Focus Electric may beat LEAF to market in 5 cities

focus-electric-white-motionHere’s something to consider if you’re one of the thousands of people who reserved a Nissan LEAF in the U.S. in April 2010 but who lives in a so-called Tier 3 state: The Ford Focus Electric might arrive on local dealer lots near you sooner than the LEAF.

The unofficial word is that folks who reserved a LEAF in April 2010 and who do not live in a Tier 1 or Tier 2 state of may not see a LEAF until spring of 2012. This means they will have gone 2 years — or possibly more ! — between their reservation and actually being able to order a LEAF.

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Here’s the list of Tier 1 and Tier 2 LEAF states

LEAF Tier 1 states

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Hawaii
  • Oregon
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Washington

LEAF Tier 2 states

  • Alabama
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Maryland
  • North Carolina
  • South Carolina
  • Virginia
  • Washington, D.C.

If you’re eager to ditch your gas stinker in favor of a production EV – and you’re also frustrated/dismayed by Nissan’s treatment of LEAF reservers in non-rollout states – you could potentially ditch not only your gas stinker but also ditch Nissan for Ford.

Ford Focus Electric rollout markets
Ford has said it will begin rolling out the Focus Electric in the Fall of 2011and it has listed the following markets as :

  • Atlanta
  • Austin & Houston
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Denver
  • Detroit
  • Los Angeles, San Francisco, & San Diego
  • New York
  • Orlando, Fla.,
  • Phoenix & Tucson
  • Portland, Ore.;
  • Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
  • Richmond, Virginia
  • Seattle
  • Washington, D.C.

As you can see, there is significant overlap between Nissan LEAF Tier 1 and 2 markets and Focus Electric markets.

5 cities that could see Focus Electric before LEAF
However, the overlap is not complete. Focus Electric rollout markets that do not overlap LEAF Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets are:

  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Denver
  • Detroit
  • New York

If you live in one of these markets (as we do – we’re in Denver), you may want to get on the phone to Ford and start asking:

  1. Exactly when the Focus Electric will be coming to your market;
  2. How you can make sure you are the first in line to get one.
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We certainly will be doing this, although we’ll save talking about what we’re told by Ford for a separate story.

So far, Ford has said nothing specific about how it will handle the Focus Electric rollout. Presumably, as we move closer to the Fall of 2011, it will be forced to provide more information.

Those of us living in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit & New York who are eager to buy an EV and who are growing tired of being pushed to the back of the line by Nissan can only hope that Ford stays true to its promise.

If it does, we might indeed be able to buy a Focus Electric in the Fall of 2011, which, again, is looking like it could be six months, or more, before we’ll be able to buy a LEAF – despite the fact that many of us reserved a LEAF way back in April of 2010.

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