The ford focus electric has two "drive" modes: "d" and "l". the latter is more aggressive in regenerative braking. when i approach a right turn into my neighborhood, there is a short segment of cement between the two asphalt roads. i believe the traction/steering control gets confused, and the regenerative braking disengages, causing the vehicle to accelerate and lurch forward, even if i am braking/decelerating. steering behavior also seems affected. the first time this happened was very disconcerting as i thought i was going to crash into the vehicle stopped at the cross-street i was turning onto. i can reproduce this consistently.
The regenerative brakes on my 2012 ford focus ev do not appear to be working properly and i am growing concerned that they may be unsafe, especially at highway speeds. other ford focus ev's that i've tested brake differently with much more control. the brakes on my vehicle are either "on" or "off"; there is no in-between, no gradual stopping because, when pressing down on the brake pedal, nothing happens until the pedal travels about halfway, then the brakes cease and the car literally jolts to a stop. two ford mechanics at two different ford dealerships and 1 ford service manager have told me that my brakes do not appear to be working properly and that they may be unsafe; however, after numerous complaints to ford corporate going all the way back to when i first purchased the vehicle in september 2013, ford claims that "everything is normal," in spite of the fact that two of their own technicians and a ford service manager state otherwise. *tr