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Ford announced that it would be investing some $4.5 billion over the next five years toward its goal of building better "electrified vehicle solutions" and bringing electrification to 40% of its vehicle lineup by 2020. Seeing as transportation is a key climate issue, it's only fitting to learn about Ford's sharpened focus on EVs as a solution. According to the company, it will be adding 13 new electrified vehicles to its portfolio by 2020, which could offer more options for the potential EV customers who aren't currently able to drive electric, either because of price or driving range or size.
The most significant news in the near future of Ford's electric vehicle lineup is the rollout of the new Focus Electric next year, which will feature a 100-mile range and a DC fast-charging system that is claimed to give the vehicle an 80% charge in 30 minutes, a full two hours faster than the current model. No announcement was made about the price of the new Focus Electric, but based on last year's model prices, it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000. That's not exactly an entry-level car purchase, but it's a lot more affordable than a Tesla at the moment, and if a pure EV fits your driving habits, it could slash your fuel bills for years and be a cleaner transport option than a fuel-efficient gas car.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 15 2015, @09:12AM
No. In reality, increased demand for energy will push electricity price high, and then elevated prices will have double effect: one, more demand for efficiency of not only cars, but every house appliance and every manufacturing process which uses electric power, too, and the other effect - elevated profits in electric energy generation business - leading to boost in investment into power generation. So, in short, the inevitable time lag in building more energy supply to meet demand will build the pressure on energy efficiency first. And as necessity is unwilling kicking and screaming mother of invention, we are about to see another engineering renaissance. We are already sort-of working on efficiency, but this work lacks real feverish pressure and resulting revolutionary ideas.