Ford Focus Electric Finally Headed to Dealerships
Ford’s flagship electric vehicle, the plug-in Focus, is finally heading to dealerships according to unnamed inside sources connected to Reuters.
It seems 350 cars will ship to 67 dealerships in New York, New Jersey and California. The automaker has been quiet about releasing its EV, which could stand to best its competition in several key categories if it lives up to the description. Upon delivery, each dealership included will receive six units — one for demonstration and the rest for sale.
Electric cars in general have struggled to gain traction since last year when the Nissan Leaf became the first pure EV to be marketed across North America. Ford CEO Alan Mulally admitted that the company doesn’t necessarily expect to sell the car in high volume like its other models.
Then again, the EV will offer more interior space than its direct competition, and less of a quirky look which might appeal to a broader consumer base. While Ford expects consumer preferences to shift by 2020 to favor electric vehicles significantly more than they do now, there’s no sure bet on the situation. To cope with that uncertainty, the company modified the plant in charge of building the Focus to assemble both gas-burning and electric versions.
So far, it seems range anxiety and unfamiliarity with a new technology still scares most people away from trying an EV. Neither the Nissan Leaf, nor the Chevrolet Volt have sold well, but the Volt still outsold the leaf by more than double since both their introductions in late 2010.
[Source: Automotive News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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The Volt outsold the volt?