Ford Focus Electric A Compliance Car? Ford Swears It's Not
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There are two kinds of electric cars on sale in the U.S. these days.
The first kind--the ones you should pay attention to--are the volume electric cars. Their makers want to sell as many as they can.
The second kind are the "compliance cars," built solely to meet California regulations that require six large automakers to sell a certain number of zero-emission vehicles by 2014.
And whether the Ford Focus Electric is a volume car or a compliance car is the topic of hot debate among electric-car advocates.
Now, Ford’s latest group marketing manager for electrification, C.J. O'Donnell has weighed in with the company's point of view: "It's not a compliance car."
But unlike other competitors that he says are "forcing the volume levels" for battery electric vehicles, O'Donnell suggests that Ford is content to be "very measured and [let] the market come to us.”
Instead, he says, Ford thinks that plug-in hybrids derived from its latest generation of hybrid cars--the 2013 Ford C-Max and 2013 Ford Fusion--will find more success in the U.S. market than the pure battery electric Ford Focus Electric.
O'Donnell notes that education will be required and that a market for plug-in vehicles has to "emerge over time."
"There will be a time when there is increased demand for these cars," he told Plug-In Cars, "as people understand how they fit into their lifestyles.”
As author Jim Motavalli notes in his interview of O'Donnell--who rotated into his slot just two months ago from the company's struggling luxury brand, Lincoln--"What else is Ford going to say at this point?"
The Ford Focus Electric today can be bought only from about 200 Ford dealers, located in California and other states--mostly those on the West Coast and in the Northeast.
O'Donnell says the company will certify more than 700 additional dealerships to sell plug-in cars, and that eventually the Focus Electric will be available in all 50 states.
Whether the Focus Electric is a compliance car or something more, there's little debate about four other electric vehicles to be sold this year and next--which their makers will build only in volumes sufficient to meet California Air Resources Board rules for 2012 through 2014.
These compliance cars are the Chevrolet Spark EV, Fiat 500E, Honda Fit EV, and Toyota RAV4 EV.
What do you think? Is Ford being honest about its plans for plug-in cars, or is it only building the Focus Electric because it has to? How many do you think it will sell?
Leave us your thoughts in the Comments below.
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If you can't find one for sale or the dealership gives you a hard time, it is a VEV (Vapor EV) or a compliance vehicle.
I just did a search (I live in MI). The system sent me to the inventory of ALL Foci, and I had to go dealer-by-dealer and sort highest price to lowest. I found one FFE at a local dealer 3 miles away, and another 20 miles away before I stopped looking.
I guess your friend must live in a state where Volt isn't popular...
The proper definition I think is already in this article: "build only in volumes sufficient to meet California Air Resources Board rules for 2012 through 2014", so more generally a car that's offered only in specific markets in the numbers needed to comply with the regulations that are in place in that market.
Since the Focus is offered geographically and numerically beyond the scope of current regulations it is not a compliance car.
The term "compliance" is relatively mild considering what else such vehicles (and their makers) can be called.
The tell you a lot about the car, but one thing they do not tell you, or even mention, is where to buy it. Now that really is "waiting for the market to come to us." If Ford wants the market to come to them, they really should give us a location to go to.
So a more realistic version of your test might be "when it's available outside the 13 CARB-emissions states". FYI.
Of course those manfacturers who distribute more widely are learning more in terms of engineering, durability, customer useage patterns, climate effects, etc.
Ford comments in next post.
As to why Ford is "holding back"... well... this is a little like telling if someone is telling a "lie". To "lie" you have to intend to deceive someone, and that is tough to tell because you can't get in their heads. Since we can't get into Ford's "head," we have no way of telling if it is intended as a compliance car or not.
Ford's dealers are the primary issue IMO. Sure, Ford can apply pressure, but manufacturers don't have control over their dealerships. Perhaps Ford's education and marketing effort hasn't been strong enough to convince the dealers that there is a volume and profit opportunity. Hopefully Ford's new EV Marketing Director will sort things out.
2. Ford's launch has been slow; maybe due to signing up dealers who have to make the investment in training/facilities and are unsure about sales potential?
3. Perhaps Mr. O'Donnell can better focus Ford's efforts, because the marketing launch also has been poor, including lack of information/advertising and outdated info on Ford's web site.
4. The introduction of the C-Max and Fusion Energi might help. The dealer certification process is the same for all plug-ins, so dealers might see some critical mass and order some FFE's.
5. Ford will build to demand; the plant is full on three shifts, so there is plenty of other volume to fill in.
So, if Ford requires every EV certified dealer to have at least 1 car in stock for demo (like Volt and Leaf) and have plenty of inventory available for sales, then it is a real EV. If it doesn't "push" for sales like (end of month/qtr dealer incentives), then it doesn't really care.
Look at it this way, Ford is as invested into hybrids as Toyota is with Prius...
I looked into getting one this past summer, and the lease rates were atrocious. The bad lease suggested a low commitment by Ford to establish itself in the EV market, suggesting that the Focus EV was for compliance.
The recent lease deal is a step, but I still think it was more about moving metal than anything else... A lot of 2012's still languishing on dealer lots.
By the way, nothing wrong with Ford going the compliance route. There's a government mandate that they are forced to meet. And they see greater business potential elsewhere.
After owning 4 Prii, we started looking at EVs when Nissan announced the Leaf. We were tempted to put down the deposit required to hold a "place" for one, but we didn't.
When Ford announced the Focus Electric we were very interested. We wanted to support a US company and I like how Alan Mullaly has transformed Ford. We looked at their website this summer and in August we noticed that local dealers had some in stock.
Two weeks ago we went to a dealership and drove 1 of 5 that were in stock off of the lot.
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