u/PerceptionCurious440

My last ICE car was a Focus ST. It was nearly the perfect car. Perfect size ~172 inches. Good power. 12 gallon tank and generally 26mph city. It had one problem: snow and the hill leading up to my house. And the step driveway. And Front Wheel Drive. And 14 years old.

I needed to replace it with a similar length, similar power AWD hatchback. This is the first EV car on the market in the US to fit that description.

And the local dealer got one last week. I went to "look" at it. It was black. Blacker than black. Stealth car angles.

If you've read the Hitchhikers Guide books or seen the British series, you know who Hotback Desiato was, and what his ship was like. This is that.

I live in the PNW. So sun and heat is an issue for about one day a year.

Drove it. It's quick, handles turns better than a heavy tall vehicle has any right to. Flappy paddle regen is a little like driving a manual.

If you've ever had to stand on electric public transit rail and the driver just goes for maximum acceleration when all the cars are empty-ish, its like that.

Went for a "look", drove it away. I drive mostly city. Been driving it for a week. About 120 miles. It's at 78% charge. That's what not driving 75mph gets you.

Compared to the cost of my FoST in 2012 dollars, the FoST was about $30K with everything. This would be $24K in 2012 $. It was actually about $35K before tax in inflation depreciated 2026 dollars. And this is AWD and does 0-60 in about 4.8 seconds vs the turbo Focus 6.0. Miss the leather seats though. This has lumbar support. So feature wash IMO. Never really used the sunroof in the Focus.

The Focus had a truly useless HID with turbo pressure, oil pressure and temp. This has a speedometer which tells you the speed limit that you should be using, and some other useful maybe stuff that I shouldn't distract myself with.

Got to use the 120v AC vehicle to load plug to unexpectedly prove an amp I was selling worked in the Guitar Center parking lot.

The QI chargers are nice. The 2 side center console door is nice. The 6 cupholders are ridiculous. The electric folding mirrors are nice. It has garage door openers in the mirror. Auto rain sensor. I'm still figuring out the entertainment system. It seems to have a speed volume adjustment. It's hard to get out of Android Auto. Like that screen stays up no matter what source you pick. Getting out of it takes getting to an app screen and picking the Toyota app.

And with the SE model it has the smaller wheels with bigger sidewall tires. Which I prefer because our roads in Washington state are crap. More rubber = more quiet. It has a built in charging system for a direct 240v L2 plug, no wall charger needed.

It carries bags of soil and cinder blocks like a champ. Not 8 foot boards. I'll rent a truck for that for home improvement projects. I can fit two guitars, a bass, a 2x12 cab and 15 inch bass cab and a cart to wheel them, no problem.

Saw a coal rolling RAM truck dude who's a real neighborhood jerk, doing the angry dance at the local supermarket gas station filling up. Diesel is $6.99 a gallon there. I laughed, but didn't roll down the window. He probably has a gun.

It charges with a Tesla plug, but has every kind of adaptor.

I know I should take a nice pic in our beautiful PNW area, but I think it's funny that I didn't have to move the Focus's tennis ball.

Happy to answer any questions.