Ford to Begin Testing Transit Connect, Focus EVs in 2-Year German Test
By John O'Dell January 4, 2010
Ford Motor Co., which as said it will launch an electric version of its Transit Connnect van (top right) in the U.S. this year for commercial fleet customers, followed by a battery-electric Focus compact sedan (bottom right) in 2011, also plans to begin testing the vehicles in Germany.
The head of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany told Bloomberg news service that 25 all-electric Transit vans and Focus compacts would be put into service in the Cologne area for a two-year test beginning today.
Customers would include university research personnel as well as customers selected by Ford. Terms of the test program weren't divulged.
Ford also is to begin testing the two vehicles in England, but this would be the first mainland European trial.
Although Ford has taken a backseat in the media to General Motors Corp.'s aggressive promotion of its Volt extended-range, rechargeable electric-drive hybrid, the company does seem to be launching a meaningful electric transportation program of its own.
It will include not only the battery-electric delivery van and compact sedan but a rechargeable - or plug-in - version of the Escape hybrid SUV as well.
The European tests are important because the ability to field models that will be marketable in England and on the European continent would greatly expand Ford's ability to pay down development costs and reduce manufacturing costs for the EVs by boosting sales volume and increasing revenue and economies of scale.
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The market for electric vehicles is much easier to get going in Europe rather than the US due to higher petrol prices, shorter journeys and more dense traffic.
This is often missed in blogs due to the American orientation of them.
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