Hasta La Gadget!

When Ford’s first all-electric car, the Ford Focus Electric, ships in 2011, the recharging system will be remotely managed by Microsoft. What sounds like an odd-couple fit – Microsoft? manage off-hours home electrical usage? – actually makes sense because of Microsoft Hohm