Official Ford Focus Electric Thread

[sparky]

It's nice looking and may handle better than the LEAF even with the higher pack cg; but...not much info about warranty, battery or otherwise. Website has very little info for a car that is supposed to be delivered by EOY in CA, NY.

Called the listed Ford EV dealer in my area and was met with the usual cricket sounds when I said I was interested in ordering and asked when I could get a test drive. Sales guy said Ford has told them almost nothing and what they have said keeps changing. They don't expect to see any models for 60 days.
Then a long whine about all the specialized expensive equipment they have to install (charging stations, service bay)... where have I heard this before.

Sales guy also said they have no idea about pricing yet... really I said?...you know there's a web site, with pricing... he had no idea.
sigh.
I agree with precious poster, this looks like a CARB play although no reason to roll out in lots of states if that's the case. Maybe Ford just doesn't have their heart in this yet.

 

[Boomer23]

The LEAF is more of a hybrid conversion with heavy platform modification, not anything near a group-up EV design as that is a Tesla Model S.

We have been through this before. All established auto majors will reuse what they can. They would have to be stupid not to. Ofcourse Tesla had nothing - so they had to start from scratch.

Well.... isn't the Tesla still Lotus designs (both the Roadster and S) ?

I thought the bare chassis was sent from England to California.

Nope, the Model S will be built from the ground up here at the Tesla factory.

 

[kmp647]

ok so the build your own is great and pricing too, but..... no place I can see to order on line

can anyone figure out how to actually order a focus ev ?????

I typed in a cali zip and built a car , no where on the site does it let me order the car or place a deposit ?


????????????? :ugeek:

 

[LeafinThePark]

Looking at the order page here is a interesting little fine print:

Reservations can only be made with a Certified EV dealer from the list of participating dealers. Extended delivery time is anticipated and cannot be guaranteed for any reservation

"Extended delivery time" seems like a big red flag to me.

And further down a list of "Mid-2012" states:

Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

For most of the country, the Focus EV will be completing with the Leaf MY2013...which IIRC will likely have the 6.6kW charger...correct?

 

[evnow]

I typed in a cali zip and built a car , no where on the site does it let me order the car or place a deposit ?

Hmmm ... you actually want to order the car ? We thought once you see the price, you won't bother :shock:

 

[teamveevee]

I read recently that, one reason the Prius was a big success because it is available only as a Hybrid. Same may be true with LEAF also. Those who are image conscious and would like to project themselves are environment friendly may not go for a FOCUS that is available in ICE version also. I think Ford should have gone for a different model altogether sharing the part bin with FOCUS. I dont think we will see many FOCUS EV on road...

 

[evnow]

Checkout the OP - I'm updating it as I get more info.

 

[scottf200]

((Since this is the main post now and noone will be looking at the other - repeat my post and relevant to sparky's comments))

It's nice looking and may handle better than the LEAF even with the higher pack cg;

Some buys may be looking for other amenities as well such as a more premium sound system.

Sounds like the sound system will be pretty nice with high wattage and subwoofer.

Sony® Audio System with HD Radio™
The Focus Electric offers a quiet ride, unless, of course, you don't want it to be quiet. With a standard Sony® Audio System, nine speakers and HD Radio™, you can enjoy listening to crystal-clear digital audio and high-quality sound as loud as you want. You also get the convenience of iTunes® tagging.* If you hear a song playing on HD Radio that you like, simply press the Tag button. The song info will be transferred to your iPod® the next time you plug it in your car, so you can purchase it later from the iTunes® store.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/355-Watt-Premium-Sony-Audio-System-to-Power-the-New-Ford-Focus-166915.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

<snip>
In fact, the Focus will be the first car in its class to offer HD Radio digital broadcasts and iTunes Tagging capability through the segment-exclusive 355-watt audio system.

The audio system from Sony in Focus has a signature piano-black interface design with the iconic Sony center controller, mimicking the appearance of popular home audio equipment from Sony, as well as a class-D digital amplifier that was developed specifically for the Ford Focus system.

Durable polypropylene main speakers combine with soft dome tweeters and a subwoofer, all driven by a nine-channel amp, these components yielding 355 watts of continuous power, resulting in a maximum of 111 decibels bass sound pressure level.
<snip>

 

[kmp647]

No I dont want to order it...... I am less than a week form my Leaf delivery !!!

