0 to 60 mph

The time it takes to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h or 0 to 27 m/s) is a commonly used performance measure for automotive acceleration in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the rest of the world, 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62.5 mph) is used. Present performance cars are capable of going from 0 to 60 mph in under 6 seconds, while exotic cars can do 0 to 60 mph in between 3 and 4 seconds, whereas motorcycles have been able to achieve these figures with sub-500cc since the 1990s. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport World Record Edition was, in 2010, the fastest production street legal car to reach 60 mph from a stop, taking about 2.46 seconds. The fastest automobile in 2015 was the Porsche 918 Spyder, which is a hybrid vehicle taking 2.2 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60.

Measuring the 0 to 60 speed of vehicles is usually done in a closed setting such as a race car track or closed lot used for professional drivers. This is done to reduce risk to the drivers, their teams, and the public in general. The closed course is set up for test-drives in order to reduce any variables, such as wind, weather, and traction. Each variable can have a dramatic impact on the friction of the track and the drag placed on the vehicle, which will influence the overall 0 to 60 time that is recorded.

Ford Focus

The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1998. Ford began sales of the Focus to Europe in July 1998 and in North America during 1999 for the 2000 model year.

In Europe, North and South America, and South Africa, the Focus replaced the various versions of the Ford Escort and Ford Laser sold in those markets. In Asia and Australasia, it replaced the Ford Laser. As of the first half of 2012, the Focus surpassed the Toyota Corolla to become the world's best selling automobile nameplate.

First generation (1998–2004)

Ford of Europe introduced the Focus in 1998 to the European market as a replacement for the Ford Escort. The decision to name the new car the "Ford Focus" was made in early 1998, as Ford's overheads had been planning to keep the "Escort" nameplate for its new generation of small family cars. A last minute problem arose in July 1998 when a Cologne court, responding to a case brought by the publisher Burda, ordered Ford to avoid the name "Focus" for the cars in the German market since the name was already taken by one of its magazines (Focus). This eleventh hour dispute was resolved, however, and the car was launched with the name Focus. The Focus MK1 was awarded the 1999 European Car of the Year award. There is also a tale floating around certain editions of Motor Trend magazine that Ford executive Jac Nasser actually made the decision of the name Focus the night of that year's Geneva Auto Show because he was annoyed that one of the other names under consideration, Fusion (not the same as the mid-size automobile Ford Fusion), had leaked to the media.

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S is a full-sized all-electric five-door, luxury liftback, produced by Tesla Motors, and introduced in June 2012. It scored a perfect 5.0 NHTSA automobile safety rating. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official range for the 2012 Model S Performance model equipped with an 85 kWh (310 MJ) battery pack is 265 miles (426 km), higher than any other electric car at the time. EPA rates its energy consumption at 237.5 watt·hour per kilometer (38 kWh/100 mi or 24 kWh/100 km) for a combined fuel economy of 89 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (2.64 L/100 km or 107 mpg_-imp).

The Model S became the first electric car to top the monthly new car sales ranking in any country, twice leading in Norway, in September and again in December 2013; and also in Denmark in December 2015. Global Model S sales passed the 100,000 unit milestone in December 2015.

The Model S ranked as the world's best selling plug-in electric vehicle in 2015, up from second best in 2014. The Model S also ranked as the top selling plug-in electric car in the U.S. in 2015.As of December 2015, the leading markets are the United States with a 60% share of global sales and Norway with 9.4%. Other leading country markets are China, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland .As of December 2015, the Model S ranks as the world's second best selling plug-in car in history after the Nissan Leaf.