[EVDL List]

Me, too. I've never driven a Lotus (or a Tesla), but in spite of all my
gripes with the Leaf, it certainly seems to handle well and is fun to drive!

Peri

-----Original Message-----
From: xxx@xxx.xxx.edu [mailto:xxx@xxx.xxx.edu] On Behalf
Of gottdi
Sent: 03 August, 2012 6:30 AM
To: xxx@xxx.xxx.edu
Subject: Re: [EVDL] EVLN: 2012 Ford Focus Electric's
not-purpose-builtadvantages



> it is also not a fridge
>

Well I guess they didn't put the Leaf to a real test. It handles better than
any other vehicle I have ever owned and hardy consider it a Fridge. It's not
a race car but It's faster and quicker than the Focus and has a real good
low center of gravity for excellent cornering. It feels well balanced.

Pete



-----
http://onegreenev.blogspot.com/
No need to wait any longer. You can now buy one off the shelf. You can still
build one too.
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[EVDL List]

I used to have a colleague who was at least 7' tall
(and his hobby was competition flying in glider planes, go figure)
so he always had a custom made (I believe Recaro brand) car seat
but with that, he could ride most standard cars - just change the
seat out. I noticed also on my Daewoo Matiz that the driver seat
does not go back very far - I can drive it without my knees
hitting the dash or steering column, but there is not much
space left. In the back however there is an amazing amount of
space for such a small car - even if I shift my seat max back,
still a normal person has enough leg room to sit behind me.
For taller drivers (I am 6'3") the easiest solution would be to
install longer rails for the seat, which would then reduce
the leg room of the passenger behind the driver...

My point is that if you want to drive a specific car and
find that you do not fit lengthwise, then there are
relatively simple solutions by fitting a different seat.

Regards,

Cor van de Water
Chief Scientist
Proxim Wireless Corporation http://www.proxim.com
Email: xxx@xxx.xxx Private: http://www.cvandewater.com
Skype: cor_van_de_water XoIP: +31877841130
Tel: +1 408 383 7626 Tel: +91 (040)23117400 x203

-----Original Message-----
From: xxx@xxx.xxx.edu [mailto:xxx@xxx.xxx.edu] On
Behalf Of brucedp5
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 6:33 PM
To: xxx@xxx.xxx.edu
Subject: Re: [EVDL] EVLN: 2012 Ford Focus Electric's
not-purpose-builtadvantages


Thanks Dave for checking the Focus Electric out, and posting your
review.

I am happy you mentioned the Focus Electric has more leg room. When I
sat in the ice version's driver seat I had a little more room than the
Leaf. I am surprised that you felt that with both the Leaf and Focus
driver's seats all the way back, the Leaf had more passenger leg room
directly behind the driver.

The very informed and helpful Ford Rep. at a Santa Clara, CA dealership
did not mention a mode ability for the Focus Electric that I believe the
Leaf has (Normal and Eco/longer-range). This is a huge negative in my
book.

I would like to see at least four modes: performance, normal,
eco/long-range, and user-definable (amount of regen, acceleration,
top-speed, etc.). I would rarely only use performance for short trips to
show off, and likely would normally drive in either eco/long-range or my
user-defined mode (perhaps a more aggressive regen than eco for driving
the twisty-turny roads in the Santa Cruz mountains, etc.).

Even if as you suggested, the Focus Electric's price were lower at a
more competitive purchase price, the inefficiencies of the Focus'
converted ice design to Electric mean the Focus Electric's range is less
than the Leaf (IMO with the same conditions following each other on the
same highway, the Focus will have less range).

The Focus Electric's 23kWh pack and the Leaf's 24kWh pack are close in
capacity, so their pack cost should be about the same. To make the Focus
Electric range competitive with the Leaf, Ford or an approved OEM could
offer a pack upgrade to bump it up to ~30kWh.

And lastly, the Focus does not have a Level-3 ability. That is another
item either Ford or an approved OEM could offer. The amount of Leaf EV
driver usage of the L3 in my area shows me, it is an item that needs to
be part of the purchase decision.

BTW, there is a small flurry of negative newswire items touting Ford
Electric is not selling well, with the same previous fervor that the
conservative paid media made when they attacked the Volt pih. At the
same time, I already posted about how Ford, like GM, is more inclined to
sell pih than EVs.

That last bit is something we will have to keep our eye on. If the only
reason major automakers (Nissan excepted) are selling plug-in vehicles
are for the California CARB credits, and several pih sold will garner as
many CARB credits as an Electric sold, automakers are not going to
putting much effort into selling EVs, and then later, like GM did, tell
CARB no one wanted them.

Ford's pih adverti$ing far out promotes there Electric efforts. It has
me thinking everyone on Ford's Electric team is GO, except their upper
management's marketing Department. Any wonder why Ford's EV sales are
not outstanding.

IMO Though I like the Focus Electric's looks, and the skosh more
leg/wiggle room, the Focus Electric's:
- higher price,
- less range,
- no level-3 ability, and
- no driving modes
does not position the Focus Electric well enough to be considered
competing with the Leaf EV. An informed EV buyer see that the Leaf is a
better deal.

EVDL member's comments, corrections, views/opinions welcome :-)


{brucedp.150m.com}




[quote] Dave Davidson wrote:
> I had a chance to test drive a Focus EV today. It was a nice driving
> car, very quiet with no noise maker, and larger than I expected.
> However, it seems Ford went to great lengths to make it feel like a
> gas car. It feels more like a gas car than my Leaf. Of course part
> of it may be because it shares underpinnings with the gas Focus. I had

> plenty of leg room, but had the seat pushed all the way back, so no
> one could sit behind me. In my Leaf, there is more rear seat room and

> people can ride behind me. There is not as much trunk room as the
> Leaf, but there should be enough. Acceleration seemed on par with my
> Leaf. Regen is very light, perhaps lighter than the Leaf, and the
> Leaf's regen is too light for my liking.
>
> The Focus seems designed to directly compete with the Leaf. I
> personally prefer the Leaf, but that may be because I'm familiar with
> it. My opinion is that the Focus is a well built, fun to drive EV.
> However, price wise, the Leaf seems a better car for the money. If
> Ford could sell the Focus EV for $5000 less than the Leaf, they would
> have a winner. It will be interesting to see how things pan out once
> it is widely available.
>
> Dave
-



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