those looking forward to ford's upcoming electric vehicle, based on the next-gen global focus platform, should be writing thank-yous to magna international.
it turns out that the prototype mule that's been running around the streets of detroit (with our own sam abuelsamid behind the wheel) was actually built by engineers at the canadian auto parts supplier to show ford that it could be done and that magna was the company to do it.
ford was suitably impressed, so much so that the blue oval announced that a production vehicle based on the design would make it to market by 2011 after a second prototype was built using similar technology. range from the lithium-ion battery pack will be limited to around 100 miles, depending on how and where the car is driven.
according to the automaker, last summer's high gas prices were the main driving force behind the decision. now that president obama appears ready to grant california it's air quality waiver, the decision makes even more sense and also allows ford to maintain pace with cross-town rival general motors and japanese automakers like honda and toyota.
there's been a lot of discussion in recent days about which debut was the most significant vehicle of this year's detroit auto show. most of the attention is, of course, paid to the new third-generation toyota prius or the honda insight. while both of these are important in their own way, i don't think either is the most important. the prius is a natural evolution of the preceding car but doesn't really break any new ground. that's not to take anything away from it, but so far the car seems to be exactly what's expected of a prius. similarly, the biggest thing about the insight is its expected price and it's excellent driving dynamics.
the most significant car i saw (and drove) was the ford focus ev mule. this is a preview of a battery electric car that ford plans to sell in two years. ford plans to sell the production car at retail and, although the company has not specified a price, they did indicate that volumes at least in the thousands are expected. in order to achieve that goal, the price (at least after tax breaks) will have to be reasonably affordable. the fact that ford felt confident enough in the program to allow media to spend two days driving the vehicles in downtown detroit, rather than at a test track, indicates there is something real here.
in: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/01/19 ... -focus-ev/ (mais fotos)
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