Ford Focus EV --Ford's electric car-- will go on sale in November!

[txlibdem]

I've been waiting for this announcement for a long, long time. I saw Alan Mulally on CNBC this morning talking to Maria Bartiromo about the unveiling of Ford's electric car: the Ford Focus EV.

LAS VEGAS--Ford chose CES 2011 as the venue to introduce its all-electric Focus. The car, based on the 2012 Focus model being introduced this year, is actually Ford's second electric vehicle, as it has already begun delivering electric versions of its Transit Connect utility vehicle.

Ford has been reluctant to state a range figure for the electric Focus, as it is still undergoing EPA testing, but a spokesman told us it would go up to 100 miles. The car uses a 23 kilowatt-hour liquid cooled lithium-ion battery pack and has a top speed of 84 mph.

What differentiates it from other electric cars on or coming to market is that recharge time from empty to full should take from 3 to 4 hours when plugged into a 240 volt source, half the charge time of the Nissan Leaf. Ford achieved this figure by including a more robust onboard charger.

Ford will also make available a 240 volt charging station, with installation through Best Buy. This station is designed with two components, one hard-wired bracket and the charging unit, which plugs into the bracket. This arrangement allows flexibility, letting the Focus Electric owner take the charging unit to a new garage, only needing to purchase a new bracket.

Along with a version of Ford's MyFord Touch dashboard interface designed specifically for electric vehicles, there is also an app called MyFord Mobile that lets owners set charging times and remotely unlock the doors, among other functions. The dashboard includes a screen that shows an increasing amount of butterflies as the car is driven more efficiently, much like the tree display in the Nissan Leaf.

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027862-283.html

So, who's going to order one? How many DU'ers are interested in the latest electric car?

[Drale]

1. Thats great news

now if only I had a job to afford a new car, I would be very interested in a electric car.

[txlibdem]

6. I hear that. I'm holding off as well because of lack of finances

You're definitely not alone in that situation, unfortunately.

But I'm not giving up hope, especially now that the rich have their tax cuts in place. Maybe they'll start throwing us single-celled creatures a crumb or two as they gorge themselves on the rotted flesh of our economic carcass.
:applause:

[joshcryer]

2. These are going to be sold out so quick!

I'm interested but I don't have the will to get one for myself right now, I am saving money, etc. But I might help my mom get one. She doesn't go further than 50 miles in a day. Once my brother and his wife leave down with her two grandsons it'll go down even further.

[txlibdem]

3. 50 miles is a lot more than the average person drives per day

That's probably a worst-case scenario, I'm guessing. The longest daily drive I've had in the last 15 years is 45 miles round trip. Maybe if I lived farther away from the edge of town...

[joshcryer]

4. Yeah, 50 miles is more like a week, sometimes as much as a month.

But her grandkids live about 15 miles away and she visits them twice weekly.

[txlibdem]

5. But I digress. 50 miles would be just fine in a Ford Focus EV.

Tests with the Nissan Leaf show that even with both a/c and heater on and driving like a lead footed teenager the Leaf can go 47 miles. Nobody is going to drive like that in the real world. The Focus EV and the Leaf will help you learn to drive more consciously, sort of like the trees that grow in the dash display on the Prius when you drive conservatively and are removed when you drive with a lead foot. You'd be amazed at how much such a subtle little thing can change your perspective.

[TheWraith]

23. Not a lot more, the "average" commute is something like 34 miles per day.

So that's basically a commute, an errand, and a little extra. Might be fine for some people, though from an engineering standpoint I prefer either a larger battery pack like the Teslas or a gas backup like the Volt.

[txlibdem]

27. It's going to be an exciting competition between Volt and the electric cars

The Volt is a great product and it will be a great fit for a whole lot of people like yourself.

The Nissan Leaf, the Mitsubishi iMiev, and coming up, the Ford Focus EV all have great potential to grab market share.

The American public will vote with their wallets.

PS, gasoline here in North Texas just climbed over $3 per gallon for the first time since 2008. Those "in the know" say we'll see $4/gal. or even $5/gal. gas in the very near future.

