meyersnole

I also do not have an isolated circuit that I currently use for charging the car, but if I were to plug my blower into that circuit while the car is charging I will pop the breaker (from experience).

Rhyalus, I think the success of the Leaf is easy to explain... $199/mo lease and low $20s cost of the car in places like California where incentives are plentiful. As far as the looks, that is part of it... it is the new Prius, but only better. I like it, the more plug ins driving around the better the infrastructure will get for it. Maybe one day I will get a charger at work.

I came very close to buying that car, this is the car that I was cross shopping the Fusion.

...and all the gas we are saving this year over a conventional car is not a trivial amount of money at over $3/gal. (My previous car only got 21mpg on premium fuel). Kept my last car 7 years (longest I have ever owned a car), and plan to keep this one about the same. Wonder what the 2020 models will look like. Hydrogen? Natural Gas? Capacitor based electric (quick charging)? One thing is for sure, it will be different as the CAFE standards keep getting tighter.

If you go back to the first page of this topic you will find where we were discussing tint -- Click here 3M makes wonderful products, but I do not have experience with that film, I installed a ceramic film (FormulaOne pinnacal), but not on the front windshield. That is not legal in NC. If you do not make the tint too dark, then you will not have issues at night. Interesting point -- just because a film lets in less light does not mean it will let in less heat. Films are rated for both the amount of light that penetrates and the amount of heat rejected. Cost can vary greatly, but in general for a quality film like 3m or FormulaOne you are going to spend over $300 but it should have a lifetime warranty. Cheaper films can be installed for as little as $100 and some of them last a considerable amount of time but typically will not have the same heat rejection properties.

I am pretty sure you were addressing Mark, even though you addressed the post to me. The only thing that I would add to Mark's post is to ensure that you understand your local regulations on tinting, especially the front window. Some states will allow you to tint as long as you allow enough light to penetrate, but many states like mine, North Carolina, will not allow tinting below the DOT ASA line. Even if its legal to put tint on the front window, you would not want to put 70%, that in addition to the tint that is there would make it difficult to see at night. I think the recommendation is 90% if you are going to do it. For the best heat reduction on the sun roof, you should close the shade anyway so not sure what tint would do for you there. One thing I would echo from Mark's post... a good tint will significantly reduce the heat. It is worth the investment. (When shopping for films, looks at the numbers).

Welcome to the boards Mark!

My last car was a Acura TL (Honda) that got 21 mpg (when I was not having too much fun), I am over 2300 miles and still on the dealers 1st tank. :happy feet:

There are many chargers that would work. See Russael's post above. Not sure I would branch, but there are many examples of people doing this successfully. Given the line already exists, and you are not using it you could also probably get an electrician to wire any 16a charger to code with out much expense.

Cost less then what? Then gas or charging at 120v? I would concede that charging at 240v is more efficient then 120v, however you must realize that most are paying less then $1 to charge their car (it costs me $0.76 to charge mine) from empty. The few pennies that you save in efficiency will never be made up from the efficiency alone. However, if you find your self taking many short trips and those trips broken apart through out the day and originate from your house... then the money you save on those delta miles verses burning gas at 40+ MPG could theoretically make up the cost to install and buy a charger, but not likely. The purchase probably has more to do with convenience and the desire to drive more miles on electricity then saving money. But there is nothing wrong with that.

Are you planning on sharing that circuit with your dryer? Or that is available to use dedicated for your charger? Also, realize that most are happy with overnight charging and supplied 120v charger. I have been using for 3 months and there are only a hand full of times (after work or the weekends) where the L2 would have benefited me. Having said that, I am going to install one about 2 weeks. Really depends on your driving habits.

