Meet Jay Leno's Electric Ford Focus

On this fall's new Jay Leno show, celebrities will compete for top times on an 1400 foot, 7 turn track in an electric Ford Focus during a feature reminiscent of Top Gear's "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car".

Stars such as Drew Barrymore and Tom Cruise have already signed up to post lap times on the show's track. The segment will be an occasional segment to start off but the host feels that it will quickly grow as stars with a competitive bent will want to post better times than their peers.

The electric car that they will be using is not a production car or a prototype of one that we know of. The stars will drive a rally prepared Ford Focus that has been converted to a pure electric drive train. On the tiny, twisting track an electric motor's ability to produce maximum torque from 0 RPM should produce some quick lap times, possibly even as fast as an internal combustion engine car of the same configuration could produce.

These Fords began life as Focus STs produced in Germany and Ford spent six weeks converting the Euro spec cars by changing the drivetrain and adding a roll cage, Recaro racing seats and 5 point harnesses.

The drivers will receive coaching from professional race driver Justin Bell. Bell's resume includes multiple runs at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 1997 GT2 championship in the FIA GT series and he's a current driver in the Grand American Road Racing series. As a driver coach he instructs aspiring racers at his own driving school using Chevrolet Corvettes.

Drew Barrymore, who currently doesn't have a driver's license, posted the track's first lap time of 54.36 seconds over 2 laps.

No comments have been provided.