[madokie]

29. $2.89 here in north east oklahoma this morning, $2.79 last saturday

and as far as I can see there really isn't any reason for the price to be that high. Mind you I wish that half of that price was a tax of some sort possibly paying on road upkeep and to encourage less driving. I know that I personally don't drive anywhere near as many miles as I did 10 - 15 years ago. I'm sure age has something to do with it but the cost of driving has also. It's just hard to feel comfortable with anything except driving when really needed anymore.

splchk

[txlibdem]

30. America's current lack of demand didn't keep prices down

What will the price climb to when our economy starts getting better.

[madokie]

34. We'll be up to 5 bucks a gallon soon if someone doesn't stop the oily bastids

[joshcryer]

32. I still can't believe that it was $1.65 in 2007.

WTF.

[madokie]

33. I think its called 'we're getting screwed' by the oil companies once again.

[txlibdem]

35. And this time we're not even gettin' the devil's lube

Broken glass or sandpaper are our only choices. Enjoy your addiction to oil, America!

[madokie]

37. That about sums it up

[txlibdem]

38. Gas price is up and that will be good for electric vehicle sales but people will be hurt

I'm pro-electric vehicles because they use far less energy per mile than any gasoline car and I want electric cars in every American's driveway. Every time gas prices jump up the interest in electric vehicles goes up even more. That part I like.

What I am fearful of, though, is that the higher prices are going to hit the poor and the working poor far more than any other group. When the price spike of 2008 hit there was at one point almost double the ridership on public transit and then when the prices went back down the number of riders went back to as low as it was before. It was $3.50 gas that seemed to be the tipping point and by the time gas hit $3.75 to $4 it was jam packed on the bus and the train. So many Americans are just barely making it even without the price of gas going up. I wonder why the Obama administration hasn't made any announcements of a plan to help them, perhaps they think this is going to be the "new normal" price for gas?

[tinrobot]

7. Beautiful car. My only question is how much does it cost?

[joshcryer]

8. $40 thousand dollars.

[txlibdem]

9. That's less than the GM Volt, which you can lease for $350 per month

The Nissan Leaf can also be leased for $350 per month. Does anyone truly believe that Ford is going to fail to offer a lease price that is competitive?

BTW, where did you find the link to that price figure? I was looking but must have missed it.

The Ford Focus EV Will Be Here In 2011
By Katie Fehrenbacher Jan. 7, 2011, 11:00am PDT

Ford’s first consumer all-electric car, the Ford Focus Electric, will go on sale by the end of 2011, Ford’s Director of Global Electrification, Nancy Gioia, told me in a phone interview on Friday. The automaker, which already announced news about its mobile app at the Consumer Electronics Show on Friday, has been teasing the official unveiling of the Focus EV over the past few days at CES.

Here’s some of the stats you can expect from the Ford Focus EV:

• It has a range of between 80 to 100 miles on average, Gioia said.
  
• It will be able to charge in 3 to 4 hours with a 240 volt charger.
  
• It uses lithium ion batteries from LG Chem.
  
• It will be available in Europe in 2012.
  
• It has a liquid-cooled battery management system.

Overall it seems like a pretty competitive offer, in comparison to the Nissan LEAF (which has a similar range) and GM’s Volt. But absent from the discussion is price, and Gioia told me that the company hasn’t yet decided on the final pricing but that the Ford Focus EV will be “fully competitive,” with the other EVs on the market. Though, tellingly Gioia added in our discussion on price that the car will have “class leading features,” (which usually means it’s going to be on the higher end of the cost range.)

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-ford-focus-ev-will-be-here-in-2011/

[tinrobot]

10. Is that just an estimate or has it been announced?

[joshcryer]

28. BTW, txlibdem, tinrobot, I saw that number on a car blog, it was the rumored price.

Sorry about that.

[Nihil]

11. Anyone know if it is US only or if it's intended to be sold abroad?

(Specifically, what timescale is likely for the UK?)

