Ford Focus Electric unlikely to support DC quick-charging, slower than the Leaf after all?

At its unveiling at CES, Ford missed no opportunity to talk up the ability of its Focus Electric to charge in half the time of the Nissan Leaf when connected to a Level 2 (220 - 240V) charger, of the sort that Best Buy will gladly install for you for just $1,499. Three to four hours is all it should take, indeed impressive compared to the eight hours the Leaf needs at the same voltage. However, the story doesn't end there, as the Leaf has another trick up its sleeve: DC fast-charging via the CHAdeMO standard. That gives 80 miles of range in just 30 minutes and, while not a global standard yet, it's certainly trying to be. The SAE is working on its own DC quick-charger standard, and that's the pony Ford is looking to back, saying:

Fast charge will not be included on the Focus Electric until an industry standard has been set by SAE. Once an approved/accepted standard is in place, we will work on getting the car ready for [it].

That leaves us with two questions. First, will the SAE get its standard finalized before Ford gets the Focus Electric finalized? Second, will the SAE standard be compatible with the Japanese CHAdeMO standard? Sadly, our magic eight ball is not giving us much hope on either account.

Ford Focus Electric unlikely to support DC quick-charging, slower than the Leaf after all? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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