A little advice: If you buy yourself an electric Ford Focus, buy one of those new smart phones, too. Then immediately download the solitaire app, because you’re going to have plenty of time to play the game while your car’s battery is recharging.
The Sydney Morning Herald has Ford’s shocking news:
The car maker released details of the car this week that shows it anticipates owners of an electric version of its Focus hatchback may have to recharge it up to a whopping 1500 times a year — or up to four times a day.
The car may need so many recharges that the car maker says it has developed a special ergonomic plug so US customers can use a standard household power point to recharge their car, rather than using a special wall-mounted unit that cuts the amount of time needed to fully charge.
However, the system using the normal powerpoint can take up to 12 hours to fully recharge the Focus, meaning many owners will need to plug the car in several times a day to ensure they have enough reserves of electricity in the car’s batteries to fit in a full day of driving, potentially putting a strain on relationships with friends and employers as they borrow power to keep moving…
Ford says it expects electric car owners to need to plug in at up to 30 times the frequency that petrol-engined Focus owners will need to visit the petrol station.
‘‘Between plugging in and unplugging at home, work or other places, Focus Electric owners are likely to recharge their vehicles two to four times each day (nearly 1500 times a year) compared to once a week for gassing up (52 times a year),’’ the car maker says.
Articles like this usually bring out the eco-wackos who say we’re just making stuff up. But in this case, they’ll have to accuse Ford of making stuff up.
Bring on the comments.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
