Ford Focus 110 MPGe rating, topping LEAF?

[lspooz]

... The more advertising for EVs the better the whole market will do....

+1

From the OP link: ...the automaker will continue to slowly roll out the vehicle in California and New York later this month, followed by other major markets, including Detroit, in the fall...
again, the more the merrier!

By 2020, the automaker anticipates to have 10 to 25 percent of its global fleet electrified [70% hybrid, 20-25% plug-in hybrid, and all-electric vehicles to remain a niche market of 5%
Unfortunately this means only overall ~1% BEV for Ford within the next 8 years.

Whereas more competition and lower prices would help EVs gain sales, at $5000 more than the LEAF and lack of a Chademo QC port it looks more like competition for the Volt. Gotta love the similar range and overall efficiency. On the other hand, it'll be a hit to the Tesla S market share?

 

[Boomer23]

It would appear that the FFE has a similar amount of hatch room as the Leaf...

FFE is not practical for me, I need a trunk.

Check out this post from kovalb. It appears that there is almost no space under the rear hatch of the FFE. Being a retrofit of an ICE car, the hatch area is apparently where Ford's contractor put the batteries.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6641&start=170" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The way that kovalb posted his pics, you have to right click on the icon and then select "open image in new tab".
Or here is the link to his Flickr image.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10859340@N08/6686589763/in/photostream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[EVDRIVER]

... The more advertising for EVs the better the whole market will do....

+1

From the OP link: ...the automaker will continue to slowly roll out the vehicle in California and New York later this month, followed by other major markets, including Detroit, in the fall...
again, the more the merrier!

By 2020, the automaker anticipates to have 10 to 25 percent of its global fleet electrified [70% hybrid, 20-25% plug-in hybrid, and all-electric vehicles to remain a niche market of 5%
Unfortunately this means only overall ~1% BEV for Ford within the next 8 years.

Whereas more competition and lower prices would help EVs gain sales, at $5000 more than the LEAF and lack of a Chademo QC port it looks more like competition for the Volt. Gotta love the similar range and overall efficiency. On the other hand, it'll be a hit to the Tesla S market share?

'

Well, the Focus hits the sweet sport for economical charging on board, 6.6kw. I don't see many using Chademo at the moment and I would certainly rather have a larger charger on my LEAF VS something that is not usable and may possibly be defunct in part by efforts of those just releasing cars.

 

[PatricioEV]

I too wanted to wait for the FFE until I actually got to see one up close and sit in it. IMO, the FFE is nicer styling in and out, but the interior feels very cramped compared to the Leaf. The Dash and center console are much bigger and higher, making the front seats feel MUCH smaller. And like other new Fords I've looked at, Ford still just can't seem to get the details right. There were too many pices that didn't seem to fit well or wear well. This is after all based on an existing platform, not like the interior plastics were mockups. Finally, the higher price and longer wait was what broke the deal for me.

As for the overall rating.. it could also be that Nissan is being more conservative with the reserve capacity in order to protect the battery than Ford is. Just a tiny bit would account for the very slight difference in MPGe rating. After all, coming later to the market, Ford needs more than just a faster charger to compete. For most of us, the faster charger just isn't that big a deal.

 

[EdmondLeaf]

That will be whopping $22.5 saving on every 10K miles driven in Focus electric comparing to Leaf

 

[TomT]

The Ford pictures I have seen would seem to indicate that there is a fair amount of room under that removable filler piece in the photos, kind of like the deep well in the Leaf. But none of the shots have been that good so it really is hard to definitively tell.

It would appear that the FFE has a similar amount of hatch room as the Leaf...

FFE is not practical for me, I need a trunk.

Check out this post from kovalb. It appears that there is almost no space under the rear hatch of the FFE. Being a retrofit of an ICE car, the hatch area is apparently where Ford's contractor put the batteries.

 

[scottf200]

FFE is not practical for me, I need a trunk.

Check out this post from kovalb. It appears that there is almost no space under the rear hatch of the FFE. Being a retrofit of an ICE car, the hatch area is apparently where Ford's contractor put the batteries.

 

[Boomer23]

Well, there's more space under there than I thought. I thought that was all battery mass. But still, quite a small area. We usually put lots of grocery bags, diaper bags, small collapsible stroller and/or collapsed camp chairs, of which I can fit four in the LEAF.

 

[Herm]

The trunk space is not bad, better than I thought.

 

[fooljoe]

It's interesting that there's no DCQC option available at all. I thought Ford was on-board with the proposed SAE "super J1772" QC port. Maybe this bodes well for CHAdeMO's prospects...

Having used my QC port a few times now (thanks Mitsubishi!), there's absolutely no way I would trade that for a 2x faster on-board charger. There are plenty of instances where you NEED QC or you'll be taking the ICE instead, but I can't think of many times when 6.6kw vs 3.3kw is going to be really critical, other than getting your full money's worth on public EVSEs that charge by the hour.

Seems to me that if the FFE starts to look like serious competition to the Leaf and iMiEV, Nissan and Mitsubishi could quickly squash it if they would just make a serious effort to get some CHAdeMO out there.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

+1

...Having used my QC port a few times now (thanks Mitsubishi!), there's absolutely no way I would trade that for a 2x faster on-board charger. ...

