What do you get when you cross a car-collecting talk show host and the Ford Motor Company’s new BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle)? The “Green Car Challenge!” Throughout the first season of the new Jay Leno Show, celebrity guests will be tooling around a racetrack in a new, specially-built battery electric Ford Focus, competing for the best track times. 

Beyond adding an interesting and entertaining segment to the show, the Ford Green Car Challenge will highlight how electric vehicles can be smart, green, fast and fun. It’s all part of Ford Motor Company’s ongoing commitment to showcasing and developing best-in-class fuel efficiency in each vehicle it introduces.

Ford’s Racing Team and the Battery and Hybrid Divisions worked together for several months to develop the special BEV. It took three weeks to build it, and then a couple more to specially tune the suspension so it could be driven on a racetrack. The BEV designed for the show has a split battery pack; one is in the cargo area and the other in the space usually occupied by a fuel tank. Also, for safety reasons, it has a five-point racing harness and a rollbar.

The Ford Motor Company has plans to build at least four electric vehicles and have them on the road here in the U.S. by 2012 – this in addition to new hybrid models and an advanced plug-in hybrid. Ford says it will have available EcoBoost engines in close to 90 percent of its vehicle offerings by 2013. EcoBoost uses gasoline turbocharged direct-injection technology for up to 20 percent better fuel economy and 15 percent fewer CO₂ emissions.

Ford already has four popular hybrid vehicles on the road, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid and the Mercury Milan Hybrid. As part of its new offerings, Ford plans to introduce a purely electric version of its new commercial van, the Transit Connect, with an expected range of up to 100 miles.

“Having our Focus battery electric vehicle on the (Leno) show is a great way to demonstrate how fun to drive these cars really can be,” says Lisa Drake, Chief Engineer of Ford Hybrid and Battery Vehicle Programs. One of the stars in line to take the Green Car Challenge is Drew Barrymore.

Barb Samardizich, Vice President, Ford Global Powertrain Engineering, says, “We are focusing on sustainable technology solutions that can be used not for hundreds of cars or thousands of cars – but for millions of cars because that is how Ford truly will make a difference.”

The Ford BEV, developed by Ford in conjunction with Magna, will be produced at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant and can be charged from both a standard 110V outlet, as well as a 220V outlet.

So, what do you get when you cross a television comic-talk show host with an electric car? Tune in – the results could be ‘electrifying’.