Focus Electric pros and cons

J

Jeffrye

New Member
I hope to be able to purchase an electric car in the next year or so. I don't have the budget for a Tesla (apart from maybe the Model 3 but I think the wait will be more than a year) and, I'm going to be honest, I think the Leaf is ugly, the Bolt is OK but expensive, the BMW is ugly and expensive, etc.

Honestly, for a budget constrained enthusiast, why wouldn't I go for a Focus Electric? I do have a bit of range anxiety as my commute is about 50 to 60 miles a day in the Phoenix area and that doesn't leave a lot of leeway on battery performance. However, according to their websites, I can lease a Focus for about $250 a month and the Bolt is like $420 or something. Why wouldn't I go with a Focus?
 
I say go with the Focus. Seems like you are looking for a pure EV (no hybrids) but have you looked into the Ford Fusion Energi? It is unfortunate that "budget" EVs aren't necessarily cheap (even with tax credits). EVs have come a long way, but there is a much longer road ahead of course. One day we will have a plethora of options!
 
$250 a month sounds way better than $420. Plus, you may find the interior of the Focus to be better. (This is where the Bolt gets lot of criticism)

The Focus got a 33.5 kWh battery for 2017, which should give it about 115 miles of range, so that should work with your driving profile if you can charge at home each night. Here's our write up on the 2017 Focus: https://insideevs.com/2017-ford-focus-electric-115-miles-of-range-for-29120/
 
You should really look at a Volt with that commute. I did a 65 mile round trip commute in a 2011 LEAF for three years in Houston. It was very dicey at the end, after notorious LEAF degradation.

I went from testing the top speed in the beginning (93 on flat ground) to drafting trucks at the end of it.

If you can’t afford a new gen BEV, the new Volt gives you excellent performance, range will almost completely cover your commute, and you can definitely find good deals on it these days.

My worry about an FFE is Ford’s lack of commitment to it. Makes any service tougher and more likely to have reliability issues.
 
Well either way, Ford's "Team Edison" seems to be a sign that they are committed to EVs
 
I bet Ford will make some awesome EVs now that they are getting serious. The re-badging Magna effort, the FFE, was a CARB play only. Ford didn’t put their A team resources on it.

Ford is still on my naughty list for cancelling the Escape PHEV last time around. I was tempted by the Fusion Energi, but the trunk was just unusable for me (not stroller friendly).
 
Jeffrye said:
I hope to be able to purchase an electric car in the next year or so. I don't have the budget for a Tesla (apart from maybe the Model 3 but I think the wait will be more than a year) and, I'm going to be honest, I think the Leaf is ugly, the Bolt is OK but expensive, the BMW is ugly and expensive, etc.

Honestly, for a budget constrained enthusiast, why wouldn't I go for a Focus Electric? I do have a bit of range anxiety as my commute is about 50 to 60 miles a day in the Phoenix area and that doesn't leave a lot of leeway on battery performance. However, according to their websites, I can lease a Focus for about $250 a month and the Bolt is like $420 or something. Why wouldn't I go with a Focus?
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I bought a 2013 Ford Focus and have been very happy with it. The liquid cooled battery would be a good idea in a hot area like Phoenix. Can you charge at work? My car ask me to plug it in when not in use if the temperature is over 100 F or under 32 F.
 
I'd have quite liked a FFE but they're so expensive over here; Ford's finance offer was over £700 [$930] a month. I'd have quite liked to have shown you a screengrab to back this up, but it looks like the FFE has disappeared from the Ford UK website.
I mean, it was pretty well hidden before, but now it's gone entirely.
 
IanL said:
I'd have quite liked a FFE but they're so expensive over here; Ford's finance offer was over £700 [$930] a month. I'd have quite liked to have shown you a screengrab to back this up, but it looks like the FFE has disappeared from the Ford UK website.
I mean, it was pretty well hidden before, but now it's gone entirely.
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Wow thats quite a lot! Any idea why? Just not a popular car in your region? did it compete with other Ford products?
 
I think they just had no interest in selling them, whatsoever.
Never prominently featured on the website, never advertised, never on offer.

I suppose that unlike CARB states in the US, there's no incentive or impetus for them to try and sell.
 
Robert Pike said:
I bought a 2013 Ford Focus and have been very happy with it. The liquid cooled battery would be a good idea in a hot area like Phoenix. Can you charge at work? My car ask me to plug it in when not in use if the temperature is over 100 F or under 32 F.
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I do have a couple of charging stations at work but they're commercial. Is it expensive to keep a car plugged in all day? I park the car in the shade (covered parking) but in the summer it will be 110+ through July and August so shade probably isn't good enough...
 
