The second largest U.S automaker, FoMoCo (Ford Motor Co) will start shipping its first electric passenger car to dealers this weekend. The Focus Electric will be shipped to 67 dealers this weekend. 350 Focus Electric cars will be sent to dealers in New York, California and New Jersey over the next couple of weeks. Manufacturing executives signed off on the decision on Friday. Each dealer will get about six cars, one of which will be a demonstration model, the people said.

“We are still on track to begin shipping the Focus Electric this spring,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said. Ford declined to comment on the news. Names of the people have not yet been revealed as the plan is confidential. The Focus EV will be competing in the electric vehicle market against Nissan Motor Co’s Leaf and General Motors Co’s Chevrolet Volt. Chief Executive, Alan Mulally had announced in April that if Ford sold fewer than 5,000 Focus EVs in its first year, he would not consider it as a failure. Ford expects hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars to represent up to 25 percent of its sales by 2020, with hybrids constituting a majority of the sales.

The platforms used in the Volt and Leaf by GM and Nissan use different platforms when compared to Ford. Electrifying the platform allows Ford to maintain “reasonable margins” on its EVs, which tends to be costly because of the price of the battery, said Mulally. The 2012 Ford Focus Electric is powered by a 100-kilowatt electric-motor and a 23kWh battery. It produces 123 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque. The maximum speed of the electric vehicle is 84 mph and can cover up to 100 miles on a single charge. The home-charging 240-volt station helps the electric vehicle reach full charge in 3 to 4 hours. The pricing starts at $39,200.

viaEgmCarTech