Welcome to the forum Mike! Congratulations on the new car

I am still on the dealers tank... over 2200 miles. :). On my morning commute I can get about 54mpg in hybrid mode (the other day my car didn't charge) on the way home it dropped to about 45mpg according to the trip summary. It is nice to know that you can pretty easily get the EPA numbers. It will be interesting to see how this car does on a long trip. I will be happy with mid 30s driving 75ish. Anybody drive this car at speed for a distance? I have never gotten anywhere near 27 miles, but I think that is because my commute includes a stretch of about 3-4 miles doing 60mph. I usually get 20-22. (I commute 22 miles). Fully charged I usually read 23-25 (no climate control) I don't use the MPGe, but my miles per gal is in the 250s range Very similar brake score, my lifetime is 92 would have to look, but I am obviously much higher on electric then gas

There is but it is not very intuitive. I can get to it, but would not be able to explain it with out going out the car. Can not remember if I went right or left on the control, and then it was listed. It seems to be available sometimes, and other times not.

Got a note from my dealer yesterday, the car that I originally ordered is in. Totally worth the extra $700 to skip the extra 3 mos of waiting, I think I would have gone insane. http://www.universityforddurham.com/new/index.cfm/action/view_2013_ford_fusion_energi/vehicle/3FA6P0SU9DR295200/#

Pulled the trigger today on the Bosch, http://www.pluginnow.com/power-max2 Power Max 30V with 18ft cord, scheduled to be installed July 5th

do you by chance have a large number of songs on a usb device or on your phone that MFT has tried to index? I recently did a master reset to clear out the previous indexes because the system was running so slow. I think Ford/Microsoft have a lot of work do on this platform. If they wanted to be lazy in their programming then they should have put more RAM in the hardware. One area I a really disappointed is the Navigation system. How is it that my Nav in my 2006 TL (built off of 2004/5 technology) was so much more intuitive and easier to use then this system? Hopefully they will continue to improve this platform.

Some are just putting their user names in there, so you are not sure which car it is anymore.

Added... interesting how there clumped together.

Howard, 1) on you PC you just go to the website and log in: http://phev.myfordmobile.com/content/mfm/en_us/site/my-car/home.html 2) the current alerts are: Charge complete Charge fault Plug-in reminder Alarm sounding Warning light on Low 12 volt battery Low tire pressure

It is true that premium fuel will last a little longer before going stale. HOWEVER, in some areas the premium fuel is older when you pump it into your car as it is not as popular a fuel as the regular gas. Most everything I have read is that you will not get any benefit from burning premium, but cars designed for premium can be damaged from burning regular gas. Most gas comes from the same place (regionally) so the main difference in brands is the additives they use. Although I understand that some discount gas is older then some of the name brand -- lately this has not been an issue due to the (manufactured) shortage of refined fuels. Unless I am going on long trips I plan to put only brand name fuel, and probably only 7-8 gals next (first) time I fuel up.

I also had a chance to try depleted battery hybrid on the way home from work. Since I went to lunch during the day, I completely depleted the battery. If the trip computer is to be believed, then I got 44.2 mpg driving mixed highway and city (60mph and 45 mph w/ many lights and traffic) over 10 miles, about 40/60% (Highway/City). I am very pleased with this as I was also running the air conditioning and it was about 89 degrees outside.

Shaggy -- what prompted this on your checklist?? - Battery in car matches requirements in manual (BXT-99R-390)

I previously drove an Acura TL, and before that a BMW 5 series. In the past I have placed much enjoyment in the precision of the turn & g force from acceleration, this car has a different purpose that can give you great joy as well. If you are looking for a car that you can assault a freeway onramp or scream down a back road then this vehicle is not for you. If you take pleasure in the technical aspects of driving, then this car can present a whole other level of challenge that can keep entertained and happy. Growing leaves on the display does little for me, but maximizing the brake coach, keeping the acceleration bar and cruising bar extended to the right can be very rewarding. As you hear others complain about the fluctuations in gas prices you have to reach back into your memory on when exactly was the last time you went to the gas station? (I have almost 1,700 miles on the ODO and still have 1/2 tank from when the dealer filled the tank before driving it off the lot). This is all before recognizing how refined this car really is. From the outside, this is one sharp looking car. The inside is quite nicely packaged and if you do drop $45K, then the car will be loaded with technology that you can not get on other cars in the same price range or class. The car is not without faults, but few cars are. So far I am very pleased with my purchase. Or to steal a phrase from defeltersnatch, I love the hell out of it.