Trial run in electric car delivers surge of power

Jay Leno, Drew Barrymore, Steve Carell and me.

I joined the ranks of celebrities Friday when I stepped into a battery-powered Ford Focus and took the prototype electric car for a spin.

Not the exact same vehicle the celebrities drove, mind you. Leno has two electric Ford Focuses (or Foci, as the Ford folks like to call them). On his "Green Car Challenge," Leno gets celebrities to drive the car on a small obstacle course and compares their times. (Actress Malin Akerman is currently fastest.)

I drove the Focus around the Microsoft campus, not a racetrack. But I'll tell you one thing — that car really does go.

When I turned the key, there was no noise, no engine turnover. The dashboard lit up — the only sign that the car was running. When I nudged the pedal, the car moved forward, whisper-silent.

Mike Tinskey, manager of Ford's sustainability activities, encouraged me to give it some more power when we were on a straight section of road outside the Microsoft campus (I glanced furtively in the rearview mirror to be sure Redmond police weren't watching).

When I hit the pedal, the car responded immediately, surging forward silently with a dose of real power.

The car's ride seem smoother than a gasoline-powered car. But in most other respects, the Focus feels just like driving any other car.

There was one thing I forgot to ask, though. On an electric car, what do you call the gas pedal?

— Katherine Long