A week after Ford revealed that it's all-electric Focus achieved a 105 MPGe combined EPA rating, the company announced that owners of the car in California can access the High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) lanes. That, in itself, is another selling point for Ford. According to the Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report, the Los Angeles and San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area rank third and seventh respectively in having the worst congestion in the entire United States.
This alone, says Ford, adds an average of US$1,464 in fuel costs annually, which a Focus Electric driver is avoiding. Furthermore, the Ford Focus Electric is now included in the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP).
This means that, apart from the standard US$7,500 federal tax incentive offered to all buyers of “green” vehicles, it also qualifies for the State of California new US$2,500 rebate putting the total to US$10,000.
“Californians have a legacy of embracing electric vehicles”, said Ford’s global director of sustainability and vehicle environmental matters John Viera. “Programs like the Clean Vehicle Rebate provide an excellent incentive for the continued adoption of electric vehicles," he added.
