Electric Ford Focus To Race on Jay Leno Tonight

Jay Leno’s new show may not be a hit with critics but the admitted car fanatic is hoping to get auto enthusiasts and greenies on his side with a new “Green Car Challenge” segment launching tonight — Friday at 10 p.m. EDT.

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.

Ford Focus, Volvo C30 Are Top Safety Picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been expanding its crash tests to more and more segments. The very influential tests were recently applied to compact coupes, including the Honda Civic, Scion tC, Volco C30, Ford Focus and Chevy Cobalt. The group as a whole performed well considering the severity of the tests. None rated lower than Acceptable in front or side tests, while the Ford Focus and Volvo C30 scored top marks of Good in front, side and rear tests, earning the Top Safety Pick nod.

While the sedan version of the Civic is a Top Safety Pick, the coupe version earned an Acceptable side crash rating. This illustrates the point that safety ratings for one version of a model can’t be applied to others.

The Scion tC faired the worst, earning Acceptable front and side marks and only a Marginal in rear crash tests. You can see the full chart below, including previously tested sedan versions of the Civic, Focus and Cobalt.

Electric Ford Focus in 2011: What it Means

As we reported yesterday, we now know that Ford has made official its plans to build an electric Ford Focus in 2011. Perhaps most notable is that Ford could be the first automaker in the U.S. to mass-market a pure battery-electric passenger car — and a "real" one, meaning a compact car rather than the type of small commuter cars Toyota has planned for 2012 and Mitsubishi is investigating for compliance with U.S. regulations. Nor is it a $100,000 limited-run sports car like the one being sold by Tesla.

Ford Converting Truck Plant to Build Electric Vehicles, Next Focus

Last year, Ford announced that it would idle its Michigan Truck Plant — yes, that’s its name — and then convert it to produce small, efficient cars, namely the next-generation Ford Focus. Today, the company announced it would invest $550 million into the Wayne, Mich., plant’s conversion; not only will the Focus be built there but so will an all-electric Focus that’s scheduled to hit the streets in 2011. The plant will now be called Michigan Assembly. Snazzy.

In 2005, Ford spent $300 million to make Michigan Truck’s body shop “flexible.” Supposedly, that investment will help make this future conversion faster and less expensive.

We might not normally cover such a story here on KickingTires, but these large numbers help illustrate the costs for a typical manufacturer to fundamentally change its operations to produce different vehicles. It takes years and nearly a billion dollars, and that’s for just one line of vehicles.

Source: Ford

Ford Iosis MAX Concept at 2009 Geneva Motor Show

• Looks like: European styling is here to stay
• Defining characteristics: Stubby front end and huge windshield
• Ridiculous features: Gill-like headlights, sliding rear doors
• Chance of being mass-produced: This is the design concept for Ford’s next global C-Car, which we know as the Focus

This year’s Geneva Motor Show holds even less interest for American consumers than usual, but Ford’s Iosis MAX concept is of vital importance to the company’s U.S. lineup. Ford says this is a look at the design it’s considering for its next global C-car. That’s the size of the Ford Focus here in the States. Ford has already said the next U.S. Focus will be the same model as what’s sold globally, unlike the current model, which is made strictly for the U.S. market.

Expect a new Focus to come in calendar year 201,1 and we’d expect a formal concept or even an early production version to be shown off at auto shows in 2010.

But what about this concept right here? It looks promising. The long, sloping windshield might seem fanciful and a bit impractical (imagine that morning commute sunshine), but Germany’s Opel sells a car with a similar windshield. It should translate to a very bright and airy cabin, at least.

The hatchback shape is a must for sales in Europe and will hopefully mark the return of a four-door Focus hatchback in the U.S. We’d still think Ford would add a sedan as well. The rear hatch features an opening glass panel, which is rarely seen on today’s cars and SUVs.

Unlikely to make it to production are the sliding rear doors, like a minivan’s, and glass roof. The engine is a four-cylinder turbo that Ford is rolling out in Europe now. It’s expected to return excellent mileage that Ford says is 20% better than the competition.

