Ford has unveiled the production version of the Ford Focus Electric this week at LCV 2013.

The Ford Focus Electric, which is now on sale in the UK although Ford is yet to publish prices, features an electric motor and lithium-ion battery powertrain that produces 142hp, achieves a top speed of 85mph and is capable of a driving range of over 100 miles in optimum road conditions.

At the event Transport Minister Norman Baker met senior Ford technical staff from the company’s Dunton Technical Centre, including product development chief Graham Hoare, who gave Ford’s view on the future of the internal combustion engine and hybrid power units.

Hoare,who is head of Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre, in Essex, told LCV2013 attendees that the most significant overall reductions in carbon emissions will come from traditional power units.

He said: "The internal combustion engine has not reached the end of the road. Ecoboost represents the current ‘state of the art’ in petrol technology and future improvements will deliver further efficiencies and CO2 reductions. In the medium term the internal combustion engine will remain the high-volume propulsion solution, supplemented increasingly by electrification and mild hybridisation."