meyersnole

You should be able to put your finger on any of the quadrants and switch to the full menu for Phone / Nav / Media / Climate. I always click at the bottom for the Media / Climate and the top for Phone / Nav... not sure if that is necessary. From your screen name I am assuming that you are using the older SYNC. Here is a tutorial by a Ford dealership that may help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnlZLY44Eq8

Complete EV score card here: http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

Also, there’s a Tesla pickup truck on the way. http://www.motortrend.com/news/teslas-secret-master-plan-part-deux-details-electric-pickup-semis/?wc_mid=4035:2614&wc_rid=4035:741843&_wcsid=92DC30576A23F7942E39377C1D9156F26F150291EB807681 Will be interesting to see how Tesla ramps its production. Recent Model 3 reservations show that the demand is pent up, and while the ramp in production has been great it is still lagging.

I also bought the EGO mower last Summer. In the past I have tried the Black & Decker battery and corded model with little luck. The battery version of the B&D charging system failed after 2 charges, also was heavy and did not cut well during the heavy growth seasons (Spring/Fall) and would stall. The corded version did not really have the power either, and the heavy cord necessary for the length required double the time to mow the lawn and the end result was an uneven cut. The EGO was a game changer. The mower has the power to cut the yard and is light so I don't miss the self propelled too much. Ended up buying the EGO blower too. Recently sold my chain saw... don't use it much, but if I get another one it will be the EGO. Seem to be great tools.

I usually take shorter trips, so that is a hard question to answer. I think I get about ~24 miles with mixed 30/45/55 mph driving in traffic... plenty of stop go with the AC off. If it turn it on its prob 18 or less if it is really hot out. But the temps are getting bad now. When the weather is nice (70s) the range predictor is around 26, but that is not driving more than 45mph. Car is fully charged now and claiming 24 on the range... use to read between 28-32 frequently.

I also have a 2013 and have noticed a bit more degradation, I only have 39,000 miles but a good amount of time I only run on the batteries and charge whenever it is in the garage on a L2 charger. I rack up some mileage on trips a few times a year. I don't usually run the battery all the way down before charging, but when I do I am also in the ~4.2 kWh range. There are only a couple local trips that cause the engine to turn on, but when it does I am still getting good gas mileage so I still feel pretty good about it. Never really thought about battery replacement unless there was a serious price drop.

I had mine fixed by the dealer once... it happened again and I just removed the whole thing... was a pain, but I like the look of it better. The first time I had the F fall off of the door, and the I on the trunk. This last time it was the I. The one that fell off was the driver's side door... need to work on removing the passenger one. Was not fun getting all the glue off.

Reading more, seems like this company stalled. Shame, seems like it was a very good idea that they just could not market.

Just watched the promo video for the VTRUX... that looks interesting. Surprised with all the excitement around the Tesla 3 they did not advertise a bit more... SUVs that get good fuel economy? Like that would not sell. Seems to have a strong GM tie there with the base vehicles, hope that the Ford Model E project has something similar cooking.

Pretty sure the Model E is going to be an electric car first by design (like the Volt/Bolt from GM). The articles seem to think the C-Max and bev version of the Focus will be retired. Little surprised by the C-Max as I thought that was a good competitor to the Toyota.

Hope it gets worked out soon. Keep us apprised of your progress.

Update on 200 mile electric car from Ford. Ford CEO Mark Fields confirms 200-mile electric car coming (updated) In addition to model E development (2019) we should see a 200 mile option on the Ford Focus BEV later this year. Interesting section of the article Late last year, Ford announced that it would commit $4.5 billion to expanding its lineup of green vehicles with 13 new "electrified" models. That pledge was widely misreported as a commitment to launch 13 new electric cars—which is far from what Ford likely intends. The word "electrified" includes conventional hybrids without plugs, and even vehicles with nothing more than 48-volt enhanced start-stop systems, as well as electric and plug-in hybrid models. Industry analysts and observers anticipate that only a handful of those 13 models to have plugs; most will be far more modest versions of electrification. So, there might be a chance that some of the 48V system makes its way to the F150 to capture lost breaking energy... not pure electric, but it adds up.

Also looking at 2015, the first quarter is just less sales than the rest of the year. Probably waiting for the new model year to come out.

Good stuff. I like to keep this site bookmarked... http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/ From the same site... also like that electric cars in general continue to grow.

I agree with Russael, there is an advantage in loading the music onto the stick with the USB 3 stick (what I use). As far as speed of indexing goes, it is very important to ensure that your tags are complete. If you have missing tags the system seems to struggle to index the device especially on large number of files.

Hard to tell if the tune really changed. If I am reading these right... near term plans... stay near 100 mile range on Focus, continue with PHEV C-Max & Fusion. Longer term (2019) remove the BEV platform from Focus and retire the C-Max, enter Ford - E with at least 200 mile range (in development). At least that is the way I have been reading the comments.

