Early Ford Focus Electric Customer Retraces Historic Road Trip Ending Up at Michigan Assembly Plant

• After taking delivery at a New York dealer Ty Newell of Urbana, Illinois and his wife recreated, in reverse, Roy Chapin’s historic drive from Detroit to New York first completed in 1901, visiting several historical landmarks along the way
• Newell one of the first retail Ford Focus Electric customers visits the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne where his car was built 

Ty Newell with his new Ford Focus Electric

WAYNE, Mich., July 13, 2012 - Ty Newell of Illinois celebrated becoming one of the first retail customers for the Ford Focus Electric by recreating one of the country’s earliest automotive road trips. After taking delivery of the Focus from Hassett Ford in Wantagh, N.Y., Newell and his wife decided to drive it to the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich. where it was built.

The trip reversed the course of a trip completed by Roy Chapin between October 29 and November 5, 1901 when he became the first person to drive a car from Detroit to New York. William Chapin, president of the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn and grandson of Roy, met up with the Newells at the plant to congratulate them.

America’s most fuel-efficient compact car
Focus Electric is America’s most fuel-efficient compact car that offers the equivalent of 110 miles per gallon (MPGe) city, 99 MPGe highway, and operates entirely on battery-generated power. Focus Electric also has been certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to offer 105 MPGe combined.

The Focus Electric is available in California, New York and New Jersey. By fall 2012, Focus Electric becomes available in 19 markets across the United States followed by nationwide availability by the end of the year.

More information about Ford’s electrified vehicle lineup – including press releases, technical specifications and other related material – can be found online here.

In 1901, Roy Chapin became the first person to drive a car from Detroit to New York.