Mirak

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One year ago today, I flew to Denver to pick up Sonic - my Grabber Blue FE - and drive him home to Wichita. That odyssey is detailed here. Sonic is Blucifer's twin and I was only able to get him due to a cancelled pre-order by @Mach-E VLOG. 13,700 miles later, here is my one-year review....

I have no regrets. I would absolutely buy it again. My timing was fortuitous because I was able to locate a cancelled pre-order Grabber Blue First Edition at X-Plan pricing just before the global markets went to hell and car prices went through the roof (and have you seen the price at the pump now LOL?!)

Pros:
  • The exterior styling is gorgeous. Way better than the frumpy androgynous people-mover lump of a Model Y. The Grabber Blue is not only the fastest color - it is gorgeous. It pops in the day and practically glows at night. Fit and finish are flawless.
  • Mechanically the car is nearly flawless, aside from a couple of issues I'll detail below. The suspension is a bit bouncier than I would like.
  • My 4X has plenty of giddy up. Not quite as quick as a comparable MY, but not a big enough difference to care.
  • The interior is very comfortable and refined. Nice little touches like blue contrast stitching and soft touch materials give the cabin a very refined feel. The infotainment screen gives the car a suitably futuristic air while maintaining most of the comforts of a more traditional vehicle. Unlike the MY, I get a driver instrument cluster. Unlike the MY, I don't have to tap into the menu to activate my wipers or open the freaking glove box. And I get that glorious volume knob that is so easy to use (and soon to be even more versatile if @Ford Motor Company ever takes my suggestion). Front and rear passenger space is perfectly adequate, and the cabin is quiet - much quieter than the MY.
  • Trunk and frunk capacity are quite good for a car of this size. The floor lays perfectly flat. Don't believe any numbers that suggest the MY has more cargo capacity - the capacity is basically the same and comes down to the specific dimension of your luggage (or banana boxes).
  • The infotainment screen is generally quite easy to use and responsive. In fact, Ford clearly appears to have made some refinements to the responsiveness (although they haven't expressly acknowledged) because the interface is now far less laggy than when I purchased.
  • Ford's Co-Pilot360 suite of driver assistance features generally works quite well. It makes parking and backing out much safer, and makes highway driving a breeze. The lane centering functionality switches on and off automatically with turn signals, which is actually better than Tesla Autopilot. But a year later, I'm still waiting on BlueCruise....
  • PAAK: Yes, I'm listing this as a pro because after a year of struggles it finally works pretty well! In the past month I've only had to use a backup start code a handful of times.
  • Thanks to the federal tax credit, the price currently can't be beat for a car of this quality. An apples-to-apples MY starts at several thousand more.
Cons:
  • Public charging is my biggest complaint, because it's kind of important to an EV. Even in just one year, the network is improving, but it still isn't nearly as reliable as the Tesla Supercharger network. There's a big CCS network out there, and it is growing and will soon be the nationwide standard, but it's still uncertain whether a station will work when you arrive. And stations are still so spotty in the midwest that there are not a lot of backup options. In other words, midwest road trips require careful planning and if the charging station doesn't work, you're in for a major headache. This isn't entirely Ford's fault, but I also don't think Ford is doing enough to bolster reliability.
  • OTA Updates are finally coming with some regularity to fix bugs and add a few new features, but it has been horrifically slow. And the promised BlueCruise via OTA is now over 6 months late. Only a handful of cars - if that - are likely to get it OTA by the latest Q1 2022 deadline coming up in a few weeks.
  • Communication from Ford is generally poor. Don't get me wrong, as an early adopter and vociferous forum participant, Ford has interacted with me several times at a fairly high level, and I appreciate that. But Ford could clear up a lot of confusion if it would provide more detail as to what various updates do. There's a ton that we just don't know, and it makes things like tracking down bug resolutions quite difficult.
  • The poor Alarm Interior Motion Sensor design (not being able to disable it permanently) has been a frequent headache. Ford needs to change this.
  • There are still quite a few software bugs, some of which I've detailed here. Ford has fixed many, but this first year has very much had a "Beta" feel. For example, PAAK doesn't always work (although it is getting much better) and the car double-honks at me sometimes for no apparent reason while getting in or out of the car, so randomly it is hard to pin down.
  • The driver screen buzzes. Ford replaced my screen and the new one buzzes less, but it's still there. Weird that Ford can't source a driver screen that is silent like the much larger infotainment screen.
  • FordPass is not a great app. It now includes most basic functionality I desire, but the layout is still a cluttered mess. This is mostly because Ford has glommed EV functionality onto an app that was really designed for its overall fleet of vehicles. Oh, and the car reverting to Guest profile every time I remote start is dumb design and needs to be fixed.
Some of these gripes are fairly minor, some are not, but overall I love the car and I would do it again. The only reason I'd recommend anyone buy a Tesla at this point is if they (1) take so many road trips that they need the greater DCFC reliability, or (2) if they plan to drop the $12,500 extra on Full Self Driving.

Great job @Ford Motor Company !! But seriously, read the Super Poll and get some more of these enhancements!
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Jimmy2

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I'm at the one year mark too, 12000 miles. I'm in general agreement with your pros and cons.
 

back_at_it_19

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?% on most counts for me. Even better here. 23k miles and only 11 months in. Public charging on EA has been just as flawless as gas stations for me but I’m in the Pacific NW. Lots of 300 mile or more trips. Still mostly charging at home. I rarely use the app so dont really care about it being better.
 

back_at_it_19

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DM me for more… You’ll be totally fine with a few options honestly, especially if you have an overnight charge available in Priest Lake. Our last trip was Seattle to Walla Walla to Spokane and back to Seattle. Using Electrify America fast charging except in Walla Walla where there is no fast charger but we were there overnight (and a Tesla adapter for their slow destination chargers). You can get 80-90% charge pretty quickly at: Issaquah, Bend, Ellensburg (Taco Bell), Yakima, Ritzville, Spokane Valley. The problem in Spokane is that the EA charger is on I-90 but past Hwy 2 by a few miles. We found a non-EA charger near our destination there off Hwy 2 but off the beaten path. Check out the Electrify America app and PlugShare for all other options. Happy to help more if you need. “Fast” is 150kw or more available at the charger. (50kw is faster than home (11kw or do) but would take an hour our more for a charge.)
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