Ford Focus BEV concept unveiled at Frankfurt
September 17, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Ford Europe has unveiled its Focus BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) prototype at the Frankfurt Motor Show, a car specially developed to participate in the UK Government’s “Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicles” demonstration initiative next year.
The research program aims to test the technology’s suitability for potential future application in Ford’s European passenger car range.
A consortium of Ford, Scottish and Southern Energy and Strathclyde University will use the fleet of 15 prototype Ford Focus BEVs and a charging infrastructure in and around the London Borough of Hillingdon from early 2010.
The BEV demonstration fleet is being developed partly with public funding from the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), which promotes innovative industry-led projects that reduce CO2 while benefitting the country’s transport system.
“Electrification is a key element in the effective use of Ford’s global resources and talents,” John Fleming, Chairman & CEO Ford Europe said.
“The development of this fleet of Focus BEV prototypes is an important step in our goal of delivering more efficient and sustainable mobility solutions that are affordable and practical for our customers.
“We are looking forward to working with the various project partners on developing a realistic solution and viable market for electric vehicles both in the UK and Europe.”
The Focus BEV prototype is based on the current European Ford Focus and will use a new all-electric powertrain, provided by the strategic supplier Magna. This technology is based on that being developed for Ford’s new-generation C-sized global vehicle architecture.
The prototype features a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery pack with the capacity of 23kWh and a chassis-mounted 100kW permanent-magnet electric traction motor.
The BEV will have a range of up to 120 kilometres and a top speed of up to 140km/h. Charging the batteries will take between six to eight hours using a domestic outlet.
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Stupid of Ford to reverse the decision to build Focus in Australia. Electric is where its heading and with Toyota building camry hybrid here and the possibility of an electric Cruze or Volt being built by Holden I can see Ford AU being left behind.
Stupid Ford???
You’re kidding right..
- 4cyl Eco-boost direct injection Falcon with better economy than a 4cyl Camry and SIDI Commodore.
- Hybrid Camry will be expensive, 4cyl Falcon will not.
- LPG Falcon, diesel Territory
And not to mention the fact that the Volt is not a sure thing for Australia. How will it sell? Probably not enought to justify building it here.
Ford has made a wise decision.
Ford have great products, the Falcon and Territory are best in class stuff and the new engines are going to give them a new lease of life. I just think that Ford AU lost an opportunity with turning down the Focus, especially with the amount of technical development going into that platform. The small car class is huge and growing, plus I see electric or hybrid small cars becoming more prevalent and in-turn growing small car sales even higher. Without export markets for the Falcon and Territory Im just worried that Ford missed a rare opportunity to get some volume into their local manufacturing.
The Volt has been guaranteed for one and it hsant been proven if the EcoBoost will acheive the quoted figure. The SIDI Commodore is here now and not some Ford dream of the future(remember Focus production, that was also guaranteed.) Even though i hate Toyota i have to agree that the Camry wont be much more expensive than a conventional petrol powered dishwasher. Oh and BTW you’ll probably have to rev the nuts off the Ecoboost to get results becasue something that small moving something that heavy isnt likely to end well.
Given that max torque is reached at 1500rpm for the 2L ecoboost, I doubt you’ll need to rev the guts out of it anymore than you have to rev the SIDI engined Commodores. This isn’t the 80’s anymore.
The 4cyl will be 147kw with peak torque available from below 1500rpm and fuel consumption around 8L
ford are seriously shooting themselves in the foot with the ecoboost falcon. A small high tech engine in a heavy 6cyl V8 body will spend a lot of time at full boost. During these conditions the engine management will really deliver alot of fuel to produce power, ask mazda C7 owners what their consumption figures are. The C7 is very similar regarding power to weight and engine technology. Ford should totally follow holdens sidi technology. Develop a silky smooth 3.0 or 3.2ltr engine inline six which revs happily. The german 6 speed auto with tweeked ratios will be the perfect partner. Ford already manages 9.9ltr with a non direct injected 4.0ltr. So figures of low 9s or even high 8s could be achieved and keep the true falcon traits.