Ford's electric Focus to get 100-plus-mile battery range

By | September 3, 2010, 10:49am PDT

Summary: Company will use liquid cooling to keep lithium-ion battery operating at optimal temperatures.

Automaker Ford plans to use an innovative, thermally managed lithium-ion battery system in its forthcoming Ford Focus Electric vehicle — which should have the effect of extended the gas-free driving range.

The technology uses a liquid cooling method to keep the battery within certain temperature parameters — like Goldilocks, not too cold and not too hot. Here’s the explanation from Sherif Marakby, director of Ford’s electrification program and engineering:

“All-electric vehicles do not have a conventional engine on board, so it is critical we maximize the performance of the battery under various operating temperatures. Active liquid systems are more effective than air systems at regulating lithium-ion battery temperature. As a result, the active liquid system on Focus Electric will play a key role in providing our customers with the best performance possible.”

The net effect is that the car is supposed to get a range of 100 miles per charge.

The Focus Electric is due in the U.S. marketing in late 2011. Ford has five electrified vehicles under development for release over the next three years. The Ford Transit Connect Electric small commercial van is due in late 2010.

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Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues.

Disclosure

Heather Clancy

Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. I am also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.

My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that I am covering in my blog.

Biography

Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues. Her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. In a past corporate life, Heather was editor of Computer Reseller News, where she was a featured speaker about everything from software as a service to IT security to mobile computing.

Heather started her journalism life as a business writer with United Press International in New York. She holds a B.A. in English literature from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and has a thing for Lewis Carroll.

Talkback Most Recent of 13 Talkback(s)

  • So, it gets the same millage as all the other failed EVs.
    You do realize that 100 mpfc (miles per full charge) is the SAME millage that all other FAILED electric cars had.

    Also, do you realize that lithium-ion batteries degrade with usage and after a year or so, the owners will be lucky to get 20 mpfc ?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    3rd Sep 2010
  • ZDNet Gravatar
    happyharry_z
    3rd Sep 2010
  • Top failure: GM's EV1
    Other known failures:
    - Chevy Volt
    - Toyota RAV4 EV
    - Honda EV+
    - Ford Ranger EV

    And there are more not that well known EV failures.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    3rd Sep 2010
  • RE: Ford's electric Focus to get 100-plus-mile battery range
    "Chevy Volt"

    How in the world is something that hasn't been to the market yet a failure?

    Wait until it's had a couple months in production before branding it a failure.

    . . . and keep in mind it's not going to be all-electric, either. The Volt uses a generator to keep itself running after the battery gets low.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    3rd Sep 2010
  • Educate yourself .......
    @CobraA1 If you had 1/2 an active neuron, you would just Google or read the Wiki and maybe just maybe you would educate yourself to find out that the Volt was the original name of a FAILED and never produced electric vehicle of the 1990s. In fact it was the vaporware of cars.

    You would also find out that the NEW Volt is a Hybrid not an electric vehicle.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    3rd Sep 2010
  • RE: Ford's electric Focus to get 100-plus-mile battery range
    "@CobraA1 If you had 1/2 an active neuron, you would just Google or read the Wiki . . ."

    Thanks for the info, but:

    -I had no idea he was talking about something else, so there was no reason to look it up.

    -Frankly, I don't have the time to look up every little detail about everything.

    "You would also find out that the NEW Volt is a Hybrid not an electric vehicle."

    Duh, I just said that. Maybe you need that half a neuron.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    3rd Sep 2010
  • RE: Ford's electric Focus to get 100-plus-mile battery range
    i think this vehicle will be important for two big reasons: it will replace the current American spec model with the European derived one, offering a better-looking, more fuel, cheap auto parts online, efficient and updated package.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    lackneramanda
    1st Aug
  • My questions are
    Is that 100 miles at night with the lights on?
    How about when it's raining and you need the defroster and wipers.
    What about in the winter when you need heat?
    How long does it take to charge?
    I like the idea of electric but it seems like all these 100 mile claims look to be during the day in nice weather.
    So how does it work in the real world?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Scubajrr
    3rd Sep 2010
  • Forgot the most important
    With AC running??
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    3rd Sep 2010
  • Statistics have shown that...
    you're 99% more likely to be a victim of a violent crime if you drive an electric car.

    Amazing how the shills for big oil demonize every alternative in any way they can.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jackbond
    3rd Sep 2010
  • Ah yes. So typical.
    @jackbond So typical of the leftie/green crowd. Everyone get in line and get in step. Don't question or ask if it's practical. It's "green" so anyone who questions is a "shill".
    ZDNet Gravatar
    cornpie
    3rd Sep 2010
  • Electric vehicles are WORST to the environment because:
    - The amount of energy and pollution generated by manufaturing bateries is very high.
    - Electric vehicles will put a huge demand on the electric grid, not only increasing the cost for little old grandma (who doesn't even own a car) but also forcing the lowering of enviromental rules to produce more electricity at lower cost. And BTW: there is no such thing as "clean coal". It is still burning fossils.
    - Use batteries are huge pollutants. Recycling is almost non existent and where it is, they take out about 10% of the material and the rest usually ends up in the local area landfills or shipped to another country (where it ends up in polluting landfills).
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    3rd Sep 2010
  • RE: Ford's electric Focus to get 100-plus-mile battery range
    @wackoae

    The biggest reason to use an electric car is not environmental but rather to get away from using oil. Oil needs to be imported and is more expensive than coal.

    And I agree there is no such thing as "clean coal", but you can have "cleaner coal". You can make it more energy efficient than it is and release less non-CO2 pollutants than coal (and oil) does now. But of course CO2 is inevitable until we get away from burning things for energy.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Kelly
    7th Sep 2010

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