Ford Focus Electric Forum

About to finally pull the trigger on this car. The one bit of information on this car that is not very clear is what I can expect for highway range say at 70MPH. Any feedback owners could give on real word highway driving in this car would be great. I am fully aware the car does not like highway driving but it part of my commute.

I do have to say I test drove the car an absolutely loved it.

At least 50 miles even under fairly hard driving. LAX to my house is 56 miles, it is uphill over 1500 feet and I'll drive at 70-75, occasionally 80 MPH. It gets home with 5-10 miles range left. Normal driving at a fairly steady 65 MPH on more or less level terrain it will likely do the full 76 miles that it is rated for.

If you live in a cold area, need to park outside and need to use the heat while driving, then you need to get advice from someone else, as I understand the range can be severely reduced under those circumstances.

Worst case highway range I've ever had was 35 miles: going 75mph into a brisk 30mph wind and it was <0F out.

About 75 miles at 65-70mph with AC on, flat terrain, 80F day.

I drive my FFE a 50mile round trip (25 miles each way) mostly on freeway at 65mph+ using cruise control starting with a 100% fully charged battery.
I get home in moderate weather temps with about 20miles left on the GOM and ~33% battery charge left.
Heater not used, sometimes A/C used but not too much, mostly just fan only on at low speed (LO with A/C off).

Leaving my home for the 25mile trip is mostly downhill, so I can go faster on the freeway when I see the energy draw (wH/m) is lower on the real-time energy meter.
Coming back home though its more uphill, so I tend to keep the freeway speed down to 65mph or a little less.
On that trip, I average 250-280 Wh/mile.

On a commute if you encounter slowing during rush-hours a lot on the freeway, that will extend your range greatly.

Between 60mph to 70mph I would say you will realistically get 60 to 65 miles out of a full charge and if you plan to blast it at 80mph, expect to get 50-55 miles out of a full charge.

I've grown to drive the car at an average of 65mph on the freeway, thereby, getting 65 miles to a charge. Remember, that's an average of 65 miles, so sometimes I'm going 80mph when I'm the the carpool and I have a line of cars behind me. Or if everyone is going fast on the freeway I may be going over 70mph at least half of the trip.

This car is only really good for urban travel of up to 35 miles each way. And there must be chargers (even if you may not need them) nearby otherwise it will induce serious anxiety. It would do poorly in places like Texas where there are large distances.

brogult wrote:At least 50 miles even under fairly hard driving. LAX to my house is 56 miles, it is uphill over 1500 feet and I'll drive at 70-75, occasionally 80 MPH. It gets home with 5-10 miles range left. Normal driving at a fairly steady 65 MPH on more or less level terrain it will likely do the full 76 miles that it is rated for.

If you live in a cold area, need to park outside and need to use the heat while driving, then you need to get advice from someone else, as I understand the range can be severely reduced under those circumstances.

Seems like pjam3 should have you give him some driving lessons.

About to make the decision on this car. The one aspect I'm unclear about is the highway range, specifically at 70MPH. Any insights from owners regarding real-world highway driving performance would be highly appreciated. I understand that the car may not be optimized for highway driving, but it's a crucial part of my daily commute. Any feedback on how it handles at higher speeds on the highway would be invaluable.

If you can drive 60mph, you get more range than at 65mph than at 70mph.
I cannot give an exact range because I do not know how you drive and what your road conditions are.
I drive conservatively, but I have a combination of freeway that is up and down hill, and city streets. I average about 4 miles per kW.
If I were to drive on flat highway, at 70mph, I would think that would drop to 3.3 miles per kW. If your focus has 19 useable kWs, then you are going to get about 62 miles. If you focus has 27 useable kWs, then you are going to get about 89 miles. When in doubt, expect worse. Sorry.