Electric Ford Focus on sale in 2011

Ford plans to bring its next-generation, European-developed Focus small sedan here next year, followed a year later by an electric version. (Current Focus EV sedan prototype shown here.) The battery-powered Focus will be Ford’s second battery-electric vehicle after the Transit Connect compact van.

The Focus will reportedly use a 26 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, and a 400-volt electric motor for a target range of 100 miles. Ford hasn’t announced a price for the electric Focus, but it plans to sell them to fleets starting in 2011.

The powertrain of the electric Focus has been designed so it can be swapped relatively easily in place of the gasoline engine under the hood.

In an interesting, ironic twist, both the gas- and battery-powered Focuses will be built in Michigan at a factory that once built giant Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs.

The Focus will be the first of the small European-designed models that company president Alan Mullaly said would be imported to the United States.

Along with the Transit Connect, the Focus, Nissan EV, Mini-E, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Toyota iQ electric, and models from Tesla and possibly Chrysler, represent the first wave of electric cars slated for U.S. roads in many years.

—Eric Evarts 

Comments

[Dylan]

Ironic...when you charge up your car, where does the electricity come from? 78% of America's electricity comes from COAL.

[SC]

"...when you charge up your car, where does the electricity come from? 78% of America's electricity comes from COAL."

So? Electric cars are far more efficient than their gasoline counterparts, requiring less energy to operate, thereby producing less carbon. Its easier to manage the emissions from a few power plants compared to managing millions of tailpipes. Personally, I'd rather get my energy from places like Kentucky and WV than the Mideast. As cleaner sources of energy become available, they simply get plugged in to the existing grid and instantly your car is running on wind, solar, geothermal, anti-matter, or whatever. And without any modification to the car. Try that with your average gasoline powered car. Electric cars can't come soon enough.

[Paul]

Sign me up! I agree, the electricity can come from many sources. I live in upstate New York where 40 percent of our electricity comes from hydro (which is renewable).

[Ken Grubb]

49% of U.S. electric comes from coal
15% in California
17% in Washington state

California and Washington state have some of the highest concentrations of hybrid vehicles owned so it stands to reason those states will have high rates of EV ownership early on.

EVs are 75% efficient. ICEs (Internal Combustion Engines) are only 20% efficient.

Bottomline: EVs will be much, much cleaner than ICEs in the early years, and even as drivers in coal centric states buy EVs the air will still be cleaner.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html
http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/electricity/total_system_power.html
http://www.cted.wa.gov/site/539/default.aspx
http://www.polk.com/TL/PV_200903_Issue007_HybridSector.pdf
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/evtech.shtml

[Don]

Finally! Leave it to Ford to do it smartley. Where does that energy come from to power your car? NOT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST!