The truth is that the Ford Focus Electric was an utter and complete failure compared to most of Ford’s lineup. During the time it was on sale between 2011 and 2019 here in the United States, Ford averaged a sales volume of around 1,125 examples per year. In fairness, it was one of the first big steps that Ford took into electrification, and now it seems like it may have been a little ahead of its time – especially now that the Ford Mach-E is, you know, such a hit.

With the Ford Mach-E’s initial success and the inevitability that automakers must eventually become all-electric, would the Focus EV be more likely to succeed today than it was in 2010s? Well, according to Murat Gueler, Ford’s design boss, there is potential for us to find out as it could eventually make a comeback. That’s not to say that there is a plan in place or that Ford is seriously considering it but, eventually, the whole SUV- and truck-only concept will become a little less feasible and a new Focus EV for the U.S. market would make sense.

“Everybody’s launching electric cars and we will launch a few in the future,” Gueler told Autocar. “Definitely, we’re looking at everything: proportions, architectures… we’re really busy designing all the next-generation cars. There’s a lot of work going on.”

There will be a huge difference if the Focus EV does make a comeback. Back then, the Focus Electric was based largely on the current Ford Focus at the time, so it wasn’t designed as an electric vehicle from the ground up. It rode on the same platform as the gas-powered, third-gen focus and the battery ended up taking a lot of space in the truck. In short, Ford made an EV out of a car that was never designed for that kind of powertrain. No wonder it didn’t become one of America’s favorites.

With this in mind, the old Ford Focus Electric was initially launched with a 23-kWh battery and latter upgraded to a 33.5 kWh battery. The latter made the Focus Electric good for just 140 miles of range – a pretty embarrassing figure by today’s standards. The car had a total system output of 145 horsepower and it took more than 11 seconds to hit 60 mph, so it was definitely a slug on the road too. A new Focus EV, however, would be able to easily top this – especially if it takes advantage of everything Ford has learned in developing the Mach-E.