 

[TomT]

The bigger question is WHY we have to choose... If only Nissan had listened to, well, virtually everyone outside the company when they were designing the Leaf...

...Having used my QC port a few times now (thanks Mitsubishi!), there's absolutely no way I would trade that for a 2x faster on-board charger. ...

 

[jkyu99]

110 miles per gallon-equivalents always makes me ask the next question of the sales rep.

"Gallon-equivalents? How big is the fuel tank in gallon-equivalents?"
The usual answer? "I do not know."

I rarely get the answer of, "It carries about three-fourths of a gallon-equivalents and that gives you the estimated range of about 75 miles."

 

[jkirkebo]

The bigger question is WHY we have to choose... If only Nissan had listened to, well, virtually everyone outside the company when they were designing the Leaf...

You could say the same about Ford. At Least Nissan will have a 6.6kWh charger available soon, I have heard of no plans to make the FFE QC-capable.

 

[EVDRIVER]

It's interesting that there's no DCQC option available at all. I thought Ford was on-board with the proposed SAE "super J1772" QC port. Maybe this bodes well for CHAdeMO's prospects...

Having used my QC port a few times now (thanks Mitsubishi!), there's absolutely no way I would trade that for a 2x faster on-board charger. There are plenty of instances where you NEED QC or you'll be taking the ICE instead, but I can't think of many times when 6.6kw vs 3.3kw is going to be really critical, other than getting your full money's worth on public EVSEs that charge by the hour.

Seems to me that if the FFE starts to look like serious competition to the Leaf and iMiEV, Nissan and Mitsubishi could quickly squash it if they would just make a serious effort to get some CHAdeMO out there.

That's because you can't offer a non-existent QC port standard as an option.

You are saying you would not trade for something practical that you were able to use only at Mitsubishi? L3 has almost no locations in CA and other states and may never be rolled out. My guess is the majority of people charge at hone and if they charge in public or locations away from home many more could benefit form 6.6kw and do more trips they could not do otherwise. Not to mention get more charge for their parking dollar. Sure it would be better if every station were QC but the reality is Chademo is not likely going to be a useful alternative for most people as it may never come and if it does it will be limited for many years and perhaps costly to use. I will likely sell my LEAF in two more years and my bet is there will be no useful L3 network in CA.

 

[evnow]

Same adjustment factor unless they've changed the regulations.

The regulation just gives a cap. So EPA can use less than 30%.

Nissan argued with EPA to use less - but EPA didn't agree. With a battery thermal regulator, Ford may have had better success in convincing EPA.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2012/03/ford_focus_electric_receives_1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+michigan-business+%28Michigan+Business+-+MLive.com%29

How is this possible? The Focus weighs almost 300lbs more than the LEAF, and has a smaller battery. How could it get longer range?

easy, get out keyboard, type 110 MPGe and hit "submit"

its like anything else... "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!"

we will see when its released how well it does when people start driving it


actually i will propose ummm say 40 kw regen?

 

[Rusty]

With a battery thermal regulator, Ford may have had better success in convincing EPA.

I'm pretty sure the Volt was hit with the same 30% reduction, and it probably has as good a TMS as the FFE. If the 2012.75 or 2013 Volt has a sudden jump in AER maybe that would be why. Otherwise, Ford's better at arguing their opinion than GM was.

 

[ttweed]

I too wanted to wait for the FFE until I actually got to see one up close and sit in it. IMO, the FFE is nicer styling in and out, but the interior feels very cramped compared to the Leaf. The Dash and center console are much bigger and higher, making the front seats feel MUCH smaller. And like other new Fords I've looked at, Ford still just can't seem to get the details right. There were too many pices that didn't seem to fit well or wear well. This is after all based on an existing platform, not like the interior plastics were mockups. Finally, the higher price and longer wait was what broke the deal for me.

+1.
I liked the exterior styling better on the FFEV when I first saw pics of it, but when I finally viewed one up close and personal at the auto show I was less impressed with the rest of the car. Materials may be nicer on the interior, but the design is cramped and feels much less spacious and open compared to the Leaf. Fit and finish are lacking in comparison as well. When I looked under the hood, I was totally unimpressed with the execution of the powerplant installation. Maybe this was a pre-production version rushed out for the show circuit, I don't know, but the engine bay looked like a rat nest of hoses and wiring that reminded me more of a shadetree conversion project than a well-designed product from a major manufacturer.

The complexity of the thermal management system looks like a maintenance nightmare to me, and the quality of the fittings seemed run-of-the mill, at best. For the money, I'm quite happy with the Leaf. I'm not yet ready to write off the possibility of an L3 charging network in the future like some here, so I'm happy to have my QC port, even if I've only used it once so far. For most of our driving, the slower 3.3kW L2 charging to 80% at home overnight has been adequate for the majority of our daily needs, and the necessity for thermal management in our moderate Lo-Cal weather is moot.

TT

 

[TomT]

With the questions over QC standards and the foreseeable scarcity of QC stations, Ford's decision does seem to make just a little more sense that Nissan's...

The bigger question is WHY we have to choose... If only Nissan had listened to, well, virtually everyone outside the company when they were designing the Leaf...

You could say the same about Ford. At Least Nissan will have a 6.6kWh charger available soon, I have heard of no plans to make the FFE QC-capable.