In a series of photos on Ford’s Electric Vehicle Facebook page, they’ve been teasing since December 30th. Yesterday that tease became an announcement. Ford are indeed entering the electric car market with a Ford Focus EV and looks like 2011 will be the year.
On Friday at 11 AM PST, CEO Alan Mulally will have big news from the 2011 International CES in Las Vegas. We’ll broadcast his keynote address on a Livestream tab on this page and have exclusive technology news every hour leading up to his address.
Other Electric Vehicles like Chevy’s Volt, Mitsubishi’s iMiev, Telsta’s Roadster all stick the charging point in the traditional rear quarter panel. From the photos, it appears Ford are trying something different, positioning the charge port on the front fender. The Xbox-style, 4 quadrant lights surrounding the charging port may provide an indicator of how much power is remaining. Obviously this would be more accurately displayed on the dash, but is a quick 25% increment indicator for when when your disconnecting the plug.
There was a prototype Ford Focus EV shown off in 2009 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, while prototypes are interesting, it really counts for nothing until consumers can buy the product. Fingers crossed the announcement will contain information on both US and international release dates.
It is an interesting decision to announce the Ford Electric at CES, while I’m sure the car will be full of tech goodies, there’s perhaps a better venue. We are less than a week away from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, so lets hope there’s still some surprises up the sleeve.
Either way, I’ll be getting up close and personal with the Ford Electric next week when I attend the NAIAS ! That’s right, techAU is off to the other side of the world to cover Ford’s Driving Green Technology event. Expect plenty of posts, photos and we’ll have to see how we go with mobile video. Might have to wait till I get home for that one.
techAU is attending the North American International Auto Show as a guest of Ford Motor Company, covering flights and accommodation. My opinions posted here are my own.
