Focus goes green
Posted: 19 Jan 2010, 19:30
Auto Express - 19/01/10
As well as being the most technically advanced family hatchback ever launched, Ford’s new Focus also promises to be the greenest!
Speaking at the Detroit Motor Show – where the new Focus made its public debut – company chairman Bill Ford announced both electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the car would be built in the US. The EV will be available in only 18 months, with the plug-in hybrid going on sale in 2012. Although details are yet to be confirmed, a Ford source has told Auto Express that the EV edition, which will initially only be available in left-hand drive, is to share much of its technology with the recent Magna-engined BEV prototype.
With a 23kWh lithium-ion battery, it will deliver 134bhp and offer a range of around 75 miles. A full charge will take six hours from a household plug, and half that time from a 400-volt industrial supply. Meanwhile, the plug-in hybrid will use the same lithium-ion battery technology and incorporate a conventional hybrid powertrain, similar to that fitted to Toyota’s Prius, rather than the range-extending EV technology offered by Vauxhall’s Ampera.
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