Antuan Goodwin/CNET Pricing and the cost of ownership Undaunted, I selected another location, a pay-to-park lot with five available spaces, but when I got there all five space were occupied.įor the 2015 model year, the Focus Electric's base price has been lowered to better compete with newer electric models. I was disappointed to learn that both of the spaces at the location were occupied by a Nissan Leaf and a Chevrolet Volt. Firing up the MyFord Touch infotainment, I spotted that there was a fast charging station nearby, which I selected as a destination and headed toward. The CNET garage is, unfortunately, not equipped with a 240V fast charger, so I set out to find a public charging point to top off the Focus' battery before heading back to base. ![]() When we previously tested the 2012 Focus Electric, editor Wayne Cunningham found that San Francisco's steep hills were a bit of a challenge for the electric motor, so your enjoyment of the drive may depend on the local topography. The EV's acceleration felt good and torquey the Focus is a very driveable car that hides its weight well around the relatively flat streets of Oakland, Calif. ![]() An impromptu zero-to-60 test and the day's errands left me with about 50 percent battery by lunchtime, the SmartGauge indicating I was at 40 miles range and 2 miles under budget. With a light foot and moderate traffic, I was doing a pretty good job matching the computer's budget. Leaving our San Francisco office, I set out across the Bay Bridge and headed for Oakland. That seemed about right to me, so I hit the road to run the day's errands. The 2015 Ford Focus Electric came into my possession one morning with the battery close to full and the SmartGauge indicating 70 miles of available range. At home, the driver can schedule the Focus to delay its charging until off-peak utility hours when the cost per kilowatt hour drops, or schedule the climate control system to power up in the morning to cool or warm the cabin before you unplug and hit the road. Drivers can monitor the Focus' charging and receive notifications if the EV is unplugged. However, the system doesn't appear to be able to tell you, the driver, whether those charging stations are or will be available when you get there, which is an issue we'll discuss in the next section.įinally, the MyFord Touch infotainment system features built-in telematics features, which grant the driver limited remote control over the EV's charging and operation via a smartphone app. The navigation system now features an EcoRoutes pathfinding engine that allows it to plan routes that make the most efficient use of the battery's range and features the ability to search for and display icons for nearby EV charging stations on its map. The interface is split into quadrants and features a wide selection of digital and analog audio sources, Bluetooth hands-free calling and text messaging, climate controls and SD card-based navigation. ![]() Over in the center of the dashboard, the touchscreen MyFord Touch infotainment system is identical to what we've seen across the fleet of Ford vehicles of this generation. The SmartGauge can also display information about how effectively you're using the regenerative braking system and show separate graphs indicating how efficiently you're cruising, braking, and accelerating.
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