Gigi

Yep. It works. Send to Car shows up under the "send via" menu in Google Maps. The advantage to me is that when I bring up an address in Google Maps I can send it directly to Sync without having to do more typing on the navigation screen or to re-enter the address in Sync Destinations. Very convenient. The time it takes for Sync Services to send the address to the car's navigation system is a little slow, but I can live with that so long as I can avoid re=entering information I already have.

I've had a 2013 Fusion Energi for two months and between my wife and I, we have put on over 3,500 miles. We have had no computer related problems. Updating to the latest version of the software was a little touchy, but this was resolved with nothing more complicated than deleting and repairing the phones. The only computer system related complaint I had was that the Sync webpage was not picking up the fact that I had updated the operating system. A PM to a helpful tech took care of that. The trunk space is fine for groceries and for luggage for 2 or 3 people. If 4 people take luggage, they had better pack light - 4 carry ons and not much more. More than 90% of our use of the car is commuting and driving around town for shopping etc. For us, the trunk is not a big issue. I am very happy with our Energi and am happy to recommend it.

When I'm on this forum and someone refers to an FFE, I assume that means a Ford Fusion Energi. Besides being an FFE owner, I also have one of the other FFEs, Ford Focus Electric, that is. It's probably too late for this, but I wish we had two different abbreviations that distinguished between the two cars. If you see me referring to FFEnergi and FFElectric, it's not that I don't like the FFE abbreviation, it's just that in my situation things are a little more complicated. My wife solved the problem for our household. The Energi is "Gigi" and the Electric is "Effie." She hasn't named any of our last seven cars, not since we were in college nearly 40 years ago. I take that to mean that she's really pleased with these two. :)

What I object to is when, at the end of the sale, a salesman shows me a copy of the online feedback form and asks me to check "excellent" in every category so that he can get a bonus. When he clearly did not understand some of the fundamentals of how hybrids work, that wasn't happening. It would be good if persons interested in electric vehicles were referred to someone at the dealership who has a well grounded knowledge of these vehicles. Ford would be even better off with all of their sales personnel being well trained and understanding the fundamentals of how these things work.

Lo and behold! After installing the app on my phone, I find that it shows up in the share list in my MapQuest app too!

When I am going somewhere unfamiliar, I often add the address in the "Location" field of an appointment in Google Calendar. I have been looking for a way send that location to the navigation system. The Android Sync Destinations app doesn't allow me to paste an address into the destination field. While the PC Mapquest site allows sending a destination to Sync, the Android app does not. I found an app in the Google Play Store called Send to Car that allows sharing a destination with Sync from the Google Maps app. Going through the menus to add a destination to the navigation system or retyping an address into Sync Destinations is tedious. Bringing up an address in Google Maps and sharing it with Sync looks like it would be so much easier if the app actually works. Has anyone used this app?

I'm holding my breath! Thanks, Kim

Buying $174 worth of stock at today's price could get me $2,500 off the price of a new car six months from now? Dang! The stock could totally tank and I'd be way ahead. Does the X-plan eliminate receiving other discounts?

Thanks, Kim. I see that I can skip songs in Pandora with steering wheel controls. That's a big help. Now if y'all can get the channel list up on the MFT screen or better yet, into voice commands so that we can change channels, that would be great! Ben

I think that when considering an electric vehicle, the thing to do at a dealership is to first find the sales manager and ask to speak with the salesperson who has the most training on and knowledge of electric vehicles. The one I worked with did not understand the car as well as I did. The one you talked to is full of hot air. You don't have to work with him. If your dealer doesn't have Energis on the lot, buy your car at one that does. Your local dealer will make money doing service and repairs. That's what they're there for. The trunk is only half the size of the regular fusion. 8 cubic feet is large enough for groceries, but it will not hold luggage for 4 people. I have another vehicle that I can haul lots of luggage in, so for me, that's not a problem. The audio system in the SE is not as good as I would have liked. The Titanium has a much nicer radio, but at the time I was buying, the Titanium only came with a black interior. I hear that has changed for 2014 and that the light interior will be available on the Titanium. The battery is supposed to be good for the life of the vehicle and is warrantied for 8 years/100,000 miles. I am betting that by then, batteries will be better and cheaper, like flat screen TVs are today compared to five years ago. In order to charge quickly, you do need to install a 240V outlet in the garage or near the car if it's outside and to buy a charging station or EVSE. Good ones for the Energi run from $500 to $650 plus the cost of installation. I was able to do the install myself. You may know someone who has the know-how and skills or you'll just have to pay someone to do it. It sounds like you do a lot of short trips and errands around town. That is perfect for driving on electricity vs. gas. After your round of morning errands, if you charge at lunchtime, you can go out again and drive all on electricity again. Charge again and go out to dinner if you like. For me, 21 miles driven on electricity costs about 62¢. Our Honda Odyssey did not get 21 miles a gallon around town. 62¢ vs. $3.25+ for 21 miles is a big difference. The car is expensive, but so is a brake job. I have a friend with a Prius who has driven his car over 200,000 miles and he has not yet needed a brake job. He drives like an old lady using the regenerative braking to put energy back into the battery rather than creating ugly brake dust and wearing out his brake pads and rotors. Driving in EV mode is a very pleasant experience. It's quiet. It's smooth. It's like driving an electric golf cart only you're in a mid-size luxury car. One drawback to the quiet is that you do need to be careful in parking lots. People can't hear you coming and if you're not careful, you might run over an unwary pedestrian. Of course, you could make a game of sneaking up on your neighbor walking in the parking lot and blowing your horn!

