Video: 2012 Ford Focus Electric

This makes it the first full battery electric version of a gas powered car in the new era. The other electrics and plugins on the market right now, include the Mitsubishi I, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt. Those are all distinct plug-in vehicles only. The passenger space in the Focus Electric is actually the same in terms of seating dimensions, when you compare it with the regular gas powered hatchback. But there's a difference in the level in terms of features and quality. I'd say it's somewhere between the SEL and the Titanium. Those are the top two trims, but there are also some differences in features that really don't match either one of those. For one thing the electric starts with cloth seats instead of leather, there also some other high quality things that it does add, including 17 inch wheels, keyless access, a navigation system which is also standard on things like the Nissan Leaf, park assist, rain sensing wipers, and heated side mirrors. The heated side mirrors don't come on the other trim levels. The Focus Electric is also more efficient than you might expect. It's more efficient than the Nissan Leaf, in pretty much every way as rated by the EPA. And it even matches the smaller lighter Mitsubishi i-MiEV, in the highway rating that's partly because this is a pretty aerodynamic car. Now like the Nissan leaf and the Chevrolet Volt, the Focus Electric has pretty ambitious iphone app that you can use to check your range remotely, find out other information, historical information, et cetera. And also the key fob has a remote start button on it. So, if the car is plugged in someplace and you're just in your house, you can hit the button a couple of times and it'll precondition the cabin either cooled or heated ahead of time that saves you range. This car has appeared at auto shows for a couple of years and each time the hatch has been locked. And I figured that's not a good sign. It turns out I was right. This is the biggest downside of the Focus Electric, not a lot of cargo room. With the cargo covered down there's only a few inches between the front section of the cargo area and the cover. Thankfully, you can expand the cargo area by folding the back seat. Unfortunately, it's a pretty outdated way of doing things. First, you have to put the bottom cushion forward and then, oh look at that. You'll probably have to remove the head restraint too. At least that helps a bit. This kind of the inverse of the Nissan Leaf, which is a little bit higher when the seats are folded, but it gives you a deep bin in the back. Some credit for Ford though, they did a couple of neat tricks, for one thing, you can slide that out and get a flat cargo floor without a whole lot of room in front of it. And also when you raise it, there is some space here. There's a bin that goes down about a hand deep, and then another sub-bin underneath that. In there, as where you will find the level one charging unit which comes with the car charges at 120 volts, that's household current, and that'll charge the car in more than 20 hours, but that is common for this level of charging in electric cars. Now, if you own this car or a Mitsubishi I or a Nissan Leaf, you're gonna need level two charging. That's 240 volts, it's much quicker. It'll charge an empty Leaf in eight hours, big advantage. This is the biggest one, it'll do the same thing in about four hours using the same charging systems and the same kind of port. The difference is the onboard electronics are more robust, 6.6 kilowatts. So, using the same stuff you use to charge just about any electric car, including the public ones. You're getting a charge twice as fast. When the doors open, it shows you how much charge you have roughly in four quadrants, and when you're plugged in it pulsates. And my feelings about the Focus Electric after brief time with it, it's very similar to my feelings about the Volt and the Leaf which we've owned for more than a year, which is they're really cool cars. I like to drive them, if you have a place to plug them in, it's all good. But does that justify the price? That's really the question, especially for a car like this, that starts at 39,000 plus dollars, and there's no gas backup like the Volt has. (upbeat music) <v Instructor>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog kickingtires.net.