Ford Focus EV Delayed Until 2012

Ford Motor Company, which has limited initial sales of the Focus Electric to nineteen states and metropolitan areas, has pushed back the rollout until Spring of 2012, excepting a soft rollout in New York and California.

The two states will be the first areas of the country where the Focus Electric will go on sale this fall. The other seventeen areas have to wait until next Spring for a wider product expansion for the electrified Focus. The market-watching opinion seems to be that Ford is trying to avoid the struggles of Nissan and Chevy to get the Leaf and Volt respectively out to its customers, many of whom are still waiting.

Ford plans to offer its customers the option to purchase a solar array from partner SunPower through Ford’s own dealerships. Depending on how sunny the locale is, the 2.5 kilowatt solar panels could provide enough electricity to "offset" up to 1,000 miles of driving in the Focus Electric.

After federal tax credits, the solar system will cost around $10,000 in addition to the cost of a Focus Electric. Local and state tax credits could bring that number down even further though.

While waiting a year has allowed Ford to study and (hopefully) avoid their competitors pitfalls for rolling out such a different kind of vehicle, they are also unlikely to enjoy the same level of media and consumer interest that GM and Nissan had last fall.

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