Ford Focus Electric pictures – a plug-in EV that charges twice as fast as the Chevy Volt

By Jeffrey Van Camp November 17, 2011

Today, Ford is holding an event in New York City to show off its eco-friendly vehicle lineup and the centerpiece of the show is the new Ford Focus Electric. According to Ford, the new Focus has a better mile-per-gallon equivalent than the Chevrolet Volt and will be competitive with any other vehicle. As a completely gas-less, electric plug-in car, the Focus Electric has benefits and limitations. It comes with a charge inverter that can charge the car twice as fast as any other electric vehicle we’ve seen. Using the charging station, you can charge the car in 3-4 hours. More specifically, it can charge up to 6.6 Kilowatts per hour. The lithium ion battery pack holds about 23 Kilowatts of power, which should get you about 100 miles on a charge.

Most of the high-end Ford features come standard on the Electric due to its high price (about $40,000, though there’s a $7,500 government rebate for buying an electric car). MyFord Touch with Microsoft Sync, fancy seats made of recycled pop bottles, and a cool MyFord Mobile app that lets you monitor your charging and car from anywhere, are all included. Check out our hands-on video of the MyFord Mobile app.

The Focus Electric will hit shelves before the end of the year (sounds like December) and is the first of five Ford electric vehicles coming by 2013.

Topics

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Cars

The state of solid-state batteries: We may be on the cusp of an EV revolution

Factorial solid-state battery

Electric vehicles may have become a whole lot more popular over the past five years or so, but that’s despite some issues they still face regarding things like limited range and slow charging speeds. The result of these issues is that plenty of buyers are unsure about whether an EV might be for them. But there’s one technology that has been hailed as a savior for all of the EV issues related to batteries, and that’s solid-state battery tech.

This technology has been so hyped for so long that, at this point in time, it seems not only almost mythical, but as if we might never actually see it in the real world. So, what’s the state of solid-state batteries right now, and how far are we from finally seeing them and reaping their rewards? Here’s a look.
What are solid-state batteries?
What is a solid-state battery in the first place? Solid-state batteries keep the fundamentals of traditional battery design, offering an anode and a cathode with a porous separator in the middle, and a substance through which electrons flow from one side to the other. This, in turn, creates a circuit. But while a conventional battery is built with a liquid electrolyte solution on the inside, a solid-state battery instead makes the separator between the anode and the cathode the electrolyte itself.

Cars

Audi RS e-Tron GT Performance unveiled as a 912-hp electric sedan

2025 audi rs e tron gt performance specs pictures features

Audi's roster of past high-performance models includes the rally-winning Quattro and the V10-powered R8, but the new RS E-Tron GT Performance outguns them all. With up to 912 horsepower on tap, this electric sedan stands proud as the most powerful Audi ever built.

Starting with the RS E-Tron GT, which is related to the Porsche Taycan, engineers updated the front axle's electric motor and integrated a new, lighter electric motor into the rear axle to reach the 912-horsepower figure. Audi notes that this mammoth amount of power can only be unlocked temporarily when the launch control function is engaged, however. Other improvements helped the German company add horses to the E-Tron's cavalry, including a new chemistry for the 105-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack's cells and a revised cooling system.

Cars

Ram 1500 REV vs. Ford F-150 Lightning: Classic trucks go electric

Ford F-150 Lightning

The first Ram electric pickup truck is on the way. The Ram 1500 REV is set to be one of the most desirable electric trucks out there, thanks not only to the Ram name but also to its high-end specifications.

But, of course, it's certainly not the first electric truck out there. The Ford F-150 Lightning is a favorite among electric truck buyers, thanks to the fact that it continues that Ford F-150 legacy with a tried-and-true design coupled with new technologies.