FORD DITCHING CD PLAYERS IN NEW VEHCILES

Fumbling around the car for a new CD to listen to on the road could soon be a thing of the past. Ford hopes to usher in a digital age for in-car entertainment by scrapping CD players in its new models. The company plans to help drivers to access their libraries of digital music via the internet.

It has become the first mainstream manufacturer to scrap the in-car CD multichanger.
The car maker’s latest Focus model will instead include a USB socket allowing digital music players to be plugged in.

The new cars will have the Sync ‘infotainment hub’ that lets drivers access their music library through the internet by plugging in a device called a dongle, which enables Wi-Fi.
This would facilitate using devices such as iPods, iPhones and other digital music players.
The in-car computer ‘hub’ can then access digital libraries stored on the internet, be it through Spotifiy or Apple’s iCloud.

Sheryl Connelly, Global Trends and Futuring manager at Ford, said the move was necessary if the company wanted to keep up with the needs of its customers. 'In-car entertainment technology is moving digital more rapidly than almost any other element of the vehicle experience,' she said. 'The in-car CD player - much like pay telephones - is destined to fade away in the face of exciting new technology.' Ford said sales of in-car CD players were declining rapidly, in line with falling sales of the discs.

FORD UNVEILS ELECTRIC FOCUS AT CES

Just revealed today at CES, the Focus Electric is Ford's first fuel-free, rechargeable passenger car. More importantly, it will supposedly offer a mile-per-gallon equivalent fuel economy that's better than the Chevrolet Volt and competitive with other battery electric vehicles. How?

Ford Motor Company unveiled today its all-new Focus Electric -– the company's first-ever all-electric passenger car launching later this year. The zero-CO2-emissions, gasoline-free version of Ford's all-new small car is the new flagship of the company's coming fleet of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles coming to North America and Europe by 2013.

Power for the stylish (oh, yes, it's absolutely better looking than its competitors — unless you've got a thing for eggs) Focus comes by way of a permanent magnetic electric traction motor that provides 123 HP and 181 lb/ft of torque that sucks its will to live from an LG Chem-supplied Lithium-ion battery cell pack. Although we've no idea what the fuel economy / drive range will look like as Ford's still awaiting EPA estimates, we're told the "Focus Electric will offer a mile-per-gallon equivalent better than Chevrolet Volt and competitive with other battery electric vehicles." So, basically, they're claiming it'll kick its ass.

Owners of the Focus Electric will likely recharge the car's Ford-engineered (who's LG Chem anyway?) lithium-ion battery pack at home on a daily basis, using the recommended 240-volt wall-mounted charge station that will be sold separately (for $1499 and installed by Best Buy — probably not including any additional electrical work you might need to install a 240-volt line to your garage) or the 120-volt convenience cord that comes with the vehicle. Using the 240-volt wall-mounted charger, the Focus is capable of fully recharging in three to four hours -– that's half the time of the Nissan Leaf. The Focus Electric offers something called "value charging," powered by Microsoft, to help owners in the U.S. charge their vehicles at the cheapest utility rates and thereby helping to lower the cost of ownership. [Jalopnik]