Focus Electric Owners!

[DanHoll]

For payback you have to do your own math based on mileage driven, your cost of Electricity and your cost of gas and your mpg on your ICE car.

Here's how I would figure mine

Miles driven / year = 12000

the EV gets about 4 mile per kWh so kWh = 12000/4 = 3000kWhr

Where I live Electricity costs about $0.11 per kWhr so
Fuel Cost for EV is 3000 x .11 = $330 per year

I have a 2012 Focus ICE that gets about 30 mpg doing the same kind of driving

so 12000 / 30 = 400 gallons of gas

at 4.00 per gallon gase cost would be $1600 per year

so fuel savings with EV is 1600 -330 = $1270 per year.

The EV has about every bell and whistle known to Ford so you really need to compare to a titanium at about $26000

My EV dealer price was a little over $37000 with the federal tax credit (7500) cost is $30,000, 4000 more than the ICE version

So based on fuel alone the payback would 4000/1270 = 3.2 years and that is without taking into account maintenance savings i.e. no oil change, brakes last forever, many fewer moving parts to wear out etc.

Not factored into the above is the pure fun of driving the car

[Spare]

So based on fuel alone the payback would 4000/1270 = 3.2 years and that is without taking into account maintenance savings i.e. no oil change, brakes last forever, many fewer moving parts to wear out etc.

Don,

Nice reply to the earlier question. I have done the same math on my Focus Electric and have derived the same result.. After less than 3 years, because I commute 20K per year, I will be saving substantial money on the car.

Add to that the fun of driving a little speedster and the joy of not purchasing gasoline and the satisfaction of "Putting my money where my mouth is" when I talk about reducing greenhouse gases and the cool electronics like SYNC and myFordMobile. Can you tell - I am so pleased with this automobile?

Enjoy your ride...

[JAGUS]

Originally Posted by turbine guy

Winter is definately here in Northern British Columbia. Daytime highs of -4 C. 4" of snow on the ground, and looks to be here to stay. Stock low rolling resistance tires are terrible in these conditions and will be changed out for ice radials soon. I don't skrimp on the heat, the seat heaters, window defrosters and climate control are all on, and set to 21 C. I'm seeing a 40% drop in effective range. Change of tires will likely reduce my range a bit more due to the higher rolling resistance. I'll report back as winter tightens it's grip and it gets colder out. The dash display is prompting me to keep the car on-plug when parked to maintain battery temperature. At times, this is not practical and my car can sit for up to 3 hours off plug. So far, this hasn't been a problem, but we'll see when it gets colder out.
Yes, my dash display shows a total lifetime regen of 99km. Ford has a fix on it's way?

Robin.

What winter tire are you thinking of for the FFE?

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by DanHoll

For payback you have to do your own math based on mileage driven, your cost of Electricity and your cost of gas and your mpg on your ICE car.

Here's how I would figure mine

Miles driven / year = 12000

the EV gets about 4 mile per kWh so kWh = 12000/4 = 3000kWhr

Where I live Electricity costs about $0.11 per kWhr so
Fuel Cost for EV is 3000 x .11 = $330 per year

I have a 2012 Focus ICE that gets about 30 mpg doing the same kind of driving

so 12000 / 30 = 400 gallons of gas

at 4.00 per gallon gase cost would be $1600 per year

so fuel savings with EV is 1600 -330 = $1270 per year.

The EV has about every bell and whistle known to Ford so you really need to compare to a titanium at about $26000

My EV dealer price was a little over $37000 with the federal tax credit (7500) cost is $30,000, 4000 more than the ICE version

So based on fuel alone the payback would 4000/1270 = 3.2 years and that is without taking into account maintenance savings i.e. no oil change, brakes last forever, many fewer moving parts to wear out etc.

Not factored into the above is the pure fun of driving the car

Thank you for that analysis, that's actually very helpful. I don't drive every day, in fact I only do about 500 miles per month, so I spend about $65 or less on gas per month. In addition, I bought only an SE for just under $17,000. So, it looks like I would have to make back some $13,000. Just on gas savings that would take 200 months or almost twenty years. I don't know how much electricity costs per kw/hr (I know my bill is around $100/mo), so I can't make a calculation there. It's good to save on oil changes, but I imagine any future repairs to of the electric drivetrain probably won't be cheap.

Thus, it appears that in my case the FFE is not justified, which is surprising because I was thinking it would be due to my limited and mostly short-range driving.

[DanHoll]

I read on another blog that there is a Tech Service Bulletin 12-8-20 that fixes a problem with Battery icon on dash gradually showing less and less miles when car is first turned. I was having this problem - showed 42 to miles when first turned on. I took car in and they reprogrammed the the three main computers. Not only fixed my range display but life time brake regen miles now shows real miles instead of always showing 99 miles.

[Spare]

Thanks Dan, I am approaching the 10,000 mile first service check and I plan to have them flash the system with this TSB. I'll post the effect in here...

[Ox-y-GenIII]

If I could stomach the payment of an FFE it would work perfectly for me. My commute to work AND back is only 6 miles. But even with a gasser I don't fill up often at all and like the option of not having to charge when I go on longer trips, like to the casino which is like 140 miles round trip with no charging stations on the way. But I do admire the FFE alot!

[Spare]

You are right Oxy... The car really doesn't fit your life style. And, it is way too expensive unless you are commuting 30+ miles per day. Hopefully, they will get the car close to the purchase price of a regular ICE. But, I think that is 5+ years away. Ford is leasing the FFE for aroung $200-250 per month in California, but who knows how long that will last.

For me it is perfect. Commuting 18-20,000 miles per year. I will save the price differintial in about 3 years and then enjoy the savings in gasoline for the next 7 years. I don't trade alot and drive all of my cars to 150,000+ miles.

It is a very cool car. Excellent acceleration and just like your SEL hatchback pretty cool looking. I rarely drive more then 80 miles in one trip and I kept my gasser for longer trips. So I am good to go and enjoying it.... Thanks for your post.

[whynotthinkwhynot]

Leafs are going cheaper with fewer miles- especially those from hotter climates. You can pick up a Leaf with less than 20k on it for less than $20K if you're crafty. All dealers will get charged taxes on the cars that they have on the lot after Jan.

The reason the Leafs are going cheaper is because of the reduced battery life of the Leaf in a hot climate. The batteries are replaced under warranty typically, but you should look for that. Take extra long test drives and have the person hook it up to a charger before you purchase it. The problem is (and this might not affect you) that the battery life is half what it was from the factory. You can at least use that information as bargaining power.

Driving only 6 miles to work is killing all your vehicles. The engine barely gets warmed up before you're there. If you can afford it, having an electric commuter makes more sense than destroying a gasoline vehicle. Sure, you won't have some problems of higher mileage cars, but you will have problems eventually. I call it "Little Old Lady Damage", and it's just as bad as teenage boy damage.