stevedebi

Your commute is just about ideal. If the distance is too small, the ICE doesn't have time to warm up.

Yes, that is nice. My 2014 only came with 5 years travel link. I subscribed to traffic link because I find it useful along with the Nav.

AAAK! You are correct, it is 18 months. I'll fix the post.

I do recommend you frequent the Energi forum, you will get more answers there. I read both, because the Energi is a hybrid at highway speeds. The gas cap time depends on how much pressure has to be released. The energi pressurizes the gas tank so the gas lasts longer - it can go up to 18 months before the car forces you to use up the tank to keep the fuel fresh. The range changes because it is based on the current Running Average Fuel Economy (RAFE). If you have been getting good MPG, the estimated range will be higher. After my last road trip this past weekend, I only showed 25 on the HVB guage; I normally show 31 because I do most of my Energi driving in town. The computer can only estimate based on recent driving - it is trying to guess how much battery you are going to use. Long term, the main battery will lose some of its capacity to hold a charge, and the range will decrease. There are a couple of threads over on the Energi fourm, and the Fusion Energi forum, about this, but I'm not too worried myself. The HVB should indeed last the "life of the car". EDIT: Don't worry about "overcharging"; the car has protection circuits to prevent damage.

Everything I've read indicates that the overall cost (including the required backup energy because solar and wind are not consistent) is much higher. I suspect those numbers you quote are only listing the direct cost of the energy, not the cost to the grid. Electrical costs in Germany have gone up dramatically in the "green" experiment. I've lived in Germany - the concept of solar energy is crazy, since they don't really get that many clear days. I always wondered when they took all those postcard pictures - it was cloudy most every day. "The renewable energy surcharge levied on German households and businesses has nearly tripled since 2010 and now accounts for about 18% of a German household's electric bill." http://www.wsj.com/articles/germanys-expensive-gamble-on-renewable-energy-1409106602 There are a huge number of articles on the subject.

A couple of notes: - The Energi heater works either on EV (uses a lot of battery), or on engine heat if the gas engine (ICE) is running. - You will not get anywhere near 21 miles on an energi at Highway speeds in EV. The EV Now setting (which keeps the ICE from running) is not very efficient at speeds above 40 MPH. For highway, you would want to experiment with using EV Later (runs just like the hybrid, and reserves the high voltage battery for later ues) or occasional use of EV Auto (which allows for the HVB to kick in and assist the engine). If you can plug in at work, then EV Auto mode all the way to work would probably net you around 70 MPG for that distance, in EV Auto). - I don't think you have the state incentives in Texas that we have in CA - my Energi cost almost exaclty what the hybrid SEL would have cost. Not that important to you, but I list it for other readers - we should check for state incentives, as well as the federal incentives for purchase. - For a highway commute, I'd go with the normal hybrid - the Energi shines for in-town use, but if it is mostly highway, I don't see it as worth the extra cost up front, or the 300 lbs it adds to the weight. - At 65 MPH, you will most likely net around 45 MPG on a highway commute (based on my highway miles in the Energi). This figure is pretty much similar for both Energi and hybrid for a longer drive, where the larger HVB of the energy cannot really help.

Part way through the life of my FEH, I had to replace the tires. I chose a Michelin that had great grip (instantly noticeable), but not LRR. I lost about 2 MPG, which is pretty significant when the vehicle only gets 30 in town. When those wore out I went back to a LRR, and the MPG went back up.

Quite different in CA, and likely to increase since the state keeps mandating inefficient "green" energy. My rates here in LA are .14 for the first K, 17 for the second K, and (I think) .22 for tier 3. That's better than some other areas here in SoCal that have reported .33.

Sorry for the accident, but it really shows how well the safety systems are built on the car.

Looks like they made a change to the Job 2 or Job 3 2013 C-Max. Not surprising, since the sensor would be expensive, and deleting it would same money and complexity.

This reminds me of my 2003 CRV. In the defrost mode, you could hit the A/C button and the light would go out - but the compressor still ran. I think every car I've had for the past 15 years has turned on the compressor automatically whenever a defrost setting is used. In one way it is useful - it runs the compressor in the winter, so that it stays lubricated.

You grab the lock on the back door and it unlocks the hatch? I'm not sure what that means, did you mean the rear passenger door handle? Did you mean that, or did you mean you can grab the hatch button with the FOB and the hatch opens, or did you mean you can unlock the rear doors by grabbing the handle? The thread is about the rear passenger doors unlocking (or not) when the front door handles are grabbed.

They removed the option for DRL control from the BCM for the 2014 model. I don't know if they put it back in for 2015, since it is operator selectable. Selectable in the US, not Canada, BTW.

Never heard of this. Are you sure you are not referring to an extended warranty?

The car won't unlock if a passenger touches the handle (unless they have a FOB). I have this happen a lot - my passenger will touch their handle, and then the car won't open for me. They have to remove their hand, THEN I can touch the handle to unlock the car.

A bit late for me on VW, my wife has a 2014 Passat TDI. Time will tell, but I'm budgeting a bit more for maintenance.

The warranty goes with the car, not the owner.

Yes, I do think they are better. I have had Hondas and my wife currently has a VW. By the time I need to decide on my lease, I will know if the VW is reliable enough. I like the engineering on Honda, Ford, Mazda, and VW. But currently I'm not sure I'd prefer any of the Mazdas.

The one on the Nav goes smoothly.

They can turn them off on the 2013, not the 2014. Of course the 2015 has it driver selectable. But in Canada, they cannot be turned off, by law. RANT BELOW, stop reading if you like. I am one of those who wanted them on, but no way - they took out the dealer capability to turn them on for the 2014, and told the dealer not to attempt any changes. Probably my last Ford over the way their corporate office has handled the "MPG" issue; they "fixed" the problem by removing display capabilities from the newer models. I mean, removing gallons used from the trip meters, and estimated HVB miles on the Fusion Energi? That is just stupid, and I don't need stupid manufacturers making decisions based on that kind of thing. I want decisions based on customer service and good engineering, not lawyers and corporate busybodies (neither of whom seem to care about the consumer). My next vehicle is probably a Honda or VW diesel. It may be a while, since I will consider purchasing this one if I continue to like it when the lease is done, and if it makes financial sense.

It is designed to make sure the fix-it flat repair can is OK. Personally, I recommend getting an inexpensive tire repair kit (plugs), and using that along with the inflator. Cost me around 10 bucks total. Be sure and include small pliers to remove nails, etc. Those fix-it cans are terrible on the rims and the TPMS sensors.

Interesting. I had DRL turned on for my 2008 FEH, and they only came on when the car was in drive (D). So yours come on at night regardless?

I think the problem was the OP was in Canada, and the DRL cannot be turned off.

Ha! You made me look! With all the stuff I have in the center console, I never noticed that 12v plug at the bottom! With all the stuff I have in there, I will probably never use it either...

That isn't the compass I was speaking of. The Nav has an actual graphic compass on the right hand driver display. You can use the arrows to set some nav destinations from that same screen. I had thought the compass on other models would be on the MFT if anywhere, but I have no experience with the SE or those equipment groups. Good to know!