Has anyone gone from a 5 Series BMW to a Ford Fusion Energi Titanium?

[murphy]

Those are not hard and fast miles. The number is an estimate dependent on the way you drive, the temperature, heat or A/C on. Last summer I was getting 27 most of the time. Right now I am at 22 with the heat off and 12 with the heat on. If you have a lead foot you won't get anywhere near the published number.

Edited March 7, 2014 by murphy

[hybridbear]

Right! I'm wondering if its even worth it to wait for a 2015 car to come out for 4 extra miles, when I have to incur fees to rent a car in the meantime and lose out on the deals Ford will have on the 2014's. Hopefully I can find one out there still that meets my colors choice with all the extras :)

Those are not hard and fast miles. The number is an estimate dependent on the way you drive, the temperature, heat or A/C on. Last summer I was getting 27 most of the time. Right now I am at 22 with the heat off and 12 with the heat on. If you have a lead foot you won't get anywhere near the published number.

Murphy is absolutely right. Some Energi owners have eeked 35+ miles of EV driving out of one charge. My parents have seen as high as 27 miles of range in their C-Max Energi in the summer and as low as 10 miles of EV range in the winter with the heat running. Both scenarios used up the same amount of electricity. The 21 miles of range is an EPA estimate, just like 47/47/47 MPG for the hybrid model.

[dmackdaddy]

Thanks guys, that's good to know. I live in Silicon Vally and very rarely use the Heat or AC, as its not too extreme either way around here. But my wife does love the seat heaters and now and then AC is needed.

 

I've been hunting for EV chargers and noticed the Walmart by my GYM has one. So I could walk an extra block and leave my car at the Walmart pump while I work out then walk back and get about 1 hour's worth of charge for my 18 mile trip back home. So that should cover me most of the round trip. Problem is sometimes there are cars already parked there that aren't even plugins but that is another story!

[acdii]

Waiting too long for last years models also makes the pool of cars much less desirable. I just went through this looking for a new 2013 Flex. Incentives were friggin awesome, 6K if you dont finance, 3K and 0 for 72 if you do. Problem was the stock left was either way too high or way too low for options. I could have bought a new 13 with almost everything and got it for $44K, but It was missing the roof rails and Appearance package, and I just didn't want to deal with the items I really wanted not being on it. A great deal is only so great if it has everythign you want and nothing more. I wasn't about to spend an extra $2k for dvd players. Thats about all that was left on the lots.

[dmackdaddy]

Agreed. I guess with 2 months left now I should start getting ready here to make a deal, even if i overlap 1 payment. I guess I can buy something on May 15th and hopefully get a fully loaded 2014 at a great price and still with HOV stickers, which is another must have. Still no news out there on what the 2015's could have better?

[hybridbear]

Agreed. I guess with 2 months left now I should start getting ready here to make a deal, even if i overlap 1 payment. I guess I can buy something on May 15th and hopefully get a fully loaded 2014 at a great price and still with HOV stickers, which is another must have. Still no news out there on what the 2015's could have better?

There are also quite a few remaining 2013 Fusion Energi Titaniums. I personally would recommend buying one of those. The incentives will be larger and the 2013s have MPGe and the Lifetime Summary, whereas the 2014s are lacking those options. The only advantage of buying a 2014 Energi Titanium is that it will have the aluminum pedals. I would find more value in the Lifetime Summary and MPGe rather than aluminum pedals. Aluminum pedals can be added after the fact for less than $150 IIRC, Lifetime Summary & MPGe cannot be added. I would never buy a plug-in without MPGe because showing only MPG with no accounting for electricity usage because it wouldn't be an accurate measure of energy use.

[dmackdaddy]

Oh, crap - why would they take that option off on a 2014??? I will have to look for a 2013 and see what options there are. I wonder if they are bringing it back in 2015?

[dmackdaddy]

Oh, crap - why would they take that option off on a 2014??? I will have to look for a 2013 and see what options there are. I wonder if they are bringing it back in 2015?

[hybridbear]

Oh, crap - why would they take that option off on a 2014??? I will have to look for a 2013 and see what options there are. I wonder if they are bringing it back in 2015?

Good question! You can PM Ashley and have her record your dissatisfaction with that change like others have. Perhaps Ford will bring it back if there are enough customers asking for it. There has been varied speculation about why those features were removed for 2014 Energis, but Ford will not give an official answer.

