Energitic

Just updated my 2014 to 3.8. Everything went smooth, no issues so far. Siri eyes-free works great. :)

There are already offers of the A6 card in original packaging on eBay for less than half the price of Ford's "special offer" ...

 

BTW, Apple just announced at WWDC that the next version of Car Play will connect to the car wirelessly, meaning in the future you will not have to connect it with a cable. Much better.

I really thought we would start seeing phone nav on the main screen by now with Apple Car Play being announced a couple years back... but it has been slow to roll out.  It is only a matter of time though.

 

True. There is an equivalent for Android too (forgot the name though). And the phone-based maps are far superior to most car navigation systems when it comes to search capabilities. However, the one drawback is that the phone still needs to be plugged in with a cable since Bluetooth is not fast enough to mirror the screen. Since you can't leave a phone visible in a parked car these days, the constant plugging/unplugging can be a bit annoying unless you have a custom cradle for the phone.

 

Back to topic: Any experiences with the A6 update yet? I'm currently on A5 and was planning to skip this update unless it has more significant changes than from A4 to A5 ...

Car payment? What's that? ;) Our car is paid for and now we're saving up for when we decide to replace the Energi in probably 4-5 years.

 

:thumbsup:

 

In fact, taking into account the federal tax credit and CA rebate, I paid barely more for my Energi than I would have for a regular Fusion. Counting the gas savings over a few years (I have a short commute and currently run over 100 MGP), I'll probably come out ahead. The HOV access is just the cherry on top for me. And where I drive the HOV lanes are still significantly faster than the other lanes.

However, if you live in California, the $1,500 CA tax rebate that applies to the Fusion Energi is indeed a rebate... but only if you keep the car for at least 36 months.

 

The California CVRP rebate is not a tax rebate. They simply send you check.

InsideEVs reports that the green stickers are about to run out in the next couple of weeks (and there is now little chance of still getting them for new buyers since there is a registration backlog at the DMV). This time, it is unlikely that the number of stickers will be extended again. I wonder what this will do to sales of the FFE and other plugins.

 

Anyway, happy to have my stickers. :) They are saving me a lot of time and nerves ...

What's the penalty for reseving a spot and then not using the reservation?

There isn't any. I guess we could have a "use it or lose it" rule of some kind, but it seems to happen rarely enough that it wasn't necessary so far. A bigger problem is that even with the fee, people sometimes still go over time (e.g. because they are in a meeting and forget), which is obviously very annoying for the person that has reserved the next slot. I think these kind of things will be a general problem in the future as more and more plugin vehicles are sharing the public chargers ...

We have a similar setup at work. We have a total of 6 Chargepoint chargers. The general rule is that each car has 2 hours max to charge, then the car has to be moved. To "encourage" people to stay within that limit, the first 2 hours of charging are free, and after that the fee is very high (something like $15/hour).

 

Since we now have quite a few plugin vehicles competing for the spots, we also had to introduce a reservation system. The spots are visible as "rooms" in our corporate Outlook calendar and have to be reserved in advance.

Just a heads-up: The 3.7 update is now available on the support page for the 2014 Energi.

Hm, I'm actually glad that it looks like a "normal" car. I have no interest in a "green looking" car. I just want a good looking one. ;)

 

Besides, here in CA they are easily identifiable via the giant green HOV stickers ...

With MFT 3.7 this change happens. If your Energi is not MY13 you should be able to download this update. For MY13 there is no update available.

 

Has this actually been released? I don't see a new version on the Sync support page although I have a 2014 FFE.

The green sticker allows us to  use the carpool lanes.  Crossing the bridge you have to have your FastTrac device on the dash and that gets us $2.50 tolls rather than the $5 tolls.  For the Express Lanes, you have to keep your FastTrac in its mylar bag and then you can use the express lanes for free.  (This is the instructions I got from FastTrac when I called for clarification).

 

That is correct. I have done this many times on the Dumbarton Bridge and Bay Bridge. Note, though, that the $2.50 reduced toll is only valid during carpool hours, i.e. Mon-Fri 7-10am and 3-7pm, and you have to use the carpool lane.

InsideEVs reports that the CA senate has approved another 15,000 stickers, bringing the total to 70,000. It is expected that the State Assembly will vote in favor as well. This is likely the final allocation, and the stickers are projected to run out sometime around the end of this year.

 

http://insideevs.com/california-senate-clears-path-additional-15000-green-hov-stickers/

Got my check too. FFE bought in March 2014.

It's a bit early to tell. It will probably take at least 4 years for the Model 3 to come out. A lot can happen during that time. One of the most interesting developments in the near future is that a new generation of less expensive automotive battery cells is about to come out (primarily from Korean manufacturers LG Chem, Samsung and SK), which will reduce or eliminate the price advantage Tesla currently enjoys on the batteries due to using the relatively cheap 18650 cells. By the time Model 3 comes out, we'll probably see a few longer range electric vehicles from other manufacturers as well.