Yes - we have a Tesla S and a FFE - 2014. Although the range of about 74 miles on my car can be limiting every once and a while, I really love the car. Ford Focus Electrics have gotten an unfair knock out there for a number of reasons, most which I take exception with.
1. "Limited Trunk space because of the battery pack intrusion" - -well no actually. There is an insert behind the pack that most people remove which gives you more trunk space. Plus, when you fold down the seats, there is a ton of room. I am a drummer and this is the car I use to haul my drums to and from gigs.
2. "It is a compliance car" (and somehow not worthy) - yeah whatever. it is a modification of an ICE platform that is very well done.

Plus points in my view-
Great Price, Luxurious interior, great stereo, great exterior styling. large dealer network, sufficient range (with new version).

I am purchasing my car and have a couple of years left. In retrospect I maybe would have leased with the rapidly changing landscape. We also purchased the Tesla S. When the FFE is paid off I will reassess what is out there. I am tending towards the Model 3 if I can fit my drums in.

I would grab an FFE with no hesitation. End of the year deals are amazing. I got a zero interest loan from Ford, paid no sales tax, and got the 7500 rebate. When all was said and done it was a killer deal and I love the car.
 
FWIW Ford will cease production on May 7 2018 at the plant where the FFE is made to retool for Ranger/Bronco. There are no publicly known plans for further Focus production until late 2019 in China. Further the 2018 FFE is only available in CARB states. So if you can get one and the price is right it will make a great commuter assuming your 50-60 mile is round trip and not one way. Probably your next best option is to pick up an off lease '17 if you can wait that long.

Jeffrye said:
I do have a couple of charging stations at work but they're commercial. Is it expensive to keep a car plugged in all day? I park the car in the shade (covered parking) but in the summer it will be 110+ through July and August so shade probably isn't good enough...
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As far as heat and the battery are concerned, the battery TMS only kicks in while the car is on or plugged in. It activates when the battery temperature exceeds 95F. If you can park in shade even in 110+F heat The battery is well insulated and with it's thermal mass probably won't heat up much over 100F sitting at work all day. You should have no battery issues with heat. Other than it's rather rude and bad etiquette to block a commercial charge station all day especially if you're preventing someone who needs to charge to get home or to where they are going, it only takes about a $1-$3 worth of electricity to charge your car depending on how depleted the battery is and local electric rates. Cost really depends on the charge station operator. I've seen some that are free up to double digit dollars to charge.
 
Triangles said:
FWIW Ford will cease production on May 7 2018 at the plant where the FFE is made to retool for Ranger/Bronco. There are no publicly known plans for further Focus production until late 2019 in China. Further the 2018 FFE is only available in CARB states. So if you can get one and the price is right it will make a great commuter assuming your 50-60 mile is round trip and not one way. Probably your next best option is to pick up an off lease '17 if you can wait that long.


As far as heat and the battery are concerned, the battery TMS only kicks in while the car is on or plugged in. It activates when the battery temperature exceeds 95F. If you can park in shade even in 110+F heat The battery is well insulated and with it's thermal mass probably won't heat up much over 100F sitting at work all day. You should have no battery issues with heat. Other than it's rather rude and bad etiquette to block a commercial charge station all day especially if you're preventing someone who needs to charge to get home or to where they are going, it only takes about a $1-$3 worth of electricity to charge your car depending on how depleted the battery is and local electric rates. Cost really depends on the charge station operator. I've seen some that are free up to double digit dollars to charge.
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Bummer about them ceasing production! It was by far the best looking low end non-Tesla electric car (my opinion). However, it's good to see so many options starting to crop up. I think I may just keep an eye on the market while I save up my pennies. :-)

Also - Thanks for the info on heat and battery life. I've seen too many stories about the Nissan to think it a good choice for the Phoenix area but it looks like with a little care, I can do just fine without having to have it plugged in all the time.
 
Nissan and the VW eGolf both do not have a thermal management system for the battery. For that reason alone I'd stay away from them for hot Phoenix. Even though Nissan supposedly fixed this with a more heat tolerant chemistry (lizard pack), I still see people complaining about battery degradation. Whatever you do, don't get an EV that lacks a thermal management system (active cooling) for the battery. I'm going from memory so I'm not 100% certain on the details but I believe the 2019 Nissan leaf (225mi range) will have new LG Chem battery pack that is liquid cooled. I'm pretty sure the BMW i3 uses direct refrigerant cooling of the batteries. IE the refrigerant is used to directly cool the battery instead of cooling the antifreeze and then the antifreeze cooling the battery like most other EVs with a thermal management system.
 
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