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All Electric Ford Focus!
The new all electric Ford Focus is due out this year in North America.
Electric cars have hardly taken over the market with all hybrids representing less than 3% of the auto market to date, but Ford may have found a way of making them cheaper and better.
Why not build it around the already much acclaimed Focus? The platform is proven, and handling, interior design, body shape are already very well accepted even by their peers.
A top quality innovative car to begin with.
I am not alone in believing Ford has been wise in staying with the excellent Focus which has been well received in petrol driven form by all the boys and girls at "Fifth Gear" and "Top Gear," two of the most influential motoring shows on television.
Motoring magazines have also praised the smart layout and design of this roomy compact. I guess Ford were thinking "Why not use this already popular and race proven compact platform for our new electric car and save a heap of money doing so?"
The Ford Focus on the Jay Leno show.
Photos from flickr.
- Flickr: techaudottv\'s Photostream
A good range of photos here, you can see how little it has changed from the petrol or diesel models.
Having driven the standard petroleum engined Focus I can tell you it is delightful in every way, with exceptional handling. It is easy to drive and very safe so I would have to think that was a good idea to go this way.
Ford have taken on the all electric car concept for the same reason as all the other car makers, and it is not about profit.
It will take Ford's competitors some time to recover the enormous costs to bring their little piggy to market.
I'm hoping that Ford has purchased it's battery technology without the premium price it cost Honda to come up with the vertical hydrogen fuel cell to lift the mileage range to an acceptable level. I feel sure that they have had to come up with a lot of new tech to be so far in front of the competition.
Ford seem to have the edge on all the other non-hydrogen cell hybrids. With a 100 mile range, good speed and handling it leave the Volt and several others in the dust. The recharging time is much shorter on the Focus as well.
Ford knows it must enter this unprofitable market as electric cars have zero emissions it is the only way out for car makers to comply with the burgeoning emission levels and stay within the rules.
These compacts are expensive to make, and masses of R&D money has been spent by all the larger manufacturers to enter what is in reality a dead end market!
Ford has been very clever in maintaining the Focus with minor modifications to the vehicle. The costs will be very favorable for Ford by comparison to those who built an entire new car from the ground up which may or may not have design faults and may or may not be a total lemon. thus risking reputations that have all taken a beating in the last few years.
Many Industry insiders have been spilling the beans on design faults all over the Internet on the big names out of Europe for some time now so any manufacturer who gets it wrong will be noticed very quickly.
GM have lost this round, and so have the other opposition, but this is a dead end road in the long run whereas look out for a compact hydrogen car as being the leader of this market shortly. It will run a high voltage electric motor straight to the front wheels without the need for a gearbox.
Mercedes have copped a fair drumming from Top Gear for faults. this has indicated that BMW are not alone in being a bit patchy in assembly and quality control especially in the electronics, which are more than a nuisance to the owner and frustrating as hell to locate and repair for the dealerships.
Comments
It seems all European cars (or many) have had so many electrical problems of late, one can't help thinking its built-in obsolescense again. I try to stay away from all the gizmos and buy a simple car with little to go wrong. Bob
- Author
Hi diogenes.
Good idea to stay away from too much complexity for a while at least till the bugs are ironed out, or as you suggest buy a simple car with less chance of failures like the ones that are being experienced now.
Hi Earnest - Ford seems to know what the market wants lately and it has the profits this year to demonstrate that. Toyota's Prius may be in for a run.
I think in my local area of the U.S., I see more Prius' than all other Hybrids combined. Does Prius sell a decent number of cars in Australia?
- Author
Hello Hugh, Ford do seem to be have the march on the others with several new models, and as you say they have the money to go forward quickly.
The Prius is a big seller for Toyota in Australia.
Thanks mate.
I am surprised about Mercedes and BMWs. After all they are known for quality or suppose to.
- Author
Thank you my friend, I am very disappointed with MB and BMW. They will need to do more than create beautiful cars that are riddled with electronic problems if they are to maintain their good names.
The Japanese can design and make a very much more reliable product, although the Toyota and Lexus from Toyota have now got major problems of their own, the others are getting better all the time.
I know this may sound a bit scary, but Hyundai have far less problems than either of them. A few brief years ago, the Hyundai was considered a second-rate Mitsubishi, using old technology from Mitsubishi complete with Engine and transmission design faults.
The Korean product is now rapidly becoming the best of the manufacturers with good reliability and first class assembly.
The game is changing rapidly.
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