Energized

I would respectfully disagree with that conclusion. If the car had to be charged every day, we would see a lot more instances than have been posted here. If something is draining the battery excessively then having a larger battery would not fix the problem, it would only mask the issue by extending the time until the battery is dead. If the battery needs to be charged every day then having a battery with twice the reserve capacity would mean the battery needs to be charged every other day. That is not an acceptable solution in my opinion.

A driver tested the regen efficiency on a Focus Electric by driving up and down Mt Washington. When the vehicle reached the bottom of the mountain, it had recaptured 96% of energy when accounting for rolling resistance. Not accounting for rolling resistance, the number was 72%.

In a high temperature environment, I wouldn't be surprised if the fan ran for a short period of time after stopping, especially if the battery was recently used in a state of high regen or high drain . The batteries don't like to be in an environment greater than 130 degrees so running air over them for a short time after stopping would sound reasonable to me, similar to when an oven runs a fan to cool the electronics for several minutes after turning the oven off. The issue would be if the fan never shuts off which would obviously drain the battery.

The Energi's 3G data system is not always on per se, it's normally in a state of rest. It's quiescent state is low until it is awakened. A 10A measurement is not really a pertinent data point unless a time factor is included. Tesla is changing how their "My Tesla Mobile" system works so it's similar to the Energi's. Telsa's current system is always on and contributes to a large vampire drain for that vehicle. Their latest update will put the system into a rest state like the Energi but will require a longer time to get updates, 45 secs or so, just like our cars require.

You are correct, the Fusion Energi is a more efficient design than the Volt, even though the Fusion is a larger class of vehicle. The Fusion is a Malibu sized vehicle and the Volt is based on the smaller Cruze. The efficiency advantage the Fusion has over the Volt is apparent both while using battery power and while using the engine. This has been confirmed by tests run by the EPA. Here is a Wall Street Journal article that also describes the more efficient battery in the Fusion. http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/11/08/fords-battery-is-gives-it-the-edge-over-prius-volt/ The advantage the Fusion has over the Volt extends to the use of the ICE as well. Not only can the Fusion run on regular fuel instead of premium (required on the Volt) the Fusion is a true hybrid which gives it an advantage in MPGs over the smaller Volt.

Being able to access Sirius directly by channel name makes Sirius so much more usable. So much so, I might even pay for the service after the trial ends. Other cars I own with Sirius require you to remember the channel number which really limits how much I use it.

The Lincoln MKZ has standard LED headlights. "Standard LED taillamps and class-exclusive* full LED headlamps beautifully blend elements of style and function." The amount of energy draw from the accessories and lights are fairly small in comparison to what the motor uses. Even the A/C is very efficient. The heater is what supposedly draws a lot of power.

When in Auto, the engine will turn itself on under certain conditions, such as heavier acceleration. While in EV Now, the car will not turn the engine on, no matter what, even if you floor it. While in EV Now, pressing "OK" will momentarily put you in "Auto" mode. This allows the engine to turn on under the same conditions mentioned above. It will time out after a short while and you will need to press it again if you want the ICE on standby. This mode is helpful if you want extra power to accelerate up an onramp, merge with traffic, or drag race the person next to you (just kidding, don't try this at home).

While in any mode you can use voice controls to directly select any Sirius channel by using just the channel name. For instance "CNN", "CNBC", or "90s on 9", you don't need to say "Sirius" first and you don't need to memorize the channel number. Just press the button and say "Elvis" and you're listening to the King in one simple step. Very slick!!!

Yep, that's her. She's the chatty one with a 10,000 word vocabulary.

VOICE GUIDANCE ON / OFF - Navigation While in the Nav mode, using the voice command "Voice Guidance Off" turns off the verbal directions from the nav system. Once the verbal commands are off, they stay off until you turn them back on. It will not reset to On. You can turn the verbal commands back on with "Voice Guidance On" This feature is handy when: 1) you're using the nav system to monitor your distance to destination so you can properly budget your remaining EV miles 2) you don't want the Nav lady interrupting your music all the time with commands

My upgrade went smoothly. The Phone and Nav always loaded quickly for me in the last version, but now it's super fast. After I loaded my phone contacts, I turned the Auto Phonebook feature off (this makes the system faster on startup). It's nice to be able to press anywhere within a homepage quadrant now to get to Phone/Entertainment/Climate/Nav.

