2012 Ford Focus Electric will be launched in late 2011 in 19 U.S. cities.
Cities include: Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and New York.
Locations were partially chosen based on commuting patterns and existing hybrid purchase trends.
Ford said the Focus Electric will be the company's first battery-powered passenger car. It will follow the Ford Transit Connect Electric, a small battery-powered city delivery vehicle that debuts next summer.
Ford has released a teaser shot of its 2012 Focus Electric, which the company plans to show at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show later this week. A series of countdown photos on the Ford Electric Vehicles Facebook wall showed a ring—likely surrounding the charge port—being illuminated in stages, one quarter at a time. The capacity of the car’s battery pack is 23 kWh, 1 kWh shy of the Nissan Leaf’s, and the car should return a similar 100-mile range on the LA4 test cycle.
Designed with enough range to cover the daily-driving habits of most Americans, the Ford Focus 2012 Electric is powered by a permanent-magnet electric motor making 123 hp (92 kW) and 181 pound-feet of torque. Ford is emphasizing that the 2012 Ford Focus Electric is a real car, capable of accelerating smoothly to a top speed of 84 mph.
More than Nissan is doing with its Leaf EV, Ford is pitching the Focus Electric as an EV that's exciting to drive. "Much of Focus Electric's steering, handling, and braking feel is shared with the agile, sporty, fuel-powered Focus models upon which it's based, making Focus Electric a dynamic driver's car," Ford says in a release.
Nut EV enthusiasts are anticipated to be a large portion of Focus Electric buyers; Ford says that "achieving maximum range in Focus Electric will be a big part of the fun for most drivers."