[murphy]

My guess is if you only have an mpg display and do a lot of EV only driving the mpg number is going to be really big, and totally meaningless.

[murphy]

I switched my car to mpg only and my lifetime is 91.8 mpg.

It would be a lot higher if it wasn't for the never ending winter which forced a lot of ICE use.

 

I've had EV only trips where the mpg was 999.9, which appears to be the limit of the display.

[Aquineas]

Have you driven a FFH or FFE yet? I recommend you do so before pulling the trigger. I loved my FFH and miss it (I had to trade it in on something bigger), but if I were deciding on a car and I was trying to get as close to possible to the feel of a 535I, I would seriously consider the Passat TDI. The Fusion will give you much better mileage in the city (I personally loved getting 55mph on those short trips to the store), but the Passat will give you better range and possibly better mileage on the highway (it will probably give the FFH good run for its money if your highway speed is above 75mph). But the biggest thing you'll likely miss on the FFH, coming from the 5 series, is torque. I'm trying to be completely objective here.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Aquineas

[dmackdaddy]

Thanks for all the advice folks, but I've pulled the trigger! I am on my way to pick up my new 2014 FFET! Pictured below with HOV stickers already on it before they run out in CA. Only 2000 or so left and going fast. My BMW lease ends next month so I will have 2 cars for a few weeks to rack up the millage. Let me know what you think :)

 

[hybridbear]

Thanks for all the advice folks, but I've pulled the trigger! I am on my way to pick up my new 2014 FFET! Pictured below with HOV stickers already on it before they run out in CA. Only 2000 or so left and going fast. My BMW lease ends next month so I will have 2 cars for a few weeks to rack up the millage. Let me know what you think :)

Congrats! It looks great! Sterling Grey is one of my favorite colors for the FFH.

[dmackdaddy]

Thanks! Already taking advantage of the Free charging and front row parking spaces! I got 61.8MPG on my first 100 miles of driving btw.

 

 

[vett93]

Where do you get free charging in Silicon Valley? My FFE is 1 month old today! Cheers!

[dmackdaddy]

Congrats!!! I guess I have a hidden gem close by :) On a side note, I was at Google having lunch today with a friend that works there. They have a crap load of free charging stations there but for employees only :( BTW, they had a lot of Volts and Leafs but my FFET was the one getting all the looks!

[jddens]

I'll add my 2 cents here since the major concern seems to be about speed and power. I too, was concerned. I'm pretty much a motor head and the FFH is my first hybrid. My other vehicles are a Ford 2012 F150 with the Ecoboost, 365 hp twin turbo and tons of torque. I also have a 1972 Chevy short bed fleet side pickup hotrod with 450HP and a BMW R1200RT motorcycle. I posted a couple weeks ago "I'm Still Impressed". Talking about how impressed I was about the surprising amount of power in the hybrid. Electric motors make max torque almost immediately. That, combined with the gas motor provides some very good acceleration and passing power. MPG does suffer with spirited driving. That being said I'm averaging 43-44mpg overall. I think it would be hard to see less than 36-38mpg no matter how you drive. The FFH challenges you to get good mpg, it's an on-going contest between my wife and I to see who does the best. It's a great car and in my opinion one of the best looking cars on the road............John

[vett93]

I agree that the car looks mostly good, except the rear spoiler which looks like from an old Taurus. I am not sure about the power nor the ride though. The ways it drives and handles are definitely nowhere near its good look. This is a car that inspires one to drive slower and conserve energy. I had never owned a car that made me feel less in control than this car.

 

On the other hand, when I drive on HOV lane to work by myself and pass many high performance cars on the slow lanes, I agree that this is the best car to own south of a Tesla.

[dmackdaddy]

I got the windows tinted today, looks a lot better now. I love the car in EV mode, so smoooth and swift. When the engine turns on it buzzes (or maybe I am getting use to just the smoooth EV) but it gets the car moving fast when needed.

 

[vett93]

50% tint?

[acdii]

Looks more like the 35% legal tint like I have on mine and what CC has on his.

[dmackdaddy]

That is correct, 35%!

[tr7driver]

I got the windows tinted today, looks a lot better now. I love the car in EV mode, so smoooth and swift. When the engine turns on it buzzes (or maybe I am getting use to just the smoooth EV) but it gets the car moving fast when needed.

 

What is the badge under the Hybrid badge on the door? I can't quite make it out from the photo,.

[acdii]

I believe that is the Energi badge.