Ford Steps Closer to 2012 Focus Electric Launch With New Website

By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Contributing Writer BIO

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield is a self-confessed petrol head. She grew up in a carless family but was able at a very early age to name cars passing her on... More

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All-new 2012 Ford Focus Electric

2012 Ford Focus Electric Microsite

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It might seem a long while since Ford unveiled its 2012 all-electric Ford Focus at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, but in reality we’ve only known about Ford’s five seat electric hatchback for four months. 

But with the car due to launch some time before the end of 2011 Ford has brought its Ford Focus Electric marketing campaign to a new level with a brand new website designed to inform consumers about Ford’s first mainstream electric car. 

Heavy on performance

Visiting the Ford Focus Electric microsite we noticed immediately that Ford is keen to produce the performance advantages that come with an all-electric drivetrain. 

Highlighting the all-electric motor and its single-speed transmission, the site promotes the Focus’ acceleration and high-torque, giving what it terms “no-compromise driving fun.”

2012 Ford Focus Electric Microsite

Enlarge Photo

Heavy on technology. 

Announcing the 2012 Ford Focus Electric at the 2011 CES was a big hint that Ford CEO Allan Mulally intended the new look Ford Focus range to be full of technology. 

Where Mulally left off at CES the Focus Electric microsite picks up, highlighting the MyFord Touch integration and custom MapQuest route planning offered as standard on the Focus Electric. 

In short, the microsite emphasizes the geek credentials of the Focus, hardly surprising when the car has already been extensively advertised through a range of online and new media outlets including Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech podcast. 

All the green, none of the greenwash

Surprisingly, there’s no butterflies on the site’s main page, no Ed Begley Jr., and most definitely no polar bears. 

What there is instead is the quiet, constant reiteration that the 2012 Ford Focus Electric is an eco-minded car, but one which reaches eco-credentials without losing out on modern day pleasures. 

The only flaw we’ve seen on the site is the use of Miles Per Gallon when measuring performance and fuel efficiency, claiming the Ford Focus Electric “will offer an MPG equivalent competitive with the competition”.  

Since we’ve already shared our frustration that automakers and the EPA seem bent on representing electric car efficiency in this idiotic way we’ll leave that topic well alone, but it does at least hint that Ford is doing everything it can to make the Ford Focus appeal to a regular Joe. 

In other words, Ford appears to be marketing the car to a mainstream buyer, not an early adopter or a niche market eco-warrior. 

And for that, we have to congratulate them. 

What do you think of the new 2012 Ford Focus Electric microsite?  Let us know in the Comments below.