My FFE in a car show

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jeffand

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2013
Messages
441
Location
WI
I took my FFE to a car show. At the car show it did draw some attention. One of the surprising things I found out was that most people didn't know that Ford made a pure electric car. Since Ford is not advertising car maybe we should. It could be fun getting a variety of EVs to go to a car show. They usually charge a fee to show your car. Always check to see what types and years of cars are allowed. You are looking for car shows that are open to all makes and model years. You will be out in the sun for quite a while so take the necessary precautions.

There is going to be a car show in Sussex, WI on august 16, 2014 that I plan on going to.
 
jeffand said:
One of the surprising things I found out was that most people didn't know that Ford made a pure electric car.

Just about every single person I have talked to about the FFE has no idea that there is a Focus Electric variant.
 
The first question I always get is: "Does it have a gas engine as well?" (If I get noticed at all..too many gearheads in the greater Detroit area)
 
jeffand said:
One of the surprising things I found out was that most people didn't know that Ford made a pure electric car. Since Ford is not advertising car maybe we should.
I think that we drivers are practically the only advertising that FFE gets. I expect that most of us are happy to talk about its advantages, and offer to drive for car-pooling partly for that reason. Then, smile when someone asks about maintenance.
 
Bill said:
I've taken my FFE to a local casual car show (first Saturday of the month starting at 7:00 a.m.) in June and more recently in August. There are usually 25 to 40 cars there, most of the muscle car variety (sometimes a VW bug or like car). I raise the hood, pop the foam cover off and lean it again the front bumper (says "Electric" on it). My FFE gets a lot of looks and I get a lot of questions and I hear an occasional "I might be looking at the future here..." sort of thing. As the various owners gradually leave, their cars rumble to a start, almost all of them then stop, rev their engines, then burn rubber (and gas) as they leave. When it's my turn, I silently approach the imaginery starting line, not quite coming to a stop, then stomp on it, and I leave quickly with a rather quiet "swoosh". The others may eventually get used to me.
Here In the Atlanta area it's all filled with Leafs, Volts and Model S's. I have saw only three other FFE's ever, not including mine. Had an electrician come by to install my home charger and he said mine with the first he ever saw. With the exception of one dealership most only have one maybe two at the most on there lot..
 
Great that you took the car to a show. I'm sure it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the Plug In Day event last year. It is a lot of fun to talk about the FFE.

Absolutely everybody asks, so there's no gas in this car? There's no gasoline engine at all, it is all batteries? Doesn't matter if the person has a PhD or an average person, they all ask.
 
I suggest taking the foam cover off that says "Electric". People are much more interested when you actually show them the parts. Like the main battery conductors, high voltage distribution box, DC-DC converter, PTC heater, motor, inverter, and coolant distribution.
 
sefs said:
I suggest taking the foam cover off that says "Electric". People are much more interested when you actually show them the parts. Like the main battery conductors, high voltage distribution box, DC-DC converter, PTC heater, motor, inverter, and coolant distribution.
Speaking of, how do you remove it? I've tried a couple times but am wary of breaking the plastic clips so I haven't pulled very hard & I haven't figured out if there's an easy way to release them.
 
hybridbear said:
sefs said:
I suggest taking the foam cover off that says "Electric". People are much more interested when you actually show them the parts. Like the main battery conductors, high voltage distribution box, DC-DC converter, PTC heater, motor, inverter, and coolant distribution.
Speaking of, how do you remove it? I've tried a couple times but am wary of breaking the plastic clips so I haven't pulled very hard & I haven't figured out if there's an easy way to release them.

Just take some pliers and pull up on the center part. It takes some effort, but that part will pop up and then the whole fastener (the outer ring part) will come right up.
 
Bill said:
At the car shows is about the only time that I open the hood of my FFE. I always have to search for the release under the hood. If Ford added a small exterior windshield washer filler door/cap, it would be a rare day that FFE owners would need to pop open the hood.
Well, I pop the hood whenever I'm charging in public with my own EVSE.

I do this because I lock the EVSE "main unit" under the hood, with only the wall connector and charging handle cords exposed (there is enough room for them to fit under the weather seal at the base of the hood) and thus my EVSE cannot be stolen.
 
WattsUp said:
Well, I pop the hood whenever I'm charging in public with my own EVSE.

I do this because I lock the EVSE "main unit" under the hood, with only the wall connector and charging handle cords exposed (there is enough room for them to fit under the weather seal at the base of the hood) and thus my EVSE cannot be stolen.

I usually do this to. One thing that I would recommend is to adjust the hood stops to make it a little looser. If yours is the same as mine was it seems to put a lot of pressure on the cord. I don't know how bad this is, but about a quarter turn on the hood stop made it fit a little better.
 
I took my FFE to another car show.
SussexCarShow2014_zps68931e07.jpg

This was at the Sussex Lions club car show.
 
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