Ford Using NAIAS Electric Drives Data for EV Developments

Ford offered attendees of this year’s Detroit Auto Show a special opportunity, the “Living Electric” display, which allowed the public to sit behind the wheel of the Focus Electric. However, this was only half the story, as the company is using the gathered data for EV studies.

"This was a win-win situation. While customers were able to learn about how an electric vehicle works and rides, we could pull up data and find out more about the Focus Electric they were in at the very same time," said Shawn Lightner, Ford global electrified products program manager. "We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to discover even more about how the cars perform using the data acquisition technology employed on other development vehicles."

"The Ford engineering team was able to capture and gain insight on how the batteries were performing from charging to depletion, the range the Focus Electric was getting per charge, as well as data on how the car was doing overall," Lightner added.

The car’s computer was connected to an onboard data acquisition system, with the vehicle’s driving/charging info being recorded. Ford engineers used a special website to download the data in order to monitor information about the vehicle, while customers were driving it.

At the Living Electric display on the Ford stand, more than 10,000 NAIAS visitors took a ride in a Focus Electric on an elevated track. Hands-on technology displays, digital tutorials and conversations with experts also helped people learn how different types of electrified vehicles will fit various lifestyles.