Electric Ford Focus To Race on Jay Leno Tonight

The first car to be tested — and driven by actress Drew Barrymore — will be a European Ford Focus seen here that has been converted to an all-electric car. This is one of the cars Ford has been testing in advance of a consumer version to go on sale in the U.S. in 2011.

Ford says the battery powered Focus has 236 lb ft. of torque — almost as much as a V-6 Mustang — 50/50 weight distribution and a number of other race ready parts supplied by Ford’s performance division.

That’s a lot of go while Ford also says the test-car can travel 80 miles on a single electric charge.

The Ford may also have an unfair advantage to future cars in the challenge. It has been tweaked and tested specifically for Leno’s custom race track he had built for the new show. Ford went as far as designing its own version of Leno’s track in Michigan for its testing.

Tune in to NBC tonight to see how Barrymore and the battery-powered Focus handle the pressure.