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Tuesday, April 17, 2012 | 4:53 p.m.
Hummmmmm. Can you hear it? That’s the sound of an electric pace car at a Sprint Cup race.
Ford Motor Co. announced this week that it will feature an all-electric Ford Focus pace car at Richmond International Raceway later this month.
That’s like having Hello Kitty stickers on a switchblade or pantyhose on a Navy SEAL. Everyone understands there are certain things in this world that don’t go together. But that understanding seems to be lost in this PR stunt.
NASCAR is the temple of big horsepower, big fossil fuel consumption and big, chest-pounding noise. But green is in, and NASCAR has done a lot to bring environmental responsibility to the sport. Ford, to its credit, understands that the future must include more environmentally friendly cars. That’s why it wants to promote its electric car to the potential customers sitting in the stands. But a quick glance in the parking lot of any NASCAR event will reveal that those customers are more likely to respond to an F150 pace truck than a humming electric car.
Look, I’m all for autos that consume alternative energy sources. But when I’m at a NASCAR race I want to see a pace car that reflects the speed, power and noise of the sport.
What’s next, a wind-powered pace car with a giant sail on its roof?
…
An electric car IS wind powered...and natural gas, nuclear, solar and coal; anything that can turn a turbine and generate power to the grid that ends up in its battery.
Ford makes a broad line of vehicles and the electric Focus will be a very small part of its lineup. Don't panic just yet, you'll still be breathing hydrocarbon exhaust for the foreseeable future.
Ford would love to sell you a new F150 for all the drywall you need to haul, gut they'd also like to sell you an electric Focus for those in your household who just need to haul a few bags of groceries from the market or a few books to and from college. Heck, you could even haul magic markers to and from the office.
Putting Na$car decals on an electric car is something I'd like to see!
That's a hell of a lot of magic markers.
Uncap one in the electric car for added hydrocarbon fragrance!
Just hope they do not have a lot of cautions. hate to see it run out of juice lol.