Ford Focus Electric officially rated at 105 MPGe with a 76-mile range

[Playinghardball]

Coming soon to a select Ford dealer near you is the most efficient five-passenger car in America, the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, which the EPA has decided gets 105 miles per gallon equivalent, combined. This is better than what the Blue Oval was estimating publicly in December, when it said the all-electric Focus should get 100 MPGe. The Focus EV gets 110 MPGe in the city and 99 MPGe on the highway. As you can read in the press release after the break, Ford is using the official numbers to go after the Leaf for the all-electric passenger car market. Ford says its new electric car:


achieves a combined rating of 105 MPGe, topping Nissan Leaf by 6 MPGe while also offering more motor power, passenger room and standard features. Customers can make more use of this efficiency with Ford's faster charging technology that can recharge Focus Electric in about half the time of Nissan Leaf. To compare with some other combined MPGe ratings for plug-in vehicles on the market or coming soon: the 2012 Chevrolet Volt gets 94 MPGe (one better than the 2011 model), the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid gets 95 MPGe, the Nissan Leaf gets 99 MPGe, the Mitsubishi i is rated at 112 MPGe, and the current champion, the Tesla Roadster 2.0, officially gets 119 MPGe.

The EPA also says the Focus EV will have a range of 76 miles. As Ford is quick to point out, again, that's three miles more than the Leaf. Given the variances of EV ranges based on driving style and outside influences, those three miles won't make all that much real-world difference to most people, but it does give the engineering team one more thing to be proud about.

For all the comparisons Ford makes in today's announcement, it does leave one thing out: the Leaf's one big numerical advantage. The 2012 Leaf starts at just $35,200, while the Focus EV starts at $39,200.

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/03/02/ford-focus-electric-officially-rated-at-105-mpge-with-a-76-mile

[safeinOhio]

1. I love my 2012 focus

and get almost 40mpg. However, the 20 grand I saved on the gas version will buy a lot of gas.

[etherealtruth]

3. I love my 2010 Focus

with 60,000+ miles on it i am still getting 40 mpg (under the best of conditions) on the freeway!

[cleanhippie]

15. All great points!

And most consumers do not know exactly where their electricity comes from, especially since the grid is interconnected, and power producers feed each other power when needed.

Until electric/alternative energy cars become inexpensive and meet or beat the price of a gas car....

[safeinOhio]

18. I can also take trips

of over 75 miles in my car. I'd have to have 2 cars to make the electric one viable for me.

[safeinOhio]

22. Not me,

my girlfriend lives out of state, 85 miles away. I go fishing in the summer on lake Erie, about 60 miles away and I travel to lots of away basketball games for the local college team.

Another big problem for all electrics is I live in the north. With the heater and defroster on, that 75 mile range becomes about 40 miles.

For some they would be great, just not me.

[Honeycombe8]

24. Same here. Electric cars, as they are now, won't do for an only vehicle.

I have to have a car that's all-purpose...commute to work, occasional out of town trip of several hundred miles, it'll start right up even if my power is out for several days, can leave it sitting in an airport parking lot for a couple of weeks.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. The current crop of e-vehicles are all too expensive

The price needs to drop by at least 30%

[2ndAmForComputers]

5. Great, that's what state-of-the-art machines always do.

They get cheaper.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. The Mitsubishi starts under 22K

[Yo_Mama]

10. It looks like I'll be buying the Mitsubishi

The tax incentive is good. I wanted to hold out for the Ford, but this doesn't look affordable for me.

Also their estimate for charge cost is $3.60 per 100 miles at 12 cents a kwh. That's probably using their gearing setup optimally, but that equates to about 30 kwh per 100 miles.
http://i.mitsubishicars.com/faq/performance

What is the difference between the drive modes?

The Mitsubishi i shift selector provides three convenient modes for the driver to choose from:

D-position: Generates 100% torque in direct response to accelerator input and allows the driver to enjoy the full performance potential.

Eco-position: Reduces battery consumption by limiting power output to deliver maximum economy.

B-position: Increases the regenerative brake bias to maximize energy recycling. Power output is the same as D-position.

For an awful lot of people, this sounds like the current winner.

[Fawke Em]

11. It's a loser to all those UAW workers

you'll be putting out of a job.

But, OK.

[Motown_Johnny]

12. It still helps the battery producers and creates incentive for

installing charging stations.


I live in Detroit and would love to see an American made EV take the lead in sales. I just don't seeing that happen for a few years, if even then.

A foreign made EV is still better than burning gasoline. With the proper incentives American car companies will be forced to compete with Mitsubishi for their share of the EV market.

Maybe if GM had not given up on their Saturn EV1 so many years ago we would not be in this situation, but we are. At least we are now producing vehicles like the Focus EV and the Fusion Energi. It is a start.

[Fawke Em]

13. Actually, I'm not worried about it.

Most people aren't going to buy either car.

It will take many years before Americans "get it" about burning gasoline and, by then, electric cars will be less expensive.

[cleanhippie]

16. Winner of the most realistic POV.

Spot on, I think.

[Motown_Johnny]

17. Sounds like we are on the same page

I know I can't afford one in the foreseeable future. Last fall I started having car trouble and had to make a move. I looked into converting my little Saturn to electric and decided it wasn't practical. While looking into it I found a site which suggested that the easiest (most efficient) vehicle to convert is a small pickup with a manual transmission.

I now own a Ford Ranger with a manual 5 speed. I need to drive it as is for a while but I hope to be able to afford to switch it over in another year, or maybe 2. My best guess at current prices is about 4K plus labor. I sure hope battery prices drop.

[Motown_Johnny]

14. I agree

Right now this looks like the most practical EV. It is clearly the most affordable to purchase.

It does look much smaller than the Leaf or the Focus, but I can't see 18K worth of difference there.

I just hope that American auto makers can catch up in a reasonable period of time.


(I think most/all EVs have multiple driving modes similar to the Mitsubishi)

[msongs]

4. what this REALLY means: can't get more than 75 miles from a recharging station nt

[Motown_Johnny]

8. I wish that was good enough, I really do

My brother even sells Fords and I would love for the new Focus EV to just take off, but I don't think it will.



The Mitsubishi EV has a starting price of $21,625 and with 112 MPGe it looks like the way to go. The range is only 62 miles but at a sticker price that is almost half (not quite) of the Focus I just don't see many people spending an extra 18K for the extra 14 mile range.


I have higher hopes for the Ford Fusion Energi.

[Strelnikov_]

19. As usual Detroit is (by design?) misreading the market

The market segment at this point for Electrics needs to be the low cost entry/second vehicle market. Similar to how the Japanese worked their way into the US market in the seventies.

Considering that people have converted Geo Metro's, using deep cycle lead-acid battery technology, to electrics with 60+ mile range, a mass-production $15K electric should be possible. What about the Smart chassis as an electric platform? What happened to the Ford THINK platform, the one they supposedly put so much engineering toward making a light yet safe chassis?

Trying to push around SUX 2000's with a battery is a fools errand.

The end of liquid fueled personal transportation is not going to be gradual per Peak Oil theory, but will come suddenly as a result of a cataclysmic geopolitical event related to resource depletion (Operation Muah'Dib?).

My belief is that the company that has the 'Model T' of electrics designed and in production will have the best chance of survival as consumers look for alternatives to their 10 gal/month gasoline ration.

All IMHO of course.

[Motown_Johnny]

20. He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing

funny

I just made a comparison between Rush and Baron Harkonnen on another thread.


Detroit is behind the curve on this one. They/we are going to need to put out cheaper EVs even if it means taking a loss to stake out a market share.