-You know, cars and smartphone apps are kind of becoming like peanut butter and jelly.
They're really getting to be rather common.
It's especially because the cars are becoming electrified and becoming connected.
Let me show you some new details on this MyFord Mobile app.
This is a future version coming with the electric Ford Focus, the plug-in electric Ford C-MAX, and other vehicles of that ilk.
This one's got all kinds of electric charging centric features.
Notice what it does here.
It tells me right now that I've got a 51% charge.
It's talking to the car wirelessly which will give me 51 miles, but that's me.
If someone else in the household were to have the same app, it knows that their driving behaviors are different and that could be a higher or a lower mileage range, even though the capacity of the battery is the same, so it knows about how you drive.
Press the car itself and you can see how much CO2 you save, how much money you've saved by driving this and, most importantly, you can change the driving style to see exactly what the change
in being lead-footed or not would do to your range and your other sorts of efficiencies.
Now, they call it zippy and zen--politically correct way of saying you're either a wimp driver or you're a hog, or better than that, you're right in the middle where you should be.
Also, my achievement is kind of a point system.
Very video game-oriented, you can actually get that cost posted up to your Facebook wall and you and all you're uptick driving dorky friends can get a bunch of awards and compete.
Now, let's go to this panel right here.
This is really cool.
This is a map which is on a Nissan LEAF with similar idea where it shows how
far you can get with your current charge, how far you might get with your current charge, and how far you ain't gonna get with your current charge.
And this I like a lot.
A trip planner done with MapQuest with some Microsoft data in the background that will let you plan a trip, add destinations one at a time, and you see how your range is depleting so you can add the weight points until you're basically out of charge and it'll get you back to a charging spot at the end.
Now, this screen shows me I'm set to charge at midnight for the best rates hypothetically and it would be done
at 1:40 a.m.; but what if I wanna go for a drive sooner, I can say charge now from wherever I am.
Over the web, it'll tell the car to get going and my charging will finish at a different time.
Calculate it to make sense.
And finally, check this out, you know the best way to handle a plug-in or full-battery electric car is to charge it during off peak times.
But do you know when that is?
I think I do but I'm not sure, and I'm sure is don't wanna think about it everyday.
So, Ford has added something in here to the charge settings.
See this here?
You've got your charging profiles and that little "Powered by Microsoft" means that they have got a database
that Microsoft sets up based on your utility and when the charging rates are best, either by time of day, by season.
You know, it varies in different parts of the country.
So, all you gotta do is say value for everything and then go up here and say "Here's when I gotta be ready to go every morning, fully charged, 8 a.m.
and ready to rock" and it'll figure out the scheduling and charge the car accordingly, so a lot of smarts there.
Again, they are electric car oriented, not just the same old navigation and map apps.
