Ford's and ones from Hybrids Plus are nearly identical performance wise.

Ford says they "tweaked" the rear suspension to account for the added weight. Big Deal. The added weight is only 100 pounds over the original battery. Does that mean I need a tweaked rear suspension to carry around 100 pounds of tools, or dog food? Hell... I have 100 pounds of tools, and "emergency" equipment ( tire chains, quart of oil, gallon of anti-freeze, food, water ) in a box back there all the time.

Other than that, the difference is... you can get one today from Hybrids Plus, and who knows about Ford?

Costs? Well, I can tell you from the materials and man hours involved, there is a very low profit margin in these packs right now. To be honest, most of the workers at Hybrids Plus bike to work, and share one company car for errands! -John

Mark- I did not "baby" the car or do much "hypermile" techniques. I only did what any smart driver would do, anticipate lights, accelerate to at least 20 miles per hour in EV, and tap the brake to shut down the engine when I was on a downgrade. The tires were ~35psi, the roof rack was on ( but I was going pretty slow ) and I was "just driving" for the most part. There was no real P&G, FAS, or Neutral coasting. I tried LGA a few times. That's it. The car is marketed to "at least double" your MPG. I think most will get triple MPG. People on this site, 4x MPG.