Here is the article from Green Car Reports on the topic: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103673_ford-ceo-mark-fields-confirms-200-mile-electric-car-coming?fbfanpage

Got the A7 SD on ebay for $70... probably could have waited a bit longer and saved $20, but overall pretty happy. Have not had it long enough to see how many of the new roads are on it. This area is expanding pretty rapidly, so lots of new roads.

Would you not agree that the grid is becoming cleaner? Many coal power plants have been cancelled, but even the new ones that come online will be cleaner than existing coal power plants. Many new renewable power sources have been coming online due to regulation and public relations by some larger companies. I just did a quick search to come up with this, so apologies if the data is skewed. Major energy sources and percent share of total U.S. electricity generation in 2015:1 Coal = 33%Natural gas = 33%Nuclear = 20%Hydropower = 6%Other renewables = 7%Biomass = 1.6%Geothermal = 0.4%Solar = 0.6%Wind = 4.7%Petroleum = 1%Other gases = <1%If I had to guess where we are heading, I would expect the natural gas number to grow along with the renewables at a lower rate at the expense of coal. I do not really follow this industry, but I do like to read about the advancements in renewables. Super efficient wind farm designs, printable solar panels, etc. I do find it sad that we do not seem to have visionaries today to take us to the next level like we had in the previous century. We did not build the federal highway system because of the economic force it became, travel to the moon because there was a thought that commercial space flight was the next frontier. Today we, collectively, seem to be driven more by economic viability over all else while yesterday's achievements crumble.

I think that Tesla has their attention, but lower oil cost have reinvigorated the larger SUV type market. As mileage efficiency improves and memories fade about how much pain $4+/gal at the pump can cause, the automakers will continue to pump that market and the high margins associated with the larger vehicles. Another benefit of Tesla is the volume of batteries produced is having an effect on cost, this is beneficial to all manufacturers that participate. Will be interesting to see what happens when Tesla's battery facility goes online freeing up their other supply chain (unless they just leverage both). Battery research also seems right on the cusp of a breakthrough... the real impediment to a viable BEV in my opinion.

I also went to another dealer to place an order because the one that was the most convenient, and closest, was also the dealership that really didn't want to sell me the car. They would have let me purchase one, but they knew nothing about it and the salesman kept inferring that the cars were a poor choice. I went with an order because I was looking at the car before they were on the lots. I agree with better training Ford could have sold many more of these vehicles. The market seems to be changing thanks to Tesla. GM and Nissan have responded with longer range BEVs. I am a bit surprised that it is taking Ford so long to respond, and wish that they would have at least improved the range of the PHEVs as GM did with the Volt. Will be curious how long it will take before we start hearing more about the Model E.

Subsidies are part of the economics. Do not agree that a company that is being successful (doing something right) should have to compete on an unlevel playing field to prove their worth. It is in society's best interest for an alternate mode of transportation to take hold. If for nothing else than the better air quality that would be the result. If we could further diminish our dependence on oil and partner this shift with domestic renewable energy then think of all the wars we could avoid and the saving in national treasure that would result. We do not have, or nor have we had a free market in the USA. We have a regulated market, and there are plenty of examples where the best solution loses by design. I am not stating that PHEV or BEV is the best solution in this statement, just one I chose with my dollars.

At least Ford is not pretending to sell PHEVs. http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/ They sold almost as many Fusions as Nissan did Leaf's last month. It will be interesting to see what happens with the numbers when the Volt refresh starts to be reflected in the numbers. Tesla seems to be the first manufacturer to sell an electric car in the numbers you would see an ICE sell. This market is still very young and too early figure out what any manufacturer is really doing.

Did not look at all the major interstates, but looking at US10, US40, and US95 it does appear that there are a significant number of dealerships either right on the highway or just off. Granted there are a few stretches in Texas that one might fear some range anxiety. So there might need to be a few charge stations at locations other than a dealership, but it would get them a significant part of the way to a network. A leaf only has a 70-90 mile range, the proposed Ford model E would be in the 200 mile range. https://www.google.com/maps/search/ford+dealerships/@35.7611341,-78.963158,9z

An interesting thought from a facebook comment I saw, Ford (or other big brands) could have a massive charging infrastructure up in no time if they decided to leverage their dealerships. Could model this network from Tesla and have a buy in, or charge a nominal fee (too much and it would go unused). All dealerships that are PHEV certified already have a L2 system in place (minimum of 2 charging stations), they could increase this requirement to include a L3 charging station by 2019 when the model E becomes available. Ford would be wise to subsidise some of the smaller dealerships aways from the big cities to encourage a bigger network. This would have the effect of putting it into direct competition with Tesla and one upping GM which has declared they would make no such investment. Tesla up to over 325,000 pre orders for a car that is not even fully baked... or that Tesla is even capable of producing in a timely manner... Partnership opportunity anyone? Speaking of partnership, I am surprised none of the other companies are interested in buying into Tesla's network, when the patents were offered up I thought that signaled Elon was willing to partner.