 

But in general, I have my doubts whether a pure EV will be practical as an "only car" during the next decade. The "superchargers" are nice, but there are still large areas in the US and other countries that are not covered at all, and even if they are, you may have to take long detours to get to a charger. And then it is unclear how scalable the supercharger approach really is as Tesla brings out less expensive cars that will presumably sell a lot more than the Model S. Some of the supercharger sites are already congested on certain days (like the ones on the route between LA and Las Vegas).

 

So, I think in the near term it's perhaps a better approach to have a smaller and very efficient limited-range EV (along the lines of the BMW i3, but hopefully a bit less expensive) along with an efficient plugin-hybrid (such as the FFE :-)) for long-range travel.

 

In any case, interesting times. ;-)

Do not let the dealer pressure you to "buy now or you'll lose it". You have plenty of time to decide and will probably find a better deal online, as mentioned above.

 

Also, check if your car insurance company offers a "mechanical breakdown insurance". Sometimes these offer equal or better coverage at a significantly lower price than extended warranties (and it's usually not one big upfront payment, but a small yearly/bi-yearly payment).

The new Clipper Creek LCS-20 is just $395:

 

http://www.clippercreek.com/store/product/charging-station-lcs-20-level-2/

Just FYI, Gov. Brown signed bill SB853 yesterday, which includes a provision to issue another 15,000 green HOV stickers (raising the total cap to 55,000). The ARB site is not updated yet, but should be next week.

I've had my Fusion Energi for about 3 months now and have purchased gas just once (my commute is easily covered in EV mode). At this rate, Ford's goodwill payment will cover my entire gasoline costs for several years.

 

BTW, I easily exceed the original rated EV range (have not really measured the engine MPG since I haven't driven a lot on gas yet).

Purchased my Fusion Today!.. 

 

I was told by the finance dept. the HOV stickers were gone..  as of May 09

 

Right before I got the keys my Saleman gave me the stickers in hand... (I thought you had to go thru DMV to get these)

Until recently, dealers could preorder the stickers for cars on their lots. The last of those stickers are going fast now, you were lucky to still get them. :)

 

 

I never installed all of them on my last car, a Prius.  I put one on the rear hatch on the right side of the lower window and was never stopped or hassled.

It's not just about the police seeing them, but also other drivers. The stickers are easy to remove once they expire in 2019 (I did this with the old yellow stickers on a previous hybrid car).

Ford's response has information about how SYNC uses location data. However, it is different from MFM in that location information will only be shared via your Bluetoot-connected phone when you request a specific service requiring the locaiton (e.g. spoken turn-by-turn directions via SYNC), whereas MFM periodically transmits your location in the background via the inbuilt cellular radio.

GIven all the massive data breaches and privacy violations these days, I think the question posed in this thread is a valid one. Here's a bit more information with regard to the privacy of location information collected via Ford's connected car services. A few months ago, Senator Franken sent a letter to Ford asking to clarify the handling of location information (prompted by a remark made by a Ford executive, who said at a conference "We have GPS in your car, so we know what you're doing").   You can find the letter here:

 

http://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2662

 

And Ford's response:

 

http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/letter/140212FordResponse.pdf

 

In a nutshell: location data collected by MFM is stored for 90 days by Ford, and is shared with the service provider who runs MFM services for Ford (a company called Acquity Group, which is owned by consultancy company Accenture). Ford may also share the information with law enforcement agencies pursuant to a court order.

 

However, no location data leaves the car if you don't explicitly enable MFM. So, if you don't want your data to be collected, don't enable MFM or deactivate it via factory reset. And BTW, the latter is also highly recommended if you buy a used Ford, to make sure that the previous owner cannot track your information via a previously linked MFM account. You can then reactivate MFM and link the car with your own account.

Well, I can certainly understand if you think it's "too expensive", but "too small"? You should really reserve a test drive. The Model S is incredibly spacious, much more so than the Fusion (I won't even mention the trunk :)). It's a fantastic car if you can live with the range limitations.

 

As for the drivers who keep following you, perhaps they interested not in the car, but in you.  :camera: 

After several accidental fuel door openings by passengers in just the two weeks I've had the car now, I have to agree that this is a very annoying design flaw. :(

 

Please Ford, consider if you can come up with a software-based mitigation for the current models (e.g. by only opening the door after holding down the button for 5 seconds, or perhaps after a "double click"). And, by all means, move the button elsewhere for the next vehicle update!

Thanks. Under the rear deck, there is some plastic pipe. I seem to recall that I read it somewhere about one should avoid blocking the air flow. What is this plastic pipe for?

It is used to draw cabin air for cooling the battery while driving, since the driver is likely to have the A/C on when temperatures are high.