JTG Posted May 5, 2018 at 12:43 PM Report Share Posted May 5, 2018 at 12:43 PM Hello all. I just purchased a 2017 SE Luxury. I was looking at the standard hybrid and the salesman showed me this one. Like most the trunk space was/is one concern but from what I read here before purchasing it doesn't seem to be too much of an issue. A little bit about my car history. For 20 years I commuted by bus so I only drove 2 miles to the bus stop and parked the car. A couple of years ago I bought a 2013 Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca. Awesome car, great sound, terrible on gas and not great for long drives but a blast to drive. A year after buying that car I left my job and started commuting 80 miles each way. Not the commute you want to do in a mustang in traffic with a manual trans. For the last year I've used the mustang some days but mostly used my son's cars while they were away at college. One son is graduating and another is coming home so I needed a car. The fusion kept popping up on the top of the hybrid list. I looked at the Honda but it was much more $ and Honda does not have a great track record with their hybrid. I didn't consider the Hyundai Ioniq because it's too new. I'm not a toyota fan and obviously a ford fan so here I am. I'm looking to learn a bunch here about this car. From the brief bit I've read it seems like using Level 1 charging is better for the battery life and that works for my situation (overnight and at the office). I'd like to see what setup you guys are using at home and work. My office will be relocating from a leased building to a building we own so I'm going to request a charging station and need to research which will be best. I'm looking forward to all the bells and whistles in this car. The adaptive cruise control was interesting on the way home from the dealer and my wife is really jealous about the heated steering wheel and remote start. JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted May 5, 2018 at 02:59 PM Report Share Posted May 5, 2018 at 02:59 PM (edited) 240 volt charging is more efficient than 120 volt charging. You would have to buy a 240 volt EVSE since the one that comes with the car is 120 volt only. The maximum the car can take is 16 amps at 240 volts. That has to be on a 240 volt 20 amp circuit because continuous loads must be 20% less than the circuit breaker rating. (80% of 20 amps is 16 amps). I have been charging my car at 240 volts since the day I brought it home in 2013. The 240 volts AC has to be converted to DC and multiplied up to about 400 volts to charge the battery. That means the 16 amps AC becomes about 8 amps DC.. A warning about adaptive cruise control. In a very heavy downpour the radar transceiver may determine that the water is attenuating the signal too much and shut down. If that happens you will have no cruise control until you park the car and shut it off. When you turn it back on the cruise control will be back. I learned that the hard way while driving south on I95 in a heavy downpour with the wheels of the vehicle in front of me throwing water back at the front of the car. Having said that you only need a 16 amp EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment), if you have any plans to get a car in the future that can use more current, consider getting a bigger one now. I started with a 16 amp EVSE. Then I installed a 40 amp EVSE. Both of those are still in my garage. I recently added a brand specific 80 amp EVSE to the mix for my other car. The Energi can be charged by a 40 amp EVSE because the car and the EVSE negotiate the current that will be supplied. The connector that plugs into the car is a J1772 connector. Any EVSE that has that connector can be used. Edited May 6, 2018 at 10:36 AM by murphy fix typo jj2me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsamp Posted May 8, 2018 at 05:25 PM Report Share Posted May 8, 2018 at 05:25 PM Welcome JTG. Like you, I use the supplied L1 cord for overnight charging at home. I don't have a 240V line available at home and don't want to go through the trouble of upgrading my panel just for that. Overnight works just fine for me. There is L2 available at work, but I only use it on occasion if I have extra stops to make in my travels that day. The added bonus for L2 charging is the "go times" where you can set the climate controls to precondition (either heat or cool) the interior at a specific time. Handy for those frosty mornings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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