Ownership Basics
The Three Types of Ford Electric Vehicles
Electricity is becoming a much more prominent source of power for transportation. Here’s what you need to know about the different types of electric vehicles that Ford has to offer.
Vehicles such as the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Ford Escape Hybrid and the
upcoming 2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid, coming fall 2012, are part gasoline engine, part electric motor and are designed to be remarkably efficient. These vehicles are able to run exclusively on electricity at low speeds and for short distance drives. No fuel is used. However, at higher speeds and when you need more power, the gasoline engine is there to take over. This means you have plenty of merging and passing power. Plus, the driving experience is virtually identical to that of a conventional car or SUV.
One important fact: Ford hybrid electric cars and SUVs are different from other electric vehicles because their batteries don’t ever need to be plugged in for charging. When running, the gasoline engine charges the battery. During braking, the vehicle’s electric motor captures a portion of the energy and sends it back to the battery pack to be stored for later use. It’s called regenerative braking and it’s smart: whenever you apply the brakes, you’re also helping to recharge the vehicle’s battery pack.
The 2012 Ford Focus Electric, available this spring, is powered exclusively by a new lithium-ion battery system instead of a gasoline engine, allowing the vehicle to run purely on electricity. That means you’ll never need a drop of gas or an oil change. And there’s zero CO2 emissions. The all-electric motor is designed to help reduce energy loss and heat generation while reducing your carbon footprint. In fact, the Focus Electric offers a combined fuel efficiency rating of over 105 MPGe.* Unlike a hybrid, in which the gasoline engine recharges the battery, an all-electric car battery is recharged by plugging a 120-volt electrical cord into a standard 120-volt outlet. There’s also the option of the available 240-volt charging station, which can give you a full charge in approximately 3-4 hours (about half the time of the Nissan Leaf).
The Focus Electric also features the Regenerative Braking System, similar to the system found in hybrid electric vehicles.
*EPA-estimated 110/city, 99 hwy/105 combined MPGe.
The 2013 Ford C-MAX Energi, coming this fall, is the first-ever production plug-in hybrid vehicle from Ford. It’s designed to deliver maximum effciency by combinining an advanced high-voltage battery and electric motor with a gasoline engine. Similar to other hybrid electric vehicles, the gasoline engine kicks in during higher speeds or situations when you need more power. The difference with the C-MAX Energi, though, is that it can also be plugged in to fully charge the battery, allowing you to get the most miles out of each charge. The C-MAX Energi also includes EV Mode, an innovative feature that lets you switch the vehicle between three modes with the touch of a button: electric only, gasoline only or a combination of gas and electric.
Learn more about electric vehicle options from Ford.
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