danholl said:
The SSN indication is like the check engine light on a regular car. As with any car things can go wrong. People have reported rats ate the insulation on wires, loose connectors, transmission problem there is no single cause.
Car drove fine all last winter - you do loose some milage in cold weather with the heater on.
Please stop comparing "stop safely now" to "check engine". I have driven several ICE cars with the check engine light illuminated but NONE of them followed the check signal up by stalling out in mid traffic and refusing to respond to driver input! Yes, it's like "check engine" in that it can be triggered by several causes, but in other ways is not comparable, and the consequences are totally different. Perhaps referring to the collective problems people have experienced as "sudden loss of power" better reflects the seriousness of the situation. Particularly since Ford officials have expressed lack of concern regarding SSN, calling the problem sudden loss of power, freezing, stalling, etc when speaking with Ford might escalate their concern.
Anyway to original poster, if this risk of stalling makes her nervous and your current car is reliable, best to wait several months and see if any true fix comes out. If you can't afford a model S and don't live in CA, I do believe the FFE is your best current BEV option if it isn't affected by this issue. Now if the BMW i3 is offered outside CA, that might change things!
As to snow handling, I seem to be the only person who thinks it's decent with stock tires. I've only winter-driven AWD and RWD vehicles for comparison, and this vehicle predictably comes in between the two for me. Others have reported tolerable handling with snow tires. Look for older threads discussing this topic for more opinions.
I think Buffalo climate is similar to Chicago here... Maybe more lake effect snow for you? Anyway running cabin heating midwinter and keeping speeds under 60mph should allow you around 50 mile range.
