We’ve been hearing about it for several years, but as for an actual on-sale date and pricing for Ford‘s Focus Electric, mum’s pretty much been the word. That is, until now.
On Wednesday, November 3rd, Ford Motor Company finally announced that the car will sticker for $39,995 in the U.S., which includes a $795 destination charge. That price puts it against the Chevy Volt but above other, all-electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i. However, the Focus Electric, like the others, is eligible for a $7500 rebate, which will somewhat help to alleviate sticker shock.
Nevertheless, considering that the conventional gas powered Focus retails from $17,295 to $23,495, even with rebates, the Electric model still represents a sizeable chunk of change.
Furthermore, Ford has yet to release any information concerning the car’s EPA mileage and range and until it does, it will be unable to sell the vehicle. Some estimates peg the Focus Electric as being able to travel up to 100 miles on a single charge, something Nissan boasts of its Leaf, though EPA testing of the latter revealed a maximum range of 73 miles.
The Volt, by comparison, can travel up 35-40 miles on pure electric power and up to approximately 300 miles with the range extending 1.4-liter Ecotec “generator.”
However Ford says that via it’s 240 volt station, full battery charge on the Focus EV can be reached in around half the time of the Nissan Leaf, which takes around 8 hours to fully top up.
Ford says it will deliver a few Focus Electrics before the end of the year (the car’s initial launch is targeted for California and New York/New Jersey) and indeed the company has already opened up a website for taking orders, though it says the vast majority won’t find owners until 2012, when it will target a total of 19 markets in the US (Atlanta, Austin and Houston, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Orlando, Fla., Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Raleigh Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va., Seattle, and Washington, D.C.).
However, despite choosing the markets above based on such criteria as current EV and Hybrid useage, commuting patterns and the commitment to electrification both by local government and utilities, Ford hasn’t said just how many Focus EVs it plans to sell in 2012, stating that “market demand will decide.”
Given the modest numbers witnessed by the LEAF (8,048) and the Volt (5,003) in the first 10 months of this year, then despite government incentives, don’t expect any records when the Focus EV does finally show up at retailers.
