EV test rides give valuable info to Ford

[fordfocuselectric]

The Ford Focus Electric was used in the display at the North American International Auto Show. Ford had a 208 foot test track up and allowed consumers to take the electric car on a short test drive. More than 10,000 people took the drive over the course of the auto show.

Customers were able to learn about how the Ford Focus Electric works, while at the same time Ford engineers were able to pull real time data from the vehicle on how the car was performing, and how the battery was charging and discharging while the car was being driven.

"The Ford engineering team was able to capture and gain insight on how the batteries were performing from charging to depletion, the range the Focus Electric was getting per charge, as well as data on how the car was doing overall," Lightner said.

Electrification is an important part of Ford's product strategy, and the Ford Focus Electric is the next big steps towards that goal.

http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2011/02/13/business/srv0000010900214.txt

 

[sjfotos]

That is interesting, but not reassuring!

I think that is likely a PR deal.....if they are gathering critical data from a series of 208 foot rides, then this car is not ready for release any time soon. I'm hoping this is just one of those things that engineers do because they CAN, and because data is always useful in some way....