I've experienced a similar sensation on occasion so I suspect it's how the system is calibrated. It hasn't bothered me so I haven't explored adjusting the fan to see what difference that makes. 72 is usually good for me, so that's where I typically leave it.

On the touchscreen, press the Vent picture. This takes the system partially out of Auto Mode and the A/C button will then turn the A/C On or Off. Alternatively, you can also use voice commands. "Climate" <tone> then "Vent" The Fan will remain in Auto Mode until you manually change the fan speed.

Not exactly. The Focus EV lowered the price by 4K, not 5K. 5K is 25% greater, regardless, the Focus EV is a small volume compliance car built on the same assembly line as the regular Focus. The Volt was supposed to be selling in large volumes which is why they had a dedicated assembly line for the car. The Volt has been selling at a small fraction of the the original plan even with massive incentives. The "build it and they will come" approach has ended badly for GM. Jan 21, 2011 'Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson plans to double the 2012 production capacity for the Chevrolet Volt to 120,000 as he works to boost the plug- in hybrid’s sales, said two people familiar with the matter.'

From my understanding, the "Scheduled" part refers to a diagnostic that's running in the background. It continually checks the status of the system and the status of communications with subsystems like Sirius and it runs on a 2 minute schedule. The diagnostic expects to get messages on a regular basis from different parts of the system. If the system goes 2 minutes without getting the response it's expecting to get, it will perform a reset and clean out cache, etc. If the system were to detect a problem, or if it were to lock up, it would theoretically go no more than 2 minutes before it started to self-heal.

Mine shows charging at 14.0V when first plugged into the wall. The car trickle charges the 12V battery while it's plugged in, right from the beginning, not just at the end of the charging cycle. When the car is "running", the HV battery charges the 12V battery, which sort of mimics how a normal car would charge the 12V battery via an alternator.

Did you have a cell phone attached via a USB cable when this occurred?

Voice Commands for Navigation http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch

I've had good luck with the Energi's voice commands and find the system a lot better than in my MB. For an embedded system it works very reliably for me. I especially like the voice tagging in the Nav Favorites, it's 100% reliable and makes the Nav system so easy to use, just one press of a button. Things like "Destination My Home" or "Destination Mountain Cabin" There are short cuts like "Map", brings up the Nav screen. The Sync site explains the process this way. Voice / Mode / Task http://support.ford.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobkey=id&blobwhere=1309204950943&blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&b=75 Once you're in a certain Mode, you don't need to repeat the Mode for the next command. With voice commands, you need to tell SYNC which mode you want and wait for the prompt before telling it the task you want to complete. Once you're in a mode, when you press Voice you'll hear the prompt "<Mode>, please say a command." If your next command is within the same mode, you don't need to repeat the mode, just give SYNC the task. However, it is no longer necessary to identify the audio source when switching between USB, Radio, and SIRIUS radio (if equipped) modes. For example, when playing media via a USB source, you do not have to say “Radio” to begin listening to a radio station, just press the Voice button, and then tell SYNC the station (ex. “FM 107.7”). Similarly, when in Radio mode, you can now press the Voice button and say “Play <Track> by <Artist>” (ex. “Play The Ninth Symphony by Beethoven”) to listen to a specific track that is stored on your USB-connected device. http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/understanding-voice-commands-sync-myford-touch

Thanks, found it. The item that looks like a battery under the hood is a fuse panel.

The quieter a vehicle is, the more "packing" will occur if only one window is opened. The reason for this is a vehicle that's designed to be very quiet does not have anywhere for incoming air to escape, or leak out. Cracks and seams are filled to keep the cabin tight. The air "packs" into the cabin, causing the buffeting sensation you hear. The solution is to crack another window or vent the moon roof. The owner's manual says: Note: You may hear a rumbling noise when just one of the windows are open. Lower the opposite window slightly to reduce this noise.

Did the water spill in your trunk get any electrical components wet?

Yes, the info comes via satellite and it starts to download when you first start the vehicle provided you have a clear view of the satellite. It can take several minutes. The system then updates at some unknown rate. Under 'Travel Link' do you see the little swirling circles next to Traffic Nearby, Fuel Prices, Movie Listings, Sports Info, etc when you start the car? When you don't get traffic, is the swirling circle still swirling?

Where exactly are the jumper terminals? The manual mentions some plugs, but they weren't readily evident to me. I may have located the red covered positive plug, but not the negative one.