Californians can cash in by getting Ford to build them their own electric car. In California you can save $10,000 through tax credits and also get on the high-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV).
California Focus Electric customers can get a $2,500 tax rebate from Cali and a $7,500 federal tax credit.
“Ford is providing customers the power of choice to save money at the pump – from our gas-free Focus Electric to our innovative EcoBoost® technology that delivers leading gas-engine fuel economy,” said John Viera, global director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters. “Californians have a legacy of embracing electric vehicles, and programs like the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program provide an excellent incentive for the continued wider adoption of electric vehicles.”
Charging vs. filling up
The savings of driving the Focus Electric can be tremendous. For example, in California, the cost to fully charge the Focus Electric at night is between $1and $2– which enables 76 miles of average driving. In a gasoline vehicle that gets a fuel-efficient 38 mpg at $5 per gallon, the cost to drive that same 76 miles is $10.
The Focus Electric CVRP rebate approval comes on the heels of the March 2 announcement that it is America’s most fuel-efficient five-passenger car with a certified 110 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) city rating and 99 MPGe on the highway.
Focus Electric also has been certified by the EPA to offer 105 MPGe combined, beating Nissan Leaf by 6 MPGe.
Focus Electric bests Leaf in other ways, too – more passenger room and a faster charging system that allows for a full recharge in just four hours, nearly half the time of the Nissan.
The EPA-approved Focus Electric label also certifies that the car has a range of 76 miles on a single charge. Also if you play the EV cards and drive the car carefully, Ford even says you can get 100 miles on a single.
The approved label also will say customers could save $9,700 in fuel costs over the course of five years compared with the average new vehicle. Ford currently has 10 fuel-economy class-leading vehicles in its 2012 calendar year lineup. Additionally, Ford has nine vehicles that achieve more than 40 mpg, a claim no other full-line automaker can make.
Ford Focus ElectricCVRP plans for additional Ford electric vehicles
Ford plans to triple dipple the production of their electric vehicles through 2013. This’ll grow the company’s EV capacity to more than 100,000 by 2013.
Charge It!!
The Focus EV charges fully in four hours usin a 240 volt outlet. That’s like a dryer plug outlet for your garage.
Oh and when you are worried about charging, the opportunity for charging with 240 volts also can extend range as drivers can more quickly recharge between stops. Also get off the anxiety America!! According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the number of charging stations in the United States has risen from 750 to 5,507 in the last 10 months alone!!!!
Oh I like this one! To cut charging costs at home, Microsoft helps owners in the U.S. charge their vehicles at the cheapest utility rates. This makes charging the Focus Electric less costly than other electric cars on the market to date.
Focus Electric production
Production of the Focus Electric began in December 2011 at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan.
Ford will ramp up Focus Electric retail production in the first half of 2012 for dealership availability only in California, New York and New Jersey. These are their larger markets with both state and local incentives on the table through EV requirements started by the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP). The CVRP is funded by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Resources Board (CARB) and administered statewide by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) (http://energycenter.org/index.php/incentive-programs/clean-vehicle-rebate-project).
By the end of 2012, Focus Electric will be available in only 19 markets across the U.S.
Ford’s strategy to date has been fleet customers the Focus Electric and their major technology partners (like Google).
Source: Ford Motor Company, http://corporate.ford.com
