems.) Are you looking for more volume, sound pressure -- big bass? What kind of music do you listen to? For accurate reproduction, Focal & Infinity would be near the top of my list... I have not heard Polk for car speakers, but I have them at home and they are great... tend to be a little more mid and bass. Good choice for classic rock. You will get more value out of some of the Infinity line or Polk though. If you want something that will move some air -- hard rock, hip hop, metal, etc, then I think that Rockford Fosgate can be a solid choice, it will also take a lot more abuse than the speakers above. Would not want to listen to piano or classical on them though. AC/DC or Tool sounds amazing on them though. The thing that would give me pause with spending for the Focal would be is the amp clean enough and powerful enough for them. If the amp does not have a clean signal, they will sound bad. My last setup had JL Audio amps (~800 watts) with Focal drivers and a JL Audio 10 sub. Sounded amazing -- and I will never do it again. As the system aged the heat gave me issues with the digital signal processor... one of my amps went out under warranty, the other out of warranty.... The glue melted on the tweeter modifications and fell into the dash... took me forever to figure out where the highs went. The dynamat on the doors caused shorts in the speakers and also sometimes caused issues with the window going up and down... and probably other issues. And I had multiple installers look the system over (not a self install). You mess with the car you are inviting problems. A simple speaker swap should be pretty safe though... but there is probably going to be a little modification, just the way the OEM parts work... they want you to get the part from the dealer and make it harder for you to get something off the self. The Polk install looked pretty clean though... only a minor cut for the tweeter if I recall correctly.

Thanks for checking that larryh, I would not have expected those results... especially since quicker acceleration really dings your driving score... and shows up negatively on the driving coach screen.

Not sure how much you added to your electrical system with the HID, etc... but there are screens that will tell you how much power you are drawing.... cycle through them on the left panel next to your speedometer. It is more likely that the additional weight of the tires, going from 17s to 20s, is having a much larger affect than you thought it would. Also, the faster you drive the more energy is required. So as you hit highway speeds you will see your projected range diminish quickly. About the gage with the mileage on it, it is simply a guess at how many miles you will be able to drive based on recent history. As you slow down the mileage will take more than a mile to adjust, speeding up or turning on the climate control (AC or Heat) will negatively affect this range. At higher speeds it is probably best to put the car into EV Later mode, and when you return to secondary roads go back to EV Now or Auto mode. Hope that helps!

Spreadsheet is going to be your best bet if you want to see all of your miles. I have over 15,000 miles on the ODO but only stats for a little over 12,500 of them. For some reason Ford chose not to include all of the miles. You are correct the lifetime summary when you turn off the car will include all of your miles unless you reset it.

My Acura TL use to show me the tire pressure for each tire... I actually miss that. Couple technologies on this car that I will not want to skip in the future: ACC -- Adaptive Cruise is soooooooooo much better than I even thought it would be. BLIS -- Warnings backing up and in blind spot... this should be standard on all cars! Backup camera -- Glad this will be standard on all cars -- not sure why it has to take until 2018 for the car companies to comply Probably hooked for life on battery / electric driving... so cool not to have to worry about the price of gas -- might consider BEV next (min 120 to 150 mile range)

NHTSA originally wanted to make backup cameras mandatory by 2014, but I think the date was pushed out to 2018. You would think that it would at least be an easy option by now.

Thanks for posting that... I like that channel but had not seen that video yet. I think I will file that one under creepy though... Do not think I would buy something that like... camera always monitoring me for the system to work. I do like the idea of passenger in the car not having a crippled system, would think that you could do that without cameras though.

Battery temp at 85 does not sound like normal operation. How fast are you accelerating when you start? On your left screen, have you used the coach mode to see how well you are doing on Cruising, Braking, and Acceleration? If the lines are all short and yellow, then you are driving in a manner that will deplete the battery quicker. If the lines are all blue and long and you are still only getting 16 miles range (and the AC is not on MAX), then something is wrong.

Glad you made it out unhurt!

I agree with larryh... you have an issue. I am surprised the dealership will just keep replacing the battery rather than figure out what is wrong. Another user had a similar issue and they had a short.

Are you planning on keeping the 1.6 Ecoboost Fusion? If you are simply looking at economics you will also have to factor in the depreciation that you suffer from the quick trade in addition to the increased cost of the new car. As mentioned above, if you can do a lot of shorter trips on the weekend (gas free) that may help some... but you might need a L2 charger (additional expense) to take advantage of that as well. Economics aside, it still may make sense to do it. I like the idea of using fewer fossil fuel resources (my local energy plant is nuclear), and this month I am 99% EV. Even when I take trips that exceed my battery I like that I can drive around in fairly large vehicle that still manages to get ~40mpg at highway speeds. If you are simply looking at $$ than I think you will have a hard time making the numbers work. If you are looking at "is it worth it to you" to make the trade, the answer is maybe. What is it worth to you not to have to go to the gas station as frequently. Do you like the Fusion enough to buy it again? Can you trade storage space in the trunk for more gas mileage?

Unfortunately cars that wreck at high speed, especially at 100 mph almost never end well. Battery or no, the survival rate at 100 mph is not good. This would have not been significant news except it was a Tesla. If it helps, here are the crash test ratings for the Fusion Energi... nothing worse than 4 stars. http://www.cars.com/ford/fusion-energi/2014/safety-ratings/

Comfort is a relative term... best test is butt in seat :)