The fine art of making a good car commercial has been butchered and turned into this, a commercial for the Ford Focus Electric.
With so many cool new vehicles on the market, Ford must be feeling desperate for a little attention. Inspiration came from the unlikeliest of sources, a cartoon some of us watched in the 90s. We are talking about Captain Planet and the Planeteers, obviously.
I feel extremely embarrassed to admit that I watched this thing as a kid, perhaps because there wasn't anything better on TV. The show is all about saving the whales from extinction, protecting the Amazonian forests and stopping large corporations from using all the earth's resources. Somehow, I grew up loving V8 gas guzzlers and writing about them as a profession.
I can also share a little bit from the plot if you promise not to tell Michael Bay about it, or he'll make another weird movie. Five kids are selected by Gaia to protect the earth and given special rings, each with its own powers. If that's not enough, they can combine their powers and summon Captain Planet... or a Ford Focus Electric.
It looks like a regular Ford Focus hatchback, but under the hood is something that doesn't use a single drop of gas. Ford says you will never have to visit a gas station again. However, the onboard battery isn't all that impressive, as it only holds 23 kWh of power. On a regular 120V wall socket, it could take as much as 20 hours to charge, while the range is only 81 miles according to the optimistic EPA estimates. The one major upside is that the motor packs about 140 horsepower, so it will not feel sluggish when you press the not-gas pedal.
The only great point about this car in our opinion is that it doesn't draw that much attention. With a Prius or a Nissan Leaf, you're always making a statement, while this is green but discreet.
I feel extremely embarrassed to admit that I watched this thing as a kid, perhaps because there wasn't anything better on TV. The show is all about saving the whales from extinction, protecting the Amazonian forests and stopping large corporations from using all the earth's resources. Somehow, I grew up loving V8 gas guzzlers and writing about them as a profession.
I can also share a little bit from the plot if you promise not to tell Michael Bay about it, or he'll make another weird movie. Five kids are selected by Gaia to protect the earth and given special rings, each with its own powers. If that's not enough, they can combine their powers and summon Captain Planet... or a Ford Focus Electric.
It looks like a regular Ford Focus hatchback, but under the hood is something that doesn't use a single drop of gas. Ford says you will never have to visit a gas station again. However, the onboard battery isn't all that impressive, as it only holds 23 kWh of power. On a regular 120V wall socket, it could take as much as 20 hours to charge, while the range is only 81 miles according to the optimistic EPA estimates. The one major upside is that the motor packs about 140 horsepower, so it will not feel sluggish when you press the not-gas pedal.
The only great point about this car in our opinion is that it doesn't draw that much attention. With a Prius or a Nissan Leaf, you're always making a statement, while this is green but discreet.