Ford Focus Electric debut

2012 Ford Focus Electric - debuted at CES Las Vegas

We expected Ford to debut the electric version of the new Focus at the Detroit Motor Show next week until they did the whole ‘Electric Focus Tease‘ thing last week. Just like Audi with their latest e-Tron Spyder, Ford has chosen to take the wraps off at the CES in Las Vegas. Which is probably as clear an indication as you need that the car’s place in the marketplace is becoming blurred with the push towards electric cars.

So we get to see the Ford Focus Electric sooner than we originally thought, but we’re still not going to see it hit the roads anywhere for a year or more. Ford are aiming to get the Focus Electric in to North America by the end of 2011, but Europe will have to wait until 2012. And we’re sure those aims are a moveable feast.

The Focus Electric is Ford’s answer to the Nissan LEAF. And although we feel that both cars are answering a question no one is asking, the Focus is at least more credible. Ford are taking the same route as VAG and are turning existing cars in to electric cars. That means lower costs, a lower price and familiarity for buyers.

It also means the Focus Electric becomes just another Focus model, with a new spiel in the showroom when the eco buyer strolls in:

“Would sir like to go ‘Eco’ with his Focus? Would sir prefer the semi-skimmed econetic or the full-fat electric? What’s the difference? You can’t go very far in the full-fat electric but – even though it will cost a lot more to buy – you can run it for tuppence a week until HMG starts to tax electricity used for cars. Mind you, when HMG does start to tax electricity for cars, your new electric car will be worth bugger all”.

Ford are apparently ‘aiming’ for a 100 mile range, a top speed of 84mph and a four hour recharge. It will also inevitably cost as much as the Focus ST.

Just 55 electric cars got sold in the UK in 2009. With the taxpayer now giving car makers £5k for every car they sell there’s no doubt far more will get sold in 2011. But why are we having a technology which is vastly inferior to the ICE foisted on us? Why can’t car makers knock this on the head and come back to the marketplace when their electric cars are the match of what we already enjoy?

Frankly, the electric car is not about cheaper motoring or a viable alternative. The only people who will find an electric car of any use are those who have a decent income and can buy one as a second car to pop to the shops, go to the bank, take the dogs for a walk…and jump in their real car if they need to go anywhere. Just like the Prius, the electric car will become a symbol of pious, pompous ‘Green-ness’ for the chattering classes.

I know. We’re a lone voice.

By Cars UK