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Hi all,
I am currently leasing a 2015 Ford Fusion Energi Titanium, and I'm toward the front of the line for a Tesla Model 3. But, I have a gasser I'd like to get rid of in favor of something electrified, and I may also turn in the Energi early and attempt to save some $ by buying used.
I'm very interested in the Volt, mainly because it's cheaper than a used i3 but has better range than the Energi. However, there are some things that I *really* like with the Energi and I've heard either conflicting or no information on them.
Some things that are very important to me:
1) I live in Wisconsin. It gets cold here. I'd really like a heated steering wheel like I have in the Fusion Energi, but I'm not sure if that has ever been an option on the Volt, when it became an option, etc. Also, if it was/is an option, how can I tell if a particular car has it? For those of you who do have it, how well does it work?
2) Going with the cold theme - I really like preconditioning, and my Fusion has "Go Times" that can be set to automatically precondition. For example, I have one set for every weekday at the time I leave for work, and the car automatically warms/cools the cabin to 72ºF and tops off the battery. It sounds like the Volt doesn't have this feature, that you must activate remote start? Also, it sounds like the remote start may start the ICE if it's really cold (not good if it's still in my garage)? How can I get the car to heat/cool itself without using the ICE at all?
3) Smartphone (iOS) app. I would really like the ability to remote start, lock/unlock, locate the car, check charging status, etc. from my phone. As this isn't a new car, I'm expecting that I'll have to pay extra for OnStar to get this? How much does OnStar cost per month/year? How well does the app work? Whose cell network is used for OnStar, and have the car modems been upgraded to 3G/4G capability? (Ford's big drawback is that they included access only to AT&T's EDGE network which is being shut off in a couple months, everyone will need new hardware.)
4) What are the major advantages of the various years and trim packages? I'll probably go for Premium, but is there any reason I should be looking for a particular model year or range of years?
I expect I'll have some more questions but I'll cut it off there for now. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!
I am currently leasing a 2015 Ford Fusion Energi Titanium, and I'm toward the front of the line for a Tesla Model 3. But, I have a gasser I'd like to get rid of in favor of something electrified, and I may also turn in the Energi early and attempt to save some $ by buying used.
I'm very interested in the Volt, mainly because it's cheaper than a used i3 but has better range than the Energi. However, there are some things that I *really* like with the Energi and I've heard either conflicting or no information on them.
Some things that are very important to me:
1) I live in Wisconsin. It gets cold here. I'd really like a heated steering wheel like I have in the Fusion Energi, but I'm not sure if that has ever been an option on the Volt, when it became an option, etc. Also, if it was/is an option, how can I tell if a particular car has it? For those of you who do have it, how well does it work?
2) Going with the cold theme - I really like preconditioning, and my Fusion has "Go Times" that can be set to automatically precondition. For example, I have one set for every weekday at the time I leave for work, and the car automatically warms/cools the cabin to 72ºF and tops off the battery. It sounds like the Volt doesn't have this feature, that you must activate remote start? Also, it sounds like the remote start may start the ICE if it's really cold (not good if it's still in my garage)? How can I get the car to heat/cool itself without using the ICE at all?
3) Smartphone (iOS) app. I would really like the ability to remote start, lock/unlock, locate the car, check charging status, etc. from my phone. As this isn't a new car, I'm expecting that I'll have to pay extra for OnStar to get this? How much does OnStar cost per month/year? How well does the app work? Whose cell network is used for OnStar, and have the car modems been upgraded to 3G/4G capability? (Ford's big drawback is that they included access only to AT&T's EDGE network which is being shut off in a couple months, everyone will need new hardware.)
4) What are the major advantages of the various years and trim packages? I'll probably go for Premium, but is there any reason I should be looking for a particular model year or range of years?
I expect I'll have some more questions but I'll cut it off there for now. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!
