A range of 160km (perhaps a little bit more) isn’t going to astound anybody following the rapidly growing range that electric cars can now reach with larger batteries, but that will be an improvement of roughly 40 percent over the previous iteration of the Ford Focus Electric.
The range bump to the fully electric Focus was first announced in December 2015 to combat the updated Nissan Leaf, but the American automaker has yet to make any full reveals of firm specifications or introduction timelines for the car despite its recent pledge to invest an extra US$4.5 billion to develop advances in its electric vehicle programme.
Reportedly, the MY2017 Focus Electric will feature a larger liquid-cooled 33.5kWh battery that’s good for around 177km of range. By comparison, the Nissan Leaf in its highest specification, can muster around 170km (EPA estimated).
Fast DC charging would also come to the new Focus Electric, allowing it to replenish its battery to 80 percent capacity from just 30 minutes to charge time provided it’s plugged into a compatible 50kW charging station.
Some have speculated that the new Focus Electric will make its debut at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in November with a market introduction following soon after. Hopefully, this timeframe will be able to coincide with the entrance of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric and undercut the annual update to the Nissan Leaf.
For more on Ford vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
