Posts categorized “Ford”.

How Ford plans to market for future EVs

Selling a car is not a piece of cake. It is not as easy as stepping on the pedal and zoom from 0 to 100. Even for Ford, marketing their upcoming electric vehicles can be a daunting challenge. An excellent advertising campaign, press releases, and other marketing magical formula are needed for the sales figures to hit their target.

Next year, Ford is planning to release the 2011 Focus EV but the team handling the marketing is having a tough time coming up with a great campaign. They are dealing with a different kind of market since there is the range anxiety that is needed to be dealt with properly when they push for their EVs. Its not that the marketing team don’t have enough juices flowing but they really have to work hard to success.

Ford Focus EV

The car maker has also conducted several studies to know how EV buyers think and react to EVs in general. An interesting fact is that most drivers don’t exceed a 70 mile reading on a daily basis. The Ford Focus will not have a problem meeting that needed mileage but the company needs to assure buyers that the batteries will not run out while they are in the middle of nowhere, or anywhere to be more accurate.

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Britain Fields First Garbage Truck Running on Trash

Garbage Truck Running on TrashThe small British town of Hudderland was the focus of electric car technology in the UK as it fielded what could be the world’s first garbage truck collector running on fuel from trash.

The leccy vehicle is actually a modified 3.5 ton Smith Edison Ford Transit that has been handling trash collection for the municipality. The van can be completely charged in eight hours and can run for about 100 miles.

The electric van, running on 40 kWh lithium ion batteries, collects rubbish from around 25 split bins located in central Huddersfield. The garbage van has a top speed of 50 mph.

EIW’s or Energy from Waste Stations has been installed by the community to power up this vehicle. The EIWs convert trash into energy by burning and converting it to electricity. The stations can provide the energy needed by the van to go its route the following day.

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