[txlibdem]

13. No timetable yet for Europe, they're still deciding on a manufacturing location

According to Ford's press release the platform upon which the Focus EV is based is a global platform (and BTW is able to share the same assembly line as the gasoline (petrol for you in the UK) version of the Focus).

Per the Ford press release reprinted by Autoblog Green:

Both Focus gasoline and electric variants to be sold in North America will be built at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., with production powered in part by one of the largest solar energy generator systems in the state.

For European markets, a decision on where the Focus Electric will be built is currently being finalized.

Focus Electric is one of five new electrified vehicles included in Ford's electrification strategy. Initial deliveries of Transit Connect Electric began in North America at the end of last year and the vehicle will be launched in Europe later in 2011.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/01/07/2011-ford-focus-electric-ces-unveiled/

This article says the Focus EV will be available in Europe in 2012:

It will be available in Europe in 2012.

Here's the full quote:
Ford’s first consumer all-electric car, the Ford Focus Electric, will go on sale by the end of 2011, Ford’s Director of Global Electrification, Nancy Gioia, told me in a phone interview on Friday. The automaker, which already announced news about its mobile app at the Consumer Electronics Show on Friday, has been teasing the official unveiling of the Focus EV over the past few days at CES.

Here’s some of the stats you can expect from the Ford Focus EV:

• It has a range of between 80 to 100 miles on average, Gioia said.
  
• It will be able to charge in 3 to 4 hours with a 240 volt charger.
  
• It uses lithium ion batteries from LG Chem.
  
• It will be available in Europe in 2012.
  
• It has a liquid-cooled battery management system.

Overall it seems like a pretty competitive offer, in comparison to the Nissan LEAF (which has a similar range) and GM’s Volt. But absent from the discussion is price, and Gioia told me that the company hasn’t yet decided on the final pricing but that the Ford Focus EV will be “fully competitive,” with the other EVs on the market.

Here's the source article:
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-ford-focus-ev-will-be-here-in-2011/

[Nihil]

19. OK - thanks for the update.

Not in the market for a replacement for the Prius for a year or so
(and ATM it would probably be another Prius - preferably a plug-in)
but I like the standard Focus that my niece drives so was just
curious if/when the electric version would be here.

:hi:

[madokie]

15. 2012 for the UK

no link but its in one of the links I read here today

[Nihil]

20. Thanks.

I followed a few of the links but missed that bit.
:hi:

[Nederland]

12. It's looking more and more like GM made the wrong bet

To me it seems like more and more companies are going the all electric route over the hybrid route. That's just a guess based upon recent press releases of course--I don't have any real statistics to back it up. Anyone know the trend in the percentage of all electric models to hybrids?

[txlibdem]

14. Wrong bet or just a totally different target audience?

I usually keep up with the goings on over at Autoblog Green, although I have to admit I've been too busy to check there for a couple of months. From the ongoing "Volt versus Leaf" discussions over there this past year I had to develop the personal theory that some Americans are dead set on having an internal combustion engine in any vehicle they buy. Maybe it's just their comfort level or just what they're used to and they're not interested in changing their "way of life" or habits. Not yet anyway.

Full disclosure: I am firmly in the electric vehicle camp and have been for years. My main reason is that with a gasoline or diesel powered vehicle you have no choice about the source of your fuel, it's coming from big oil and you buy it at a gas station. Period. With an electric vehicle you have far more choice in the source of "fuel" for your vehicle:

• tell your electric utility you want to get your AC from renewable sources (no upfront cost but you pay more in the long run)
  
• put solar panels on your roof (high upfront cost but free power from there on out)
  
• install one or more wind turbines, either mounted on the edge of your roof or on a tower (many local restrictions to check into but still free power)
  
• residents of Washington State get almost all their electricity from hydro so they really don't have to do anything

Then there are the people who actually need to drive over 100 miles per day or need their vehicle to be ready to go at a moments notice. I count in this group people like plumbers, HVAC repair persons, cops/paramedics, people whose job has them "on call" all the time such as doctors or technicians. Many of these will have to wait till 2015 or later to be able to afford an electric vehicle that has both the utility and the range they need. Hybrids like the Volt make sense for these people (GM has admitted that the Volt will use both the gasoline engine and the electric motor to propel the vehicle in certain situations so they honestly cannot call the Volt an "electric car").

