Ford's Electric Car for 2011: One for the Masses?

By John Addison

My test drive of the new Ford (F) electric car for 2011 demonstrated that Ford is building an electric car that millions will want. The Ford Focus EV prototype provided a quiet and smooth drive for a prototype. One Ford engineer indicated that he was going beyond a 60-mile daily range in Michigan without nearing battery depletion.

The Focus EV looks and drives like the popular gasoline powered Ford Focus four-door sedan. It comfortably seats four adults, but good luck if you want three people in the back – it will help if the one in the middle is a child. This BEV will appeal to mainstream drivers that want a sedan that looks and drives like a regular car. Instead of ever visiting a gas station, they will charge in their home garage and/or at work.

This prototype was a converted Focus. It did not include the SmartGauge with EcoGuide display available in Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids, nor did it include a navigation system with smart charge display user interface expected in the 2011 BEV. The final version is expected to have friendly yet sophisticated display options and some of Ford’s newly introduced telematics.

It drives with quicker acceleration than its gasoline cousin. The prototype, like the final version, had a Magna (MGA) electric drive system. Unlike the final version of the Focus EV, the prototype had a Magna Steyr battery pack taking part of the trunk space. One Ford rep believed that the battery cells were EnerDel (HEV) lithium titanate. Ford will make its own packs for the 2011 commercial version and would not state who will make the cells. Volvo is part of Ford Motor Company. The concept Volvo C30 Battery Electric Vehicle will use EnerDel batteries. Volvo will use A123 (AONE) cells in heavy vehicles integrating a Magna Steyr battery system. Ford has expressed a past preference for the cells to be made in the United States, which would include a number of candidates such as EnerDel and A123.

During my recent tour of a Johnson-Controls (JCI) Saft (SGPEF) joint venture design and manufacturing plant, I was shown a lithium-ion 13 kWh battery with cylindrical cells for the 2012 Ford PHEV. Johnson-Controls gave no indication that it was in the running for the 2011 Ford Focus EV.

No pricing has been announced for the Ford Focus EV. If it comes in at under $40,000 with a $7,500 tax credit, I would be interested in buying one. However, if Nissan (NSANY) or BYD (BYDDF.PK) beats Ford to the U.S. BEV market with better delivery and better price or lease rates, then they are likely to get my business over Ford.

In its drive for market share, volume, and improved profit margins, 2012 will be a big year for Ford when the company will have a common C-segment platform for a number of vehicles including the Focus, Focus C-Max, and Escape. As future gasoline price volatility causes shifts in consumer demand, Ford can quickly change its mix of what is manufactured on a common platform. For example, if gasoline prices jump, Ford could increase production of vehicles with fuel efficient eco-boost. Ford could also quickly increase production of electric cars.

The Focus EV will be made in America – Warren, Michigan. Ford is investing $550 million to transform its Michigan Assembly Plant into a lean, green and flexible manufacturing complex that will build Ford’s next-generation Focus global small car along with a new battery-electric version of the Focus for the North American market.

Clean Fleet Report predicts that in 2012, Ford will offer a new global Focus available with several drive systems: conventional engine, 2 liter eco-boost, electric vehicle, both hybrid and plug-in hybrid. By 2012, Ford may be using lithium-ion even for its hybrids. The vehicle will have better range because it will be lighter as Ford executes a strategy of removing 250 to 750 pounds per vehicle. Ford will be well on the way to a 35 percent fuel economy improvement over its 2005 fleet.

The new 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine will go on sale in the 2010 calendar year.
It is the first EcoBoost engine to include Twin-Independent Variable Cam Timing
(Ti-VCT) and will deliver a 10 to 20 percent fuel economy improvement versus larger-displacement V-6 engines. By 2012, the company plans to produce 750,000 EcoBoost units annually in the U.S. and 1.3 million globally. By 2013, Ford will offer EcoBoost engines in 90 percent of its product lineup.

I get questions (or rather lectures that start with a questions), “Why would someone pay more for an electric vehicle, when you can’t even cost justify a hybrid?” First, some people make money with hybrids over comparable non-hybrids. When I bought my 2002 Prius for $20,000, I paid about $4,000 more than for a non-hybrid with similar features. Over seven years, the car saved my wife and me over $5,000 in gasoline, and then I sold it about $4,000 more than a similar non-hybrid.

While I was test driving the Focus EV in San Francisco, I saw many taxis that were Ford Escape Hybrids, Toyota (TM) Priuses, Toyota Camry Hybrids, and even a Ford Fusion Hybrid Taxi. These taxis put on 90,000 miles per year. Hybrids make the owners money by saving a fortune in fuel. New York has over 2,000 Ford hybrids in its taxi fleet.

The fact is that hybrids make money for some owners and not for others. It depends on how the cars are used and how often. In the past 12 months of severe economic downturn, Ford has increased its hybrid sales 73 percent.

Early adopters will not shell out $40,000 for an EV to save money over a sedan for less than half that cost. For mass market success, auto makers and battery makers must drive cost down the learning curve over a few years. Competition is growing for battery electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid car leadership. By 2020, these vehicles could represent up to 25 percent of Ford’s production – that’s 2 million cars annually with electric drive systems and advanced battery packs.

(originally published in Clean Fleet Report 10/26/09)

Comments

[Tony Petroski:]

The title of the article:

"Ford Electric Car for 2011: One for the Masses?"

Yes, it's for the masses. That's why it's priced at $40,000 but will become affordable by the masses when subsidized by the government.

The National Socialists had a "people's car," also for the masses. You may know it as the Volkswagen.

This isn't an article, it is an extended and (unpaid?) ad for the product. Why pretend that the "masses" have any say in this matter?

Oct 28 09:11 AM

[casey00001:]

Boy talk about lipstick on a pig. They pick the Ford Focus as the proto-type? I got one as a rental at Avis once and from that point on told the rental agent to remove that car from my profile. A truely terrible car. At least the Chevy Volt is somewhat stylish.

Oct 29 09:31 AM

[Graybeard44:]

Unfortunately, the last report that I saw about the Volt indicated that the test car couldn't make it up the hill to the test site.

Oct 29 07:12 PM

[qw:]

The Focus is an excellent product having many good attributes. Judging a rental product is not the best way to evaluate a vehicle. Those of us who rent cars frequently have horror stories to tell about just about all manufacturers.
The Focus segment is probably the correct segment to do plug-ins and hybrids.
We just subsidized the economies of Japan and Korea with the Cash for Clunkers program, so subsidizing the Volt or Focus will atleast support the US economy.

Oct 29 09:32 PM