Ford unveils first all-electric car

Las Vegas - Ford unveiled its first strictly electric car on Friday, a Focus which is expected to get up to 160km on a single charge and will be available in North America late this year.

Alan Mulally, chief executive of the number two US automaker, introduced the four-door passenger car at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Mulally declined to detail the hatchback's total range or how much it would cost, but a Ford spokesman said the Focus Electric's mileage on a single charge would be "competitive" with similar electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf.

The Nissan Leaf has a range of up to 160km before needing to be hooked up to a power outlet.

Ford said the lithium-ion battery in the Focus, which has a top speed of 136km/h can be fully charged at a home 240-volt charging station in three to four hours, half the time of the Leaf.

Mulally acknowledged the need for regular charges would be seen as a drawback by some customers.

"We know electric vehicles are not for everyone, they're only part of the solution for greener driving," he said.

But, Mulally added, "we know that many customers are looking forward to driving a zero emissions electric vehicle and never having to visit a gas station again.

"We believe most of these customers are prepared to embrace the reality that a full battery does not last as long as a full tank of gas," he said.

Ford said the range of Focus Electric will be enough to "cover the majority of daily driving habits of Americans."

Consumers 'aren't asking'

Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive, said "the risk to the marketplace is that consumers aren't asking for these."

Hybrid auto sales fell last year to 2.4% of the US market from 2.8% in 2009, according to the research firm Autodata.

A lack of public charging stations is another barrier to adoption. There are currently only 1 800 public charging stations in the United States.

But Ford said more are coming. "We know that during the next 18 months we're going to see at least 12 000 installed in cities around the country," said Mike Tinskey, Ford's electric vehicle manager.

Nissan delivered its first all-electric Leaf to a San Francisco customer last month and General Motors has also recently begun sales of its plug-in electric hybrid the Chevy Volt.

Toyota is also planning on bringing a plug-in electric hybrid to market soon and will introduce a wagon version of the popular Prius hybrid on Monday at the Detroit auto show.

The Focus Electric is one of five hybrid, plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles Ford plans to bring to North America and Europe by 2013.

The company came out with an all-electric van, the Transit Connect Electric, in North America last year.

Ford said the Focus Electric would be built at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, where the gasoline-powered Focus is produced.

It has not yet decided where the Focus Electric for European markets would be built.

Ford integrated its latest smart driving technology, such as hands-free voice commands, into the Focus Electric along with a touch display mounted on the dashboard which features an on-board navigation system.

Ford also developed a mobile application for the car, MyFord Mobile, that allows drivers to remotely monitor and control battery charge levels.

The home charging station for the Focus Electric includes a feature developed by Microsoft which allows owners to charge the vehicle during off-peak hours when electricity rates are the cheapest.

In keeping with the "green" appeal of the car, Ford said the seats in the Focus Electric are made from recyclable material and that recycled blue jeans were used as insulation.

Honda plans electric cars

Tokyo - Honda plans to roll out a plug-in hybrid and an all-electric car by 2013, a news report said on Tuesday.

Japan's number two carmaker - which already produces standard hybrid versions of its Civic and other models - may also build hybrids overseas for the first time, in the US, the Nikkei business daily said.

Honda president Takanobu Ito, who took the reins of the company in June 2009, was expected to announce the plans later in the day, at a 06:00 GMT press conference in a suburb of Tokyo.

The announcement would be a turnaround for Honda, which has in the past been sceptical about plug-in hybrids, which share technology with standard hybrids but can be recharged using a household power point.

In 2007, then president Takeo Fukui said that plug-in hybrids offered too few environmental benefits to be worth pursuing and until early last year said that the company wasn't ready to market one.

Best-selling cars

Honda's plug-in hybrid will be able to travel at least 60km on a litre of petrol, beating Toyota's Prius hybrid which runs 38km/l, the Nikkei reported.

Toyota is expected to roll out its own plug-in hybrid in 2012 based on the Prius, which will run at 57km/l, the daily said.

Honda plans to release its electric car first in the US, taking aim at California, which will require 3% of an automaker's sales in the state to be zero-emission vehicles from 2012.

Honda is also planning to manufacture in the US the Insight and two other hybrids which are now built in Japan. It also aims to expand its hybrid line-up of models to five in three years' time, the Nikkei said.

The Prius hybrid, followed by the Insight, have been the best-selling cars in Japan for over a year. Honda sold 100 000 Insights in fiscal 2009, lagging only behind Toyota which sold more than 270 000 Prius vehicles.

The Japanese government aims to raise the share of hybrids in the country from 10% now to 20% - 30%, and to have plug-in hybrids and electric cars account for up to 20% of sales, by 2020.

Mazda to enter electric vehicle market

Tokyo - Japanese automaker Mazda Motor said on Monday that it is developing an electric vehicle with plans to begin leasing in 2012, the latest entry into a burgeoning market.

"Mazda Motor Corporation is independently developing an electric vehicle with plans to commence leasing in Japan in spring 2012," the Hiroshima-based firm said in a statement.

The vehicle, based on Mazda's Demio subcompact, is expected to have a driving range of 200km and will be leased mainly to local government bodies and fleet customers.

Its domestic rivals Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors have already launched their own electric vehicles, while Toyota Motor and Honda Motor plan to follow suit.