My view of the Volt is that it's a great car and it definitely has an audience. I'm just not that audience.

[Nederland]

21. Both

Certainly GM is targeting a different set of people than the Leaf, but does that decision make good business sense?

Let's compare a pure EV to a hybrid. On the positive side, a pure EV car is cheaper to build (the Leaf is $7500 less than the Volt), and will last longer because it has far fewer parts that wear out. On the negative side, a pure EV has a shorter range. However, as battery technology inevitably improves, the range of a pure EV will increase. Once you can get a battery powered car to go 600 miles on a charge the range issue effectively disappears for 99.9% of the population, and current battery trends indicate that day could be less than a decade away. As a result, the only advantage a hybrid has over a pure EV is destined to go away in a relatively short time span.

The question is therefore this: does it make sense to spend time and engineering resources designing a configuration that costs more, doesn't last, and will soon be a historical footnote? Only the next few years of sales figures can answer that question. Those numbers will reveal if the fact that the Volt can go slightly further than the Leaf will result in the higher sales numbers that would justify the decision to go hybrid. My bet is no.

[txlibdem]

22. Well, I did say I support electric vehicles pretty much for the same reasons

I only question the need for 600 mile range. Most Americans drive far less than the 100 mile range of the Leaf or the Focus EV. Perhaps the manufacturer can offer multiple range options, lower range version being lower cost and you pay for more range if you need it. I wouldn't want to be forced to purchase 600 miles worth of batteries when I'd never use more than 100.

Even for the people who truly need more range than the Leaf/Focus EV offer today there is already the option to get an AMP Equinox (or a Solstice or Sky) that gives you 150 miles range which you can buy today for around $50k.

So my view is that it isn't the technology that is the issue, for most of the holdouts it's only attitudes and comfort level and the fact that electric vehicles are "new" and simply outside of peoples' experience. The upshot of that is that once they see how cool, peppy, convenient and clean electric vehicles are (from a relative, friend, neighbor, or coworker) they'll come around sooner or later. Especially with gas prices continuing to rise even while we were in the deepest recession since The Great Depression and demand in the US and many parts of the world was minimal.

The fact that prices will continue to go down as electric vehicle mass production ramps up is icing on the cake.

[Nederland]

25. Agreed

I only question the need for 600 mile range. Most Americans drive far less than the 100 mile range of the Leaf or the Focus EV. Perhaps the manufacturer can offer multiple range options, lower range version being lower cost and you pay for more range if you need it. I wouldn't want to be forced to purchase 600 miles worth of batteries when I'd never use more than 100.

I expect you will get that option. Tesla plans offer their Model S sedan with three different battery packs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S). The base model will go 160 miles per charge, upgradeable to 230 and 300 miles per charge. I know that's more miles than you are looking for, but the Model S is a very high end car. Since the battery pack is a large percentage of an EVs cost, I can see companies making an entry level car dirt cheap by putting really small battery packs in them.

[tinrobot]

17. Ford announced a Volt-like plug-in hybrid this week as well.

It seems to be a minivan like vehicle. Too ugly for me, but a soccer mom's wet dream.

http://alttransport.com/2011/01/ford-shows-new-hybrid-electric-cars-at-the-detroit-auto-show-will-add-7000-jobs/

Ford is covering all bets. I think they're going to be very successful.

[txlibdem]

18. I dunno, looks just like a standard small 4 door hatchback to me

Check out the 4th photo at this link:
http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1053379_2011-detroit-auto-show-ford-c-max-hybrid-energi-plug-in-concepts

It doesn't really look minivan-ish at all. Kinda like a crossover+hatchback combination maybe?

[tinrobot]

24. The article you cited calls it a "Hybrid mini-minivan"

Pretty much what I read, too.

