SunPower To Help Drive Ford Focus Electric

With the coming launch of the Ford Focus Electric, the Blue Oval is already well on its way to helping customers spend less money on their monthly transportation needs. And now the company is taking its next step forward, thanks to its new “Drive Green for Life” initiative, developed in partnership with SunPower—one of the country’s leading providers of rooftop solar arrays for residential homes.

“Under the ‘Drive Green for Life’ program, Focus Electric owners can reduce their total cost of ownership by generating enough energy from their high-efficiency SunPower rooftop solar system to offset the electricity required to charge the vehicle at night,” said Mike Tinskey, Ford director of Global Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure. “It’s an eco-friendly solution that perfectly complements our plug-in products and other green initiatives.”

The key to the program is an advanced 2.5 kilowatt rooftop solar system that relies on SunPower’s E18 Series solar panels. The high-tech panels can generate an average of 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually—about 50 percent more than conventional solar panels—but are so efficient they also take up less space when installed on a house’s roof. The complete system is expected to be available for a price of less than $10,000 after federal tax incentives, and SunPower will offer a number of flexible financing options, too.

“SunPower’s innovative partnership with Ford is a win-win for customers, providing a comprehensive sustainability program,” said Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO. “By taking advantage of this program, Focus Electric customers can receive the added benefit of installing a SunPower solar system, the highest-efficiency, most reliable on the market today, generating the electricity needed to charge their vehicles.”

Significantly, the SunPower system is in fact the second EV-charging system developed by Ford and one of its partners. The automaker also has teamed up with consumer-electronic giant Best Buy to offer consumers 240-volt “quick charge” stations for home use.

“The goal of working with both SunPower and Best Buy was to offer Focus Electric owners solutions to charging needs that help lower the vehicle’s overall cost of ownership,” said Tinskey.

The Ford Focus Electric will go on sale late this year and be available in 19 launch markets by the spring of 2012.

Source: Ford in the News