I just want to know IF someone can actually order and how

its hard ordering and getting a Leaf, to hard..... it seems there is no way at all to order a Focus ev at this point , even with the press release and build your own

 

[mitch672]

No I dont want to order it...... I am less than a week form my Leaf delivery !!!

I just want to know IF someone can actually order and how

its hard ordering and getting a Leaf, to hard..... it seems there is no way at all to order a Focus ev at this point , even with the press release and build your own

of course, they actually don't want to BUILD and SELL these cars, they just want to gauge interest, for their CARB play If you have been following them on facebook, its all surveys and questions, they really don't ever intend to actually build this car, and this order system is going to prove they where correct, no one actually want to buy these cars

 

[LKK]

Auto Blog Green is reporting the Focus will have:

123 hp, 181 lb/ft pm motor.
23 kwh battery.
Charging in 3 to 4 hours.

Looks like it will have a bit more power than the Leaf and the 6.6 kw charging capability, but $4,000 more expensive.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/11/02/ford-focus-electric-priced-from-39-200/#continued" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[evnow]

Auto Blog Green is reporting the Focus will have:

123 hp, 181 lb/ft pm motor.
23 kwh battery.
Charging in 3 to 4 hours.

That has been known for about a year. What is new is the price.

 

[evnow]

One thing about "reservations" - is that you can't reserve online. You are at the mercy of the dealer - just like Volt. That will likely make the price difference between Leaf & FFE a little bit more - esp. compared to some of us who managed to get Leaf below invoice price.

 

[Boomer23]

Auto Blog Green is reporting the Focus will have:

123 hp, 181 lb/ft pm motor.
23 kwh battery.
Charging in 3 to 4 hours.

That has been known for about a year. What is new is the price.

Doesn't the LEAF motor have 210 lb/ft and 110 hp? Torque is the important number, so I'd say that the LEAF has the better motor.

 

[Boomer23]

One thing about "reservations" - is that you can't reserve online. You are at the mercy of the dealer - just like Volt. That will likely make the price difference between Leaf & FFE a little bit more - esp. compared to some of us who managed to get Leaf below invoice price.

+1

Get ready to play the dealer game: "It's in very limited supply and we had to equip our shop with lots more technology. I'm losing money selling it to you for $10k above sticker."

 

[LEAFfan]

Does it have an option for a Quick Charger port?

Nope. But then what would you plug into it anyway?

Are you kidding? By the time the Focus EV comes out, there will be plenty of QC stations! We have our first two already which will be available to the public soon!

 

[TomT]

Exactly! We have, umm, err, ONE right here in all of L.A., Ventura, and Orange Counties! :lol:

Are you kidding? By the time the Focus EV comes out, there will be plenty of QC stations! We have our first two already which will be available to the public soon!

 

[evnow]

Exactly! We have, umm, err, ONE right here in all of L.A. and Orange County! :lol:

Still more than number of FFE's ;-)

 

[Herm]

There are no CARB EV hard requirements, but selling EV gain CAFE credits that can be somehow applied to their fleet, but not sure how.. dont think it applies to pickup trucks. I believe the hard CARB requirement for EV went out years ago, right when they scrapped the EV1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy#New_CAFE_credit_trading_provisions" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It does gain Ford lots and lots of free publicity and green creds, and who knows, it may turn out to be profitable and then they may sell more.. its not costing them much besides some dealer training (that the dealers pay for) and stocking of spare parts for 10 years once it gets discontinued. Nissan is the serious company, investing billions to build factories in 3 continents.

 

[evnow]

There are no CARB EV hard requirements...

That is not correct. New CARB requirements from 2012 (or 13 ?) require certain # of zero emission vehicles. This "floor" can't be met with ATPZEV as the manufacturers do now. That is the reason all auto majors are coming up with some EV for CA in the next 2 years.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/levprog/cleandoc/clean_2009_my_hev_tps_12-09.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(1) 2012 through 2014 Requirements. A manufacturer must meet the total ZEV
obligation with ZEVs or ZEV credits generated by such vehicles, excluding NEVs and Type 0
ZEVs, equal to at least 0.79% of its annual sales, using either production volume determination
method described in section C.2.1(b) No more than 50% of the total obligation may be met with
PZEVs, No more than 75% of the total obligation may be met with AT PZEVs. No more than
93.4% may be met with Enhanced AT PZEVs, Type 0 ZEVs, and NEVs, other than limits
described in section C.7.6. The entire requirement may be met solely with ZEVs.