In the modern world of automobiles, competition is getting the best out of each auto maker in the market. Take Ford for example. They are hell bent in taking on the Nissan Leaf EV model along with the Chevrolet car named Volt in the EV range of models with their brand new set of wheels namely the Focus Electric. The car was unveiled by Ford recently at the production ceremony.
This all electric passenger based car will be the very first one from the company. The car can be described in one line as the latest evolution model of the five door Focus Hatch Back model. The grille of the car is highly similar to that of the Aston Martin made cars and behind it you’ll find an electric drive train that consists of an electric motor capable of generating an output power of 123 HP and an amazing 181 lb-ft of torque. The motor is based on single speed transmission. We may conclude that the numbers though are quite impressive for an all electric car model.
Engineered by the famed house of Ford joining hands with supplier LG Chem, the lithium ion battery system will form the backbone of the car supplying the necessary power to it. As stated by Ford, the car will also have an option for a wall mounted station capable of generating 240 volts of charge. The batteries get charged in an amazing three to four hours. At this point it beats Nissan Leaf by ease of charging as the Leaf takes quite longer to acquire full charge. But the company has kept mum on how much time the car batteries will consume to get charged on the standard 120 Volts charger that comes with the car.
The all-electric model from Ford performs quite well with the speedometer capable of attaining a high of up to about 84 mph, equivalent to 136km/h. Though the company is yet to reveal the official range of the car, experiments from the company has yielded great results suggesting that the car can run up to 100 miles or 160 kms on a single full charge of the battery.
The Focus Electric is not only all about performance. It is bringing something new to the table in terms of technology as well. The car will possess a specialized version of the My Ford Touch driver connect system developed primarily for electric vehicle. Another great feature of this car is a new value charging feature powered by Microsoft along with a smart phone application called the ‘My Ford Mobile’. Now what does this mobile app do? Well it will help you to control your car remotely, amazing isn’t it?
The North American model of the Ford Focus Electric will be produced at the company’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. The model will hit the showrooms towards the end of 2011 in the last quarter. Ford stated that the manufacturing plant for the Ford Focus is yet to be decided upon in Europe. But the company also stated that the car will undergo sales in Europe by the beginning of 2013.
Source: carscoop
