Ford Focus Electric
Fashionably late or just treading carefully? Whichever it is, there’s no doubt that, when it comes to electrification, Ford are lagging rivals Toyota, Honda, GM and even BMW. Perhaps that’s why they chose to unveil the Focus Electric at CES 2011 rather than the Detroit Auto Show.
CES is about TV’s and computers. Ford is a car company, but as the product introduction shows, Ford believes it’s also a consumer appliance company. If you check out the interior of the Focus Electric you’ll see why. The intuitive MyFord Touch and MyFord Mobile interfaces are turning cars like the Focus Electric into wheeled versions of the iPod and iPhone. So is it a car, an appliance, or something else?
The 2012 Focus Electric is a battery powered version of the new Focus hatchback. As such, it competes directly with the Nissan LEAF, but there is one notable difference. Whereas Nissan built a completely new vehicle to be their environmental warrior (there is no gasoline-powered alternative,) Ford have effectively made electric power an option on the new Focus. This means buyers can calculate how much the Focus Electric will save over the regular gas version and compare that against the increased purchase price.
There’s no word on what that price is, because the car doesn’t go on sale until late 2011, but given the expense of a 23kWh battery pack (roughly the same size as that in the LEAF,) it seem reasonable to expect a steep premium over the regular vehicle.
Adding a bulky battery has another negative; it adds weight too. The Focus Electric weighs in at 3, 691 pounds, a 700 pound increase over the regular car. Unfortunately Nissan haven’t yet said what the LEAF weighs, so it’s not possible to make direct comparisons, but as these vehicles are similar size the LEAF probably weighs around the same. This means we can also expect similar range, something in the region of 70 to just over 100 miles.
After range, the biggest weakness of all-electric vehicles is charging time. The main constraint in this is the electrical supply voltage. Ford have attempted to address this with an on-board 240V charger which is said to deliver a full charge in under four hours. That's rough half the time needed by the LEAF. If however, you need to recharge from a regular 120 V supply allow 18 to 20 hours.
The Focus Electric promises to be an interesting option for those wanting reduce their carbon footprint or simple save money. For more details, read whatCar & Drivermagazine has to say about it, then decide for yourself if it’s an automobile or a consumer appliance.
