The Spitfire is a fun good-weather car to cruise with the top down to the local store. It's however not practical for a commute. I've been looking at production electric vehicles for years, but they're either too costly for me or too difficult to find. The Nissan Leaf is probably the best notable exception, and my wife and I did take one for a test drive. I don't want to convince anyone to not buy that car, but for us it lacked a little too much in space, power, and looks appeal. In terms of electric cars it is a solid option if you can't afford a Model S.
I searched for the Ford Focus Electric on and off for years but could never find one for sale anywhere in the state of Texas. That is, until this past week. A Ford dealership in Austin had a 2013 Focus Electric for sale, so the wife and I tried it out. It looks good, has just enough room for our monster stroller in the back, and feels good on power. We bought it.
I tried to find detailed numbers on range (and how it varies based on A/C, driving conditions, etc), but I didn't have any luck. So I'll do it here! I've only had the car for a week, but I'll update the numbers here as I get more experience with the car.
From what I can tell, the car's reported maximum range takes into account driving history (aggressiveness) and climate control. Ford advertises a range of 76 miles. When I picked the car up from the dealership the driving history showed quite a few lead foots had been test driving it. That's understandable as test drivers want to see what the car can do (including myself). At the dealership, even fully charged, the car only reported 63 miles. It wasn't until I drove the car for an hour to clear off that aggressive driving history that the range finally reported >70.
Range Statistics
All of the following data points are from my very initial experience with the car. I'll refine / expand them more as I get more time with it.
The car reports the driving history on a scale of 0 to 6 (Wh/mi x 100):
Coasting - 0
Level 65 MPH - 3
Heavy acceleration - 6
Rules of thumb from full charge:
- Climate control reduces range 12 miles
- Fairly aggressive driving reduces range 12 miles
Since Ford says 76 miles, that's about a 15% reduction on range for either condition. Those are additive - turn on your A/C and drive aggressively and there goes more than a quarter of your range. I haven't figured out the climate control yet. Having the A/C on doesn't automatically cut the range; it's heavily dependent upon the temperature you set inside the car. (Also I've had the A/C blowing cold air without any drop in range, but other times I've seen significant drops.) More experimentation will have to be done.
So some data points to help others interested in the car... (I bet these numbers would apply well to the Leaf / similar electric vehicles.)
Outside temperature cool (50 F to 60 F).
Interstate Highway Driving.
Light on the pedals.
Power consumption history averaging about 3.
No climate control.
Range: 63 to 74 miles
Outside temperature cool (60 F).
Country Highways.
Fairly aggressive driving.
Power consumption history averaging between 3 and 6.
With climate control set to 67 F.
Range: 57 to 59 miles
Outside temperature cool (60 F).Country Highways.
Fairly aggressive driving.
Power consumption history averaging between 3 and 6.
With climate control set to 67 F.
Range: 57 to 59 miles
Mostly Interstate Highway, some lower speeds.
Light on the pedals.
Power consumption history averaging just under 3.
No climate control.
Range: 72 to 81 miles
Outside temperature warm (75 F).
Mostly Interstate Highway.
Light on the pedals.
Climate control on (A/C blowing cold air).
Range: 80 miles
(While driving, the range did make a sudden drop of several miles. I assume that was caused by the climate control.)
Outside temperature cold (32 F).
Country Highways / Interstate.
Climate control off.
Range: 60 to 65 miles
Outside temperature cold (32 F).
Country Highways / Interstate.
Heater on.
Range: 42 to 46 miles
Highest reported range: 83 miles
!! UPDATE in August 2016 !!Highest reported range: 95 miles (Prior trip involved a lot of stop and go driving in heavy traffic.)
!! UPDATE in January 2017 !!
Lowest reported range: 42 miles (Freezing temperatures and heater on.)
I feel the car has a reliable 60 miles range - that's the maximum distance I would plan a trip for that didn't have charging along the way. That 60 miles includes highway driving with gentle hills, easy on the accelerator, and limited climate control.
How accurate is the range?
I've seen the car's estimated range from a full charge to be anywhere from 57 to 81 miles. So how accurate was it?
I've noticed the initial / full-charge range it gives is heavily dependent upon the driving history (maybe the last hour of history).
I've had a full charge report 64 miles, made a long trip, recharged, then had it report 74 miles.
Similarly, I've had a full charge report 74 miles, made a long trip, recharged, then had it report 64 miles.
So is it accurate? It seems to be if you're driving similar conditions to your previous trip.
What about when you're almost out of power? Does it suddenly drop from 5 miles range to 0? When we test drove the car, it only had 6 miles range on it. We made a 5-6 mile test drive and pulled back into the dealership with either 0 or 1 mile range remaining. So I'd say the range is accurate even at very lower values.
When you're driving, the car reports 3 distances: Range, Budget, and Status
At the start of the trip, both range and budget are identical; status is 0. The budget miles decrement based on actual distance traveled. The range miles vary based on your battery charge remaining, climate control settings, and driving history (Wh/mi). The status is just the difference between the budget and range.
Positive status mean you're doing better than your budget (good job!). Negative status mean you're doing worse than your budget (uh oh!). If you had planned a trip that really pushed to the limit of your range and you start seeing negative status, then you know you need to make adjustments (slower driving, turn off climate control, etc).
If your current drive is exactly like your previous drive (accelerations/braking, hills, cruising speeds, etc all the same), then budget generally equals range (status stays near 0). Taking climate control out of this, I've seen the status on drives easily range from +8 to -8!
Cost of Electricity
My electric costs $0.0962/kWh. The car's battery holds 23 kWh of charge. Rough calculation of $0.0962 x 23 = $2.21 to "fill up".
Two big assumptions with that cost:
- As least for LiFePO4 batteries, you don't want to discharge them beyond 80%. I wouldn't be surprised if Lithium-Ion can do better, but I still doubt Ford allows the batteries to discharge to 0%. (Meaning even if the car reports 0% battery, I really only need to charge 18.4 kWh, not 23 kWh, to reach 100%.)
- There are going to be losses with the charger; I just don't know how bad they are.
So if we assume a typical daily drive of 40 miles; that is a rough cost of $2. It will be interesting to see the next electric bill - will it only be up $60?
!!! UPDATE !!!
I got my electric bill! I purchased the car within a day of my billing cycle so the difference between the bills is a good indication of the effect of the car.
March bill: $163.83
April bill: $129.08
So even with doing the majority of driving with the electric car, the bill went down! Apparently electricity for the car is minor compared to the air conditioner / heater.
Summary
At this point we are VERY happy with the car. It's not for everyone, but it could be for a lot of people. I'd say it's contingent on the following conditions:
#1 Have a second gas car to drive for longer trips.
#2 Majority of trips are under 60 miles.
#3 Don't have frequent detours that could push you over 60 miles.
#4 Have a place to charge at home.
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