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Ford's Focus Electric hits the production line, could be yours in January
After waiting eleven months just to profess your intent, what's another two before taking delivery of your Focus Electric? That's right, electric hatchback lovers, your pre-ordered chariots just went into production and will be rolling out of Ford's Michigan plant come January. Despite the looming delivery, the automaker has yet to reveal its official range. AutoBlog Green muses that with its 23-kWh pack it'll probably be good for about 70 miles -- comparable to its slightly cheaper competition, the Nissan Leaf, which eked out 73 miles from its 24-kWh juice box in official testing. Will Ford spill the beans before CES 2012? Definitively maybe, but in the meantime hit the source to see a bevy of snaps from the production line -- go on, with some luck it might just be yours.
Tesla Roadster nears the end of its production run, company switches focus to Model S
Well, we knew this day had to come eventually: various sources are reporting that Tesla Motors has announced that production of its Roadster will soon be drawing to a close, a scant three years (and a few months) after initially launching. "I think there's a handful of cars left to sell in the US," said CEO Elon Musk. "People in Europe and Japan probably have another six months [while in] the US, it's maybe a month or two." We always thought that the company's approach was pretty gutsy, and maybe that's exactly what the automotive world needed -- a long-range (if expensive) ride that screamed: "this ain't your parents' EV." (Cue guitar solo.) For the time being, the company will be switching its focus to the more subdued Model S sedan, although we won't be surprised if we see more badass vehicles from these guys in the future. We aren't sure it'll help with the tears, but our Roadster Sport 2.5 test drive will (thankfully) live on forever.
Tesla Model S is almost production-ready, does photo shoot to prove it
You're looking at an unlikely picture: two Tesla EVs on the same street. The Silicon Valley carmaker is hoping to become more mainstream, however, when it releases its Model S sedan next year to complement the exuberantly expensive Roadster 2.5. Tesla has just released photos of the latest, nearly production-ready build of the Model S to whet our appetites. The shots reveal a couple of sleek cosmetic changes to the front bumper and body panels, but mainly we're just happy to see the S rolling on schedule. Oh yes, and there's another glimpse of the 17-inch infotainment console, which Auto Evolution now reports will be accompanied by built-in 3G. Sounds dandy, but that $57,400 starting price had better include a data plan. Man, who are we kidding? [Thanks, Lucian]
