Keep the FFE or move on?

[triangles]

If for one can't wait to move on. Not because the Focus isn't good, it's just fine for basic transportation. I just want something bigger and faster. I like the Mach E, but probably would rather have an electric F150. I still owe $14k on my Focus, so probably a year and a half out from buying something new.

The Mach E is what ford should have brought out several years ago. it's a nice car but at similar price points a Tesla model 3 is pretty much a no brainer. Also Ford has some serious work to do if they are going to beat Tesla's Cybertruck with an electric F150. I think it would be hard for ford to lose to the Cybertruck from an aesthetics perspective but I tend to be a function over form kind of guy.

[Fat Focus]

My aversion to buying a Tesla is mostly the service network and spare parts availability scare the hell out of me. No thanks. I'll go with the established supply chain. Plus, let's be real. I'm a Ford guy and brand loyal.

[triangles]

Fat Focus,
Unless you are in someplace like ND your service concerns are unfounded. 7 months into my Model 3 ownership the mobile data modem failed in my Tesla. Unlike Ford and the hassle with dealership service, I used the Tesla app to request service and after a couple emails, mobile service came out to my home and replaced the modem in my driveway. The closest service center was 2+ hours away in Cleveland. A few months after this Tesla opened a service center in Toledo a few miles from my house and the mobile service is still available as an option.

I love Ford and my FFE. Sadly Ford currently offers no vehicles that appeal to me. I look forward to many more years of service out of my FFE as a secondary vehicle to my Tesla.

Also, simply due to the lack of non-tesla charging locations in the midwest kind of made a Tesla a no-brainer for me looking for my next EV as having long distance capabilities. In less than a 20 min bathroom/snack stop I can add 150 or more miles of range to my Tesla using their supercharger network. The MachE looks to be a great vehicle but is not practical for long distance travel here in the midwest due to lack of charging infrastructure. By "lack of charging infrastructure" I mean that "high speed" places to charge are few and far between, inconveniently located, and cost the equivalent of paying $16 / gallon of gasoline compared to the Tesla supercharger network that is usually in the ball park of 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of gasoline. Maybe in 10 years once the charging network has been built up things will be different but I was not willing to wait if there was already a viable alternative available.

[FocusOnElectrons]

I am leaning towards a Mach E mainly because there are 2 Ford dealerships within 10 miles of my home. I like having a readily accessible parts counter and service manager very close to home.
On the other hand I will never understand why Ford and GM are not requiring all their dealerships to provide level 2 and DC fast chargers available to ford ev owners. This would rival Tesla. I admit that Tesla has a lock on the charging station network. That leans me toward Tesla but I really like the Mach E. Having owned many Mustangs including a 1967 Shelby GT 500 my blue oval blood has a lot of influence on my brain. Besides that the Mach E GT is as quick a the new Shelby GT 500. Ford may have gotten it right this time!

[Fat Focus]

I actually work only a few hundred yards from the factory in Fremont. Has anything changed, other than MUCH, MUCH more demand for spare parts as the sales volumes increase? https://www.sfgate.com/cars/article/tes ... 796037.php

Since any EV I own will be at least my 4th car, I'm not really concerned about range or charging issues. I charge at home and at work, and I get there early enough to have my choice of the two chargers no more than 50 feet from my office. I used to charge just at work since it's cheaper, but my disaster preparedness instincts tell me to never let the battery go so low that I can't simply drive home. I'm very close to a couple of major fault lines, and each day that passes is one day closer to the next big quake.

I only have an EV to play the idiot liberal games here in CA anyway. A new EV allows me to save about an hour each day on my one hour combined commute. The cost of fuel is moot, as I'm a Sr Staff Program Manager in Silicon Valley. We're well compensated here. My biggest concern is personal safety when driving the FFE. It's simply too small to feel safe in, IMO.

[scottt]

"Too small to feel safe in" ?????

What kind of accidents are you getting into??

I was driving a 1988 Toyota Supra. A semi decided to play sandwich with me and an underpass (solid concrete wall). Didn't even bend the frame of the Supra. Protected me so well I bought a 1989 to replace it.

[Fat Focus]

It simply takes one person not paying attention or driving crazy to kill me in the little Focus. I'm 6'2" and I take up most of the space in the cabin as it is.

Just because someone was in a fender bender with a semi doesn't mean semis don't smash people to death on a daily basis. I drove my crew cab 4x4 for 15 years and felt much, much safer in it than this little s**t box.

[scottt]

I'm 6'3", I win

And my accident was no fender bender.

If you don't feel safe in your Focus, sell it and move on. Simple as that.

[Fat Focus]

Your accident wasn't catastrophic, either.

I'm simply waiting for the F150 to come out. I also have a problem called brand loyalty. Add that to the previously mentioned loan on the car, and I'm about a year and a half out.

For now I will gamble with my safety.

I did try to fit into a Superformance GT40 last summer at Laguna Seca but although I fit with the Gurney Bubble, my feet had no room to operate the pedals. At that point I bumped the Shelby 1000 up on the bucket list one notch.

[scottt]

I don't know....but when the fire department has to rip the car apart to get me out of it.....

Yeah, I call that catastrophic.