Ford slashes Focus EV price by $6000, now selling for $29995

When I bought my first Focus, new in 2002, it ended up being the most unreliable car I've ever owned. Nearly every part had been replaced, alternator replaced twice.

Sold it for $3500 with 68k miles on it. The buyer thought they got a deal.....boy they were in for a surprise.

 

They don't want to sell any, at least here the don't. The Focus EV has been available in the UK for over a year and they've sold 12! The car hasn't been advertised, it is hidden on the Ford.co.uk website and only available from 2 Ford dealers. Somewhat restrictive, but then I'd wonder if that is the idea.

Experience the Focus Electric for yourself
FORD FOCUS ELECTRIC - How Many Left?

Nissan by contrast has sold 1,700 Leafs in the first 6 months of this year so there is an appetite for EVs here;

NISSAN LEAF (model family) - How Many Left?

Shame because I quite like the Focus. It's very similar size to the Prius and a similar style and I've had nothing but strong reliability from the Fords I've owned.

 

They lose money on every one they sell and are forced to sell them by government fiat so there is no reason for them to encourage sales.

 

They're not forced to sell them here, so it seems strange that they go to all the expense of producing a Right Hand Drive version and then try their hardest not to sell any.

 

Wow

 

I know you and I don't always see eye to eye, but how can Ford not sell more of than 12 of their well regarded EV? Just try and find it on the Ford UK website. The link is hidden at the bottom in the main page but not on the 'Focus' or 'Future Vehicles' section as an option, which would seem the more obvious place.

Even Robert Llewellyn mentioned that Ford were less than enthusiastic to push their Focus EV.

 

The Focus EV is what I call a compliance plus car. California's ZEV regulations is what spurred Ford to offer it, but they allowed it to be sold outside California. Unlike Toyota, Chevy, and Fiat BEVs. It is a conversion, and made in small numbers, so they aren't likely making much at all on them. This price reduction is coming almost a year after everybody else dropped their prices.

As to why bother selling it outside Ca? Publicity and market research. Ford may not want to sell them, but with Nissan and Tesla, they don't want to be caught off guard if BEVs look like they could take off.

 

My 'wow' was not directed at you Grumpy. I was just thinking that in the US the car after tax credits is about the same cost as a Prius.

As for you, as a Tory you are quite all right
I am however looking forward to the day that you realize that science has it right with regards to AGW, and you then rebel against the propagandists.

 

lol you don't know my political leanings. Mainly because I don't know them. I often play devils advocate on here too just to confuse the issue. You may have seen my negative comments about our Etonian Tory leaders.

Thankfully over here your political leanings have no influence over whether you're a believer or non believer of global warming.

 

I find that only a little surprising. The Focus EV is built on the same assembly line as the gas Focus with no interruption in production. Ford designed it to have no impact on their production process. Focus EVs are not built as a special run, but rather they just come through the assembly line as needed.

 

We own a Focus EV and it is an incredible car. The acceleration is great, handling is good, range is excellent. Overall we love it. I hope that this price drop signals that Ford will sell more. They could be selling more now if they just were to distribute them better throughout the country. They send almost all of them to Cali or Atlanta and ppl in other parts of the USA who want them have to convince a dealer to special order one for them.

 

Well - before the thread gets more zombie goin' on ... we had one park next to us at work yesterday ...


have seen a few on the road ... but this was up close and personal -
.

 

how does it compare to the spark?

 

The Ford - It looked less narrow than a spark . . . & less tall . . . & less econo-box than the spark. The two cars come in regular gasser version, so their style had little to do with fact that each company has ev versions. That's my impression just from a visual perspective.
.

 

The Focus is a size class larger than the Spark to begin with, but the Spark does have a longer range. The Focus Electric range hasn't increased since it first arrived. I think the Leaf has at least a little. All go farther than the i-MiEV, which closest in size to the Spark.

Compare Side-by-Side

 

The Leaf didn't have it's range increased. Nissan removed the charge to 80% feature, so EPA adjusted it's numbers to reflect 100% charge, hence the appeared increase in range. I was highly interested in the Ford, especially for it's battery management system over the Leaf, but the lack of DC charging lost me as a potential customer (along with the compliance car level of sales).

 

The SAE DC combo plug charge standard wasn't set yet when the Focus E came out. With the Spark rolling out to at least one more state, and other models(E-Golf) using it, I don't see why Ford wouldn't offer it in future BEVs.

 

Has Ford announced any plans in that regard?

 

Ford has been testing it for quite some time, but has neglected to bring it to production. It's a shame because there are definitely buyers (like me) that could have been swayed to the Ford Focus Electric with it.

Ford To Offer SAE Quick Charge On Their Plug-Ins. Just Not Right Now, As Infrastructure Not Yet Viable | Inside EVs

Ford Focus Electric With DC Fast Charging?