More photos below. 

Ford Introduces New Efficient Transmission

Ford unveiled a new transmission today that should increase fuel efficiency and performance, while reducing maintenance. Dubbed “PowerShift,” the new six-speed automatic transmission would be Ford’s first implementation of a dual-clutch or automated-manual gearbox in North America.

In a nutshell, an automated-manual has more in common mechanically with a manual transmission than with a traditional automatic. The gearbox essentially consists of two manual transmissions that work in tandem; each with its own clutch. What does all this mean? Better mileage, while still feeling like a regular automatic to the driver.

This type of setup is already offered on various BMW’s, Audi’s, VW’s and Porsche’s.

We’ve tested similar set-ups before in Audi’s redesigned TT sports coupe. Senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder found that the system creates “blindingly fast shifts” and “better mileage than [a] manual” vehicle.

Ford expects its PowerShift transmission to be 9% more fuel efficient and weigh 30 pounds less than the four-speed automatic transmission found on the 2009 Ford Focus.

Ford’s gearbox will also be a “dry” system, meaning it will be sealed for life, requiring no regular maintenance like transmission fluid checks or replacement.

Ford wants to equip the gearbox to a compact car — like its Focus — by 2010.

Ford Expands Employee Pricing Sale

While GM’s financing offers were given a nice boost by a federal bailout of GMAC, Ford — which didn’t get any federal funds — is left to offer more cash-back incentives on its products. The company is extending its Employee Pricing Plus sale through Jan. 12, one week longer than it had originally planned.

Offers include a $3,377 discount on the new Ford Flex crossover, and $2,735 on a 2009 Focus, which makes its starting price less than $13,000. Lincoln and Mercury models are also included in the sale.

More incentives news

Mileage Challenge 3.4: Fuel Economy Value

The fuel economy results of our mileage drive are in, and by now you’ve already read which cars we tested, the mileage they achieved and our impressions of each compact car. It’s using those real-world results that we’ve calculated which of these frugal commuters offers the best fuel economy value, based on each car’s as-tested price compared to the mileage it returned.

The calculation was simple: To pinpoint a value based on fuel economy, we merely divided the MSRP by how many miles per gallon the car returned during our testing. Now, let us mention that you can always get a bare-bones, stripped version of car, improving its fuel economy value, but the following results are a reflection of the specific trim levels we tested, which mostly included niceties that made the drive easier.

Mileage Challenge 3.3: Driving Impressions

This week, we reported the results of our latest mileage challenge, a 300-mile highway trip in four high-mileage commuter cars. Our convoy averaged a respectable 33.8 mpg. The Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic achieved the highest numbers, with the Pontiac G5 and Ford Focus coming in a few ticks worse. Three editors and an editor in chief logged considerable time in each, and we cobbled together some impressions and off-the-cuff rankings for the group.

Read on for our thoughts.

Cars.com Mileage Challenge 3.1

Gas prices are dropping — precious good news in otherwise dismal economic times — but automakers clearly think we’re still in for a long-haul increase. To wit: The MPG war remains afoot, and the higher the gas mileage numbers you can put up, the better. General Motors markets XFE trims, for Extra Fuel Economy, of certain cars and trucks that have been tweaked to get better mileage. Ford has the makings of a similar lineup in its SFE, or Superior Fuel Economy, badging. Even Hyundai and Kia tout drivetrain revisions that yield incremental upticks in several of their ’09 models.

The ratings are sometimes impressive, especially among commuter cars, so for this fall’s mileage challenge we put four of them to the test. GM’s Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 twins now get an estimated 25/37 mpg city/highway in high-efficiency XFE trim, which only comes with a manual transmission. The redesigned Toyota Corolla gets a close 27/35 mpg city/highway rating with an automatic; that’s a slight increase over the prior-gen automatic. A number of other contenders post impressive highway figures, too.

Balk all you want about how your kid brother’s ’87 Tercel got 35 mpg going uphill, but we’ll remind you that today’s commuters can reach 60 mph in less than 10 seconds – with side curtain airbags and habitable backseats to boot.