I still am hung-up on the potential pricing. I don't see how a large company like Ford cannot take a chance on their first 50,000 units or so, and offer them at a reasonable $18,000-$24,000. they may lose money on the initial bunch, but if they could find a way to price them closer to their Gas-guzzling counterparts, there could be a real transformation going on in the minds of the customer.
I speak for myself, but what with not knowing the potential resale value down-the-road, the fact that $30,000+ is a bit too steep for me anyway, plus the 'hope' that---even though I have wanted an electric car for years--in a few years the pricing might be a bit more affordable for me..PLUS (sorry to drag this point on).. in 2 or 3 years I can see the batteries getting better and better, and cheaper and cheaper, making a purchase now a bit pre-mature. Consider that we are only on the cusp of mass-produced electric vehicles.
I have one of the first electric 18-speed mountain bikes in Miami Beach. In fact, I never saw another electric bicycle of ANY kind for almost a year--I got mine in September of 2009, so I would love to get on the bandwagon and get something cool.... but the pricing still bothers me. As I said in a previous post, I would rather spend my $30,000 on another car I have wanted for decades, a 1980's Ferrari 308... many in fantastic condition too...
I think it is incredibly optimistic to believe that the price of the Focus will be lower by even one dollar than the Nissan Leaf, which has a sticker price of about $35K, especially when the Focus will have a more sophisticated and expensive battery system that probably costs $10K by itself (if not more).
The Focus is also more expensive to build than the Nissan since it will be built in a two stage process, with the initial assembly being done at the main Focus plant in Michigan and then the electric drive system being installed at a separate plant by a contractor.
There is a HUGE demand for electrics like these, so it would be foolish to think that Ford should give them away to spur demand. Remember that there is a $7500 federal rebate still in effect on electrics until the first xx number of vehicles are sold... add to that the local/state rebates available in places like California and the final cost of an Electric Focus will not be much more than the gas version.
We won't see "affordable" prices for cars like this for another 5-10 years until battery manufacturing technology drastically improves and the vehicles can be built in large enough quantities (and cheaply enough) that they are sitting on dealer lots ready for a consumer to go and pick out what color and options they want.
I agree with Ninja, at this point it would be a big surprise if the Focus was priced below the Leaf. If that was the case (as has been brought up before) they would have announced the price months ago to snipe Leaf customers before they place their orders.
Also, there is no sign that Ford will be building enough of the Focus EV's to meet the kind of demand were they to price it anywhere below 30k before rebate.
The Focus is also more expensive to build than the Nissan since it will be built in a two stage process, with the initial assembly being done at the main Focus plant in Michigan and then the electric drive system being installed at a separate plant by a contractor.
Is this correct? You are saying they will ship the cars to a separate plant to install the electric drive system? Had not heard that before.
And have to agree, will probably slot in between the Leaf and the Volt. Supply and demand here. No need to discount when supply is tight and there are thousands on the waiting lists.
Everything I've read is that the FFE will be built along side with the ICE FF. Much like the Escape & Fusion hybrids are built on the line with the ICE versions of same.
I could see Ford having the drivetrain arrive at the plant more or less assembled and then just insert it into the chassis as it rolls down the line. Since they are planning on building a lot of these (including the other two "electric" vehicles) at the plant it probably isn't cost effective to do so beyond the first X prototypes.
Having said all that Ford DOES ship out one vehicle for retro-fitting to an electric: The Transit Connect electric van. Those are built in Turkey and converted in Michigan to electric.
I can't remember where I read the information about the dual stage assembly, but I do remember it being brought up in an article about Fords expected very small production numbers for the Focus Electric, at least initially.
If they are serious about electric then they will inevitably have to ramp up to the point where there is a dedicated line for the car or the car is being built side by side with the ICE versions of the Focus in Michigan.
The bottom line though is that all of this hand wringing about the price doesn't change the fact that there is a huge demand for these giant "golf carts" (as my friends like to call it) and there will be no need for Ford to discount it at all until the $7500 federal tax credit starts to dry up, which will take quite some time since they have to hit 200,000 cars sold before the tax credit drops to 50%.
I can't remember where I read the information about the dual stage assembly, but I do remember it being brought up in an article about Fords expected very small production numbers for the Focus Electric, at least initially.
Is that recent news or an old one ?
What I'm told is that Magna no longer is the contractor for the drive trains. May be this was the idea when Magna was to be the drive train provider ?
BTW, Tesla will ship drivetrains to CA for RAV4-EV.
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I can't remember where I read the information about the dual stage assembly, but I do remember it being brought up in an article about Fords expected very small production numbers for the Focus Electric, at least initially.
Is that recent news or an old one ?
What I'm told is that Magna no longer is the contractor for the drive trains. May be this was the idea when Magna was to be the drive train provider ?
BTW, Tesla will ship drivetrains to CA for RAV4-EV.
Magna no longer the contractor...? Where did you read that?
Magna no longer the contractor...? Where did you read that?
Heard it from a local EV association member - needs to be confirmed.
Seems hard to believe. They can't just pop out to Walmart and buy this stuff. There is tons of testing to be done. They might dump Magna down the road, but this close to launch?
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