One of the official car suppliers to the London 2012 Olympics could be Ford, with the Focus Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) potentially playing a key role.

 

The company unveiled the 75-mile range car at Frankfurt and announced 15 would be taking part in a year-long trial with Hillingdon Borough Council in London. That will start soon, with a data-logger in every car to monitor how it’s used.

“At the end of the trial we will be looking at how big the potential market is for this type of vehicle, and make a decision about whether to move forward to production,” explained Ian Porter, Ford’s manager of product sustainability.

Assuming the Hillingdon pilot is a success, the date at that point would be mid-2011. A Ford spokesman confirmed the timing for a possible Focus BEV launch around the Olympics was potentially right, and that the company had already been in contact with Olympics organiser LOCOG.

“There’s a lot of people talking to LOCOG about car provision, but Ford would like to find a way for it to work. We obviously do have an east London connection and history with the area, and it work make sense for us to work something out,” he said.

The company unveiled the 75-mile range car at Frankfurt, and announced 15 would be taking part in a year-long trial with Hillingdon Borough Council in London. That will start soon, with a data-logger in every car to monitor how it’s used.

“At the end of the trial we will be looking at how big the potential market is for this type of vehicle, and make a decision about whether to move forward to production,” explained Ian Porter, Ford’s manager of product sustainability.

Assuming the Hillingdon pilot is a success, the date at that point would be mid-2011. A Ford spokesman confirmed the timing for a possible Focus BEV launch around the Olympics was potentially right, and that the company had already been in contact with Olympics organiser LOCOG.

“There’s a lot of people talking to LOCOG about car provision, but Ford would like to find a way for it to work. We obviously do have an east London connection and history with the area, and it work make sense for us to work something out,” he said.