Ford Focus Electric (photos)

At his keynote speech during CES 2011, Ford CEO Alan Mulally introduced the Focus Electric, a pure electric version of the 2012 Ford Focus. Ford had been showing testing versions of an electric Focus previously, but this new one is slated for production, and based on the new model design.

The Focus is considered a C-segment car, fairly large for most of the world. The Focus Electric features many modifications over the gasoline-powered Focus, such as reduced weight and low-rolling resistance tires.

Notably different is the inclusion of a charging port in the driver side front fender, far from the fuel cap at the rear of the car with the gasoline version. This placement seems optimized for charging while the car is pointed nose in to a garage or parking space.

The charging port uses a standard J1772 plug, so it can be charged at any station that supports the standard. When plugged in, lights around the port indicate the charging state.

The Focus uses LED parking lights to help reduce electricity usage. Its grille is also designed for better aerodynamics than the gasoline version, taking advantage of the lesser need for air flow to the car's drive train.

With its hatchback design, the Focus Electric offers usable passenger and cargo space, and also goes head-to-head with the Nissan Leaf, which uses a similar body style.

The power train layout has an electric motor and power control module in the front, with the motor driving the front wheels. The 23 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is in the rear. This battery pack uses a liquid system to keep it at the optimum operating temperature, preventing it from getting too cold or too hot.

In the dashboard, the Focus Electric uses a modified version of the MyFord Touch interface, which gives it a touch-screen center LCD along with two LCDs on either side of the speedometer.

The Focus uses a typical drive mode selector, mimicking an automatic transmission shifter. In previous development versions of the car, Ford limited the take-off torque so it wouldn't feel too different from a gasoline car, but we do not know at this time how the Focus Electric will be tuned.

The instrument cluster LCDs show a variety of range screens on the left, and infotainment functions on the right.

The right-hand display can be changed to show the butterfly screen. As you drive more economically, more butterflies appear.

The center LCD can show a variety of information about the drive train, and includes buttons for setting the charging time.

Ford also includes its existing cabin tech features in the Focus Electric, such as navigation, Sirius Travel Link, and Sync.

Ford will also offer this charging station as an option with the car. Best Buy will offer installation of the unit into home garages. As with other 240 volt charging stations, this one will bring the Focus Electric's battery pack up to full in 3 hours.