[txlibdem]

26. Weird, huh?

The pictures just don't look like any minivan I've ever seen, though. 4-doors and a hatchback...

[madokie]

16. I want one

and I want it right damn now :-)

[NNadir]

31. I want one! I want one! I want one! All you need to motivate a consumerist

is to put a bright shiny picture in front of their faces.

It's amazing how easy it is to motivate dumb consumers, not one of whom understands the first thing about what it means to be an environmentalist.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/electricity.cfm/state=OK#fuel">94% of Oakie electricity comes from coal and natural gas.

That's um, 57% from coal.

Have a swell trinket inspired evening.

[txlibdem]

36. Still less polluting than the average car you can buy today, even if 100% coal

It will take till 2016 for emissions standards be as clean as electric vehicles, even EVs powered 100% by coal power. Oklahoma isn't as pathetic an example as you make it seem. West Virginia gets 98% of its electricity from coal, North Dakota and Wyoming get 95%, Utah and Indiana get 94%, and Kentucky gets 91% of its electricity from coal. Natural gas isn't the immediate threat to Humanity, coal is. We could continue to burn natural gas for another 50 to 100 years if we got rid of coal in the next decade. BTW, my source shows only 52% from coal for Oklahoma.

Now I'm just as opposed to multinationals using their expertise in the science of psychology to get us hooked on consumer goods as the next guy, especially when these same corporations install as puppets their moronic politicians who claim that we should all distrust science. I guess they want to keep the public as dumb and under thumb as possible, for as long as possible.

And if I were Emperor Of The World (some day I keep hoping...) I'd immediately slash road and highway budgets and put the extra funds into building Personal Rapid Transit, eventually removing all roads and highways when PRT and high speed rail lines have been completed.

That being said, the reality is that cars are going to be here for a good long time and we consumers have the choice to pay our hard earned money for a vehicle that will enable us to choose the source of our fuel (electric vehicles) or we can choose a vehicle that offers zero choice (gasoline/diesel vehicles). Add to that the fact that as time goes on the electric vehicles get cleaner and cleaner as renewable energy increases and the choice, to me, becomes crystal clear.

[Kennah]

39. Finally!

The argument I've been waiting for: EV versus EV.

The whole Prius versus Leaf, or Volt versus Leaf, arguments really have not interested me. However, Focus EV versus Leaf, now we're talking apples and apples--or EVs and EVs.

I test drove a Leaf, and I loved it. Reality of finding work is preoccupying my mind, but assuming I'm gainfully employed I am very interested in either a Leaf or a Focus EV.

A 4 hour recharge time, at 240 volt, for the Focus EV gives it a significant edge, IMHO.

The Leaf is an EV built from the ground up while the Focus EV is a roller with a powerplant dropped into it. That makes me tend to believe the Leaf should prove a better product in an EV to EV comparison.

I'm still not seeing a price to compare it to the $33K price tag of a Leaf. It would also seem that the Focus EV won't hit North America until late 2011 as a 2012 model.

[txlibdem]

40. Recharge time of Focus EV versus Leaf

The initial model of the Leaf comes with a 3.3 kV internal charger while the Focus EV will ship with a 6 kV. I read somewhere, I think it was on one of the links posted so far in this thread, that the second year model of the Leaf will come with a 6.6 kV charger. That will even things up.

Even so, both cars you will still give you the choice of charging at a slower rate since charging (at 110V or 240V) is completely controlled by the charger inside the vehicle itself. The reason you might want to is that some theorize that frequently charging at the higher rate may shorten battery life.

And I almost forgot to mention that the Leaf will take up to 8 hours to charge only if you completely deplete the battery pack. If you drove only 50 miles that day and plugged the vehicle in to charge it would take closer to 4 hours to recharge.

[Kennah]

41. Interesting about the 6.6 kV charger

I am, at least on some level, concerned about 240V or 480V charging shortening the life of the battery.

Given how little we drive, we'd probably be fine with 110V charging most nights.