I think I may have a more nearly accurate number now: 145kWh used for 798 miles. 145kWh ÷ .80 charging efficiency = 181.25 181.25kWh x 8.865¢ per kWh = $16.07 of electricity used for charging $27.64 for 8.92 gallons of gas + $16.07 for electricity = $43.71 total cost for 794 miles $43.71 ÷ $3.099 (the cost of a gallon the day I filled up) = 14.10 gallon equivalents 798 miles ÷ 14.10 gallon equivalents at today's electric rate and today's gas prices = 56.6 MPGe I am assuming that the 145kWh shown on the trip odometer is the actual kWh used by the vehicle and that charging efficiency is 80%. Or is there another number that should be included to account for efficiency in cold weather? I realize that I am not including preconditioning. Is that included in the 145kWh? The 33.705 figure used by the EPA to arrive at gallon equivalents is pretty accurate considering my electric rate at this time of year. It will be a little low come summer rates. If I understand this correctly, when gas prices go up, MPGe goes up. When May 1 arrives and battery charging goes up to 12.885¢ per kWh, MPGe will go down. It will be interesting to see how this all figures come summer with better electric range, perhaps higher gas prices, but also higher charging cost. My bottom line from figuring this up: I think that 56.6 MPGe is well worth the small amount of effort it takes to plug in.

Thanks, Larryh I feel better now. Rather than go with my faulty memory of how many times I charged the car, I took your suggestion and looked back at the trip odometer, which I reset at each fill-up. 145kWh were used. 145kWh ÷ .80 charging efficiency = 181.25 ÷ 33.705 = 5.38 gallon equivalents 8.92 gallons of gas + 5.38 electricity gallon equivalents = 14.3 gallon equivalents 798 ÷ 14.3 = 55.8 MPGe That's more like it. What values are assumed to arrive at the 33.705 figure? Which is more nearly accurate, to divide by .8 for charging efficiency or to multiply by 1.23 as you suggest?

As I continue thinking about this, the days when I added a second charge to the car, often, this was not a full charge. If I lower my estimate to 30 full charges over 21 days (averaging in a guess at the number and amount of several partial charges), that would give me an MPGe of 53.59, which sounds a little more respectable. I am going to need to keep track of charging time between fill-ups to come up with a better estimate of how much electricity is going into the car.

Somebody check my math and see if I am figuring this correctly. My wife got antsy and filled up the tank when it was only down to about a quarter of a tank. 8.92 gallons of gas went into the tank @ $3.099 = $27.64. 798 miles were driven. Over the 21days since the last fill-up, I think that we charged the car 40 times. (I should keep better track.) 6.93 kWh to charge x 8.9¢ per kWh = 61.7¢ per charge. 40 charges x 61.7¢ per charge = $24.68 of electricity $27.64 gas + $24.68 electricity = $52.32 total cost for 798 miles. $52.32 total cost ÷ $3.099 (the cost of gas at the pump today) = the equivalent of 16.88 gallons of gas. 798 miles ÷ 16.88 gallon equivalents = 47.27 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe). I am thinking 47.27 is my MPGe for this tank of gas at today’s gas and electric prices. Do I have this figured correctly? Am I missing anything?

Yep! Mine is reporting correctly too after a PM to Kim.

I am happy with this one: http://amzn.com/B00B2GWRLQ And what Russael says above is good advice.

Apparently Kim got mine straightened out. Thanks.

Any suggestions for reliable battery boosters to carry with?

Useful thread. If I were to purchase a jump starter to carry in the car just in case the 12 volt battery should die for some strange reason, how many amps does it take to "start" the car? How many kWh would the starter battery need to be? As I understand it, what is needed is just enough current for long enough to get the 12 volt control systems up and running and then the HVB (which should always have a reserve charge) will start the ICE via the electric motor. Is that correct?

Kim, Thanks for your reply. I can appreciate the work it takes to get a new system up and running. I can start Pandora by voice on my phone. I can select Bluetooth Audio handsfree with MFT. What I would like is to be able to change stations and otherwise interact with the Bluetooth app via MFT using voice commands and the steering wheel controls. HondaLink has an app that does this. It should not be too difficult to get this app licensed and adapted for Ford or to create a similar app. What I would like to avoid is looking at my phone while driving. If SiriusXM has some sort of agreement with Ford not to pursue offering a Pandora app, I wish Ford would rethink that agreement. I am not at all pleased with the audio quality of Sirius via MFT. It sounds like their audio stream compression is very high, producing very poor quality. Their audio quality may be fine for talk radio, but it is not good enough for music, at least not in my car. I appreciate your taking an interest in what people on this forum are saying. I think that you and Ford can find some good feedback here that has potential for improving the product and creating happy customers. Ben (Gigi)

Thanks again, guys. I was out for two short trips today, 17.7 and 19.8 miles. It was in the 40s and I had the climate on 68. I was in EV all the way until the last 3 tenths of a mile when I started up the hill to my house and the ICE kicked in - just not enough juice to make the steep grade. That's what I get for living on top of a ridge.

It's easy to restore one touch up. 1. press and hold the down button to lower the window and keep the button pressed for 5 seconds after the window is down. 2. pull and hold the button to raise the window and keep the button up for 5 seconds after the window is up. You will hear a click each time. This works for all four windows.

Thanks

I'm confused. I updated SYNC with the latest update download and I followed instructions to place the USB in my computer and select the file that tells SYNC that the update was completed. The support.ford.com page still shows that my software version is 3.5.1 and I continue to get the "Software update available" notice. I downloaded the latest update file again and tried to install it in the car, but the process stopped with a notice that I already had that version installed. I have tried running a vehicle health report and the update version still shows 3.5.1. My understanding is that the latest version is 3.6.2. The only thing I can think to do is to call SYNC. Any other suggestions?

Thanks, larryh. I am wondering if I could just add the oem Titanium package shelf speakers. Surely, there must be a way to integrate these into the existing premium audio system.