Woo Hoo! And Houston is one of them.......despite the fact that it so far offers no incentives for this technology. Houston among cities to launch all-electric Ford Focus in 2011 - More Energy News
Where to find it: Atlanta Houston Austin Boston Chicago Denver Detroit Los Angeles San Francisco San Diego New York Orlando Phoenix Tucson Portland Raleigh, N.C. Richmond, Va. Seattle Washington, D.C. If everyone stays on schedule 2012 will be very interesting.
Some specs for those interested: That means a low-end FFE would be about $22500. The main thing not listed is range at top speed (Anyone know what is top speed of FFE?).
The trick is, staying on schedule. Looks like both the Leaf and the NON-EV, Volt are running behind. Most all the August orders have been pushed back into 2011. Those manufacturers keep it up, the Ford may end up being the EV of choice. .
I figure the $7500 federal incentive plus the desire to reduce houston's air polution would be incentive enough. Reliant energy is talking about building infrastructure for recharging too. It should be a good market. Choice is good. Many people will prefer a smaller better handling car. Also some don't want a car as ugly as a leaf Some want an SUV. By 2013 we should have the BEV focus and transit connect as well as the leaf,IQ and RAV 4, tesla roadster and S, as well as a hyundai bev. For PHEV we will have the volt, phv prius, phev focus, phev sonata, and other competitors. To hill, the writing was all over the wall for nissan not shipping the leaf in quanitity in 2010 for those of us listening. The volt slip was telegraphed a little over a year ago to not hit dealers until december. A couple of months doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. The question really is will the cars be selling in quantity once they build them. I can't see the BEV, PHEV, and hybrid market getting above 5% in 2017, but if these cars are good they may be a big part of the market in 2025.
You forgot the 2012 iQ EV. It is rumored to have in-wheel motors and prismatic tri-metal lithium battery good for 100 miles range. That would be my first choice as a second car to the Prius.
Old statements from 9/09 prototypes said top speed 85mph, but I would bet production has a higher top speed. I would not expect ford to tell us how far it will go while speeding, but one of the car magazines should. Also old data said 100kw motor, which would give acceleration better than the leaf and volt. It has a actively cooled and heated battery pack made by lg, but I don't know the chemistry. My guess is we will see similar range to the leaf in a smaller lower priced car. If anyone has better details I'll be happy to be corrected.
I would hold that thought. They're both in the same "Compact" category but the new 2012 Focus is quite a bit larger than the current model (think Nissan Versa vs. Yaris or Fit. It's nearly one category larger than the other two). The Focus will be larger than the Leaf.
Sounds like a strong competitor with the leaf. Remember these federal tax credits will expire. With them, though, the cars are quite attractive indeed.
