What do you want to know about the Focus Electric?

[Rwbill]

Good questions, Whit, I was hoping YOU could tell US

[KeiJidosha]

What is behind the little plug in the bumper to the left of the grill?

This is a guess as I did not find it in the Owners Manual. Some cars have a threaded hole in the bumper to insert a "Tow Hook" that would be used to winch car onto a flatbed tow. If so, cover will have a slot to pry off/open, but may be hard on the paint. You could check to see if there is a threaded eyelet in the glovebox or with the Temporary Mobility Kit.

[mrpalerider]

How the questions change once you actually have one, heh!?

[dwf123]

Whit, I have noticed that hole and was told it is for the parallel parking sensor. It is just like the three holes. with sensors, in the back bumper, used for the backup monitor. Our car did not come with parallel park so they simply did not punch the plug out.

[whitgallman]

What happens as you drive the car past the charge showing on the dash to the point of it stoping in the road?
I've seen the yellow 'low charge' light.
Is there a red one that come on next? Does it shout at me?
Does it go into a slow mode (enough power to get off the road)?
Is the car permanently damaged by driving it until it quits?
Can you estimate how far this is from the first yellow warning? (how much fuel in the tank past 'E')?

You get the yellow battery with 15 miles left (10 miles if you are in "My Key" mode?)
Then Red battery at zero and then it stops but no permanent damage is done to the system.

[mrpalerider]

Following up on that battery question; does the battery 'like' being drained as much as possible or near fully charged as much as possible? If I keep my iPhone fully charged all the time then when I work it I only get an hour or so out of it on battery, however, if I drain it to dead and fully recharge it I get about 50% more life. Any comparisons with this battery?

[georgek]

Following up on that battery question; does the battery 'like' being drained as much as possible or near fully charged as much as possible? If I keep my iPhone fully charged all the time then when I work it I only get an hour or so out of it on battery, however, if I drain it to dead and fully recharge it I get about 50% more life. Any comparisons with this battery?

I'm not an expert, but have picked up some tips and tricks from my experiences with my plug-in:

Optimally, batteries do not like to be stressed. They don't like to be charged quickly, nor depleted quickly (ie, full throttle for 50 miles). They don't like to be cold or hot. Like us humans, they like to stay at about 72 degrees F. And they like to sit between 20% and 80% full. So, if you're going to leave it for a few days, 80% charge is a good idea. Likewise, if possible, in normal driving, try not to go below 20% charge. Finally,batteries appreciate gentile driving, rather than full throttle starts and stops.

We are fortunate with the FFE, with its active battery temperature management, as it will tend to keep it near 72 for us.

Not that you always have to be very careful. The battery can take a lot of abuse, as it is built for the general public, who doesn't usually think about all these things .

[whitgallman]

George, "try not to go below 20% charge"
Sounds like the batteries still have 20% of their charge left when you first get the yellow light. Supposedly you have 15 miles left beyond the 76, about 20%.

[blavenn]

I wonder why they didn't include the parking assist feature, all they needed to do was at least add the front sensor since the rear sensor is already there.

On another note, does it really take almost 20 hours to charge up the battery on 110v?
Has anyone yet timed how long it takes to charge up the car on 110v if the battery was at 30-50% capacity?

[georgek]

George, "try not to go below 20% charge"
Sounds like the batteries still have 20% of their charge left when you first get the yellow light. Supposedly you have 15 miles left beyond the 76, about 20%.

Whitgallman, congrats again. I'm still counting on early Fall for Chicago

What you said sounds good, and, I can't wait to see that yellow light for myself! By the way, I saw on the Leaf forum that it seems to have an option to stop charging at 80% or 100%. Wondering if FFE has such a thing? Would you still get cell balancing?