zimm25

You're right that running in electric mode highway vs. secondary would make a big difference too. I sit in a pretty good spot on rural secondary roads that average 40-50 mph with just 6 stoplights on my 18-mile commute. Electricity was a lot better until the February rate hike. I still don't feel horrible about the price increase because it's 100% renewable. There are many costs to living in the Northeast, but I love it here nonetheless.

I have solar thermal, but solar electric isn't an option with my roof/trees.

I'm sure some of the smart owners out there have figured this out, but at what price point does it make it more cost effective to run on gas alone? Obviously the variable is electric price, but there must be a fairly simple calculation that can be made. As Connecticut electric rates climbed 30% over the past 3 years ($0.20/kwh) and gas prices have fallen, the cost savings has to be very minimal at this point. Additional considerations must be: 1) Charging efficiency - particularly on hot days when the battery pack has to be cooled. 2) Battery efficiency - a) as the battery gets older AND b) as winter temperatures decrease efficiency. I love driving in electric mode and think it's better to use the battery rather than petroleum products, but I'm curious about the true costs balance. Anyone figured this out? Steve

Anyone else having issues with side view mirrors? I find myself resetting the mirrors almost everyday. It doesn't seem to be every day though. ??? The other day, I got out of the car and heard the driver's side mirror moving as I got out. Key was in my pocket and the car wasn't plugged in yet, so it can't be just based on plugging in. Any ideas out there?

15 degrees seems pretty low. Today I remote started my car (23 degrees - parked outside) 5 minutes before leaving and the car was warm with hot air blowing out. ICE never started. The battery said 97% remaining when I pulled out of my driveway. It would seem to me that the car is quite capable of warming up the cabin beyond 15 degrees without the ICE. It has to be the way Go Time is configured. If I plug-in a litle vornado space heater in my powder bathroom, it will make that room hot in 5 minutes. The car does the same with remote start, but not Go Time settings. My brother, an aerospace mechanical engineer, would tell me there's a lot more to it - which is probably, and unfortunately, true.

I'm still trying to figure out my Go Time heating issue. If it's 40+ degrees outside, I can remote start my car (parked outside) and within 5-10 minutes the car is warm and I have only observed the ICE running once. If, it's below 40 and I park in the garage and set a Go Time to 72 degrees. The car blower is on, but there is absolutely no heat. Is there an issue with my car or myfordmobile account? There's so much technology here, I can't figure out if it's the way that I'm using it, the way it's programmed, or an error. Any ideas are much appreciated.

I'm still trying to figure out my Go Time heating issue. If it's 40+ degrees outside, I can remote start my car (parked outside) and within 5-10 minutes the car is warm and I have only observed the ICE running once. If, it's below 40 and I park in the garage and set a Go Time to 72 degrees. The car blower is on, but there is absolutely no heat. Is there an issue with my car or myfordmobile account? There's so much technology here, I can't figure out if it's the way that I'm using it, the way it's programmed, or an error. Any ideas are much appreciated.

I did use remote start. As I said, I find it to be more energy efficient at heating before I leave, but I will have to rely upon Go Time when parking in the garage. I wish the ICE were disabled when plugged in. Maybe I'm in the minority. I wonder if it's actually less expensive (more energy efficient) to run the ICE for heat. My commute is 16 miles, so on cold days, I'm just making it to work with little heat. Once it gets really cold (Northwestern CT), I bet I'll need to use some gas.

I found that Go Times were a much bigger drain than just remote starting 5-10 minutes before I leave. BUT. . . I think the ICE is starting on really cold days. I started it this morning (25 degrees outside) about 10 minutes before I was going to leave and peaked outside just before I was about to go. There was exhaust coming out of the tailpipe! I got shoes on as fast as possible, ran out to the car and found the ICE was off. I'm 100% sure that I saw exhaust coming out of the tailpipe which is a HUGE concern for the times I want to park in the garage and still heat up the car a bit before taking off in the morning.

I can't figure out what's happening with my Go Time heating issues either. If I remote start, the car's always warm when I get to it. My Go Time heating is hit or miss and usually a miss. Blowers are on, but the air is cold. I've tried to reset temperature to 85 rather than 72 - still cold. I've left the climate system on and off before getting out of the car. Every controlled experiement leads me back to the same thing. Random heating from Go Time. Any suggestions? ? ?

I posted this elsewhere, but maybe this is the better thread for the answer- If the car's plugged in, will the ICE turn on when using remote start or Go Time to pre-heat the car? Don't want any fumes coming up from my garage!

Does the ICE ever turn on when remote starting or using Go Time? I'm concerned about parking indoors and having the car warm-up in the garage. I assumed that if the car was plugged-in, the ICE wouldn't ever start, but that's clearly not the case. I'm like a lot of the northern owners who really need the car to be warmed-up prior to starting my drive or I'll be running on the ICE much more frequently on my daily commute.

Thanks to everyone already on the site who posted. The info here made buying the car so much easier. I'm stunned that more of these cars aren't selling with all of the manufacturer and government incentives. My daily commute is 15 miles (one way) and my boss gave me permssion to plug-in at work. 200 miles into ownership and I've used 0.34 gallons which was all used on my drive home from the dealer! I'll burn some gas going around the Northeast for Ski, Sun & Family getaways, but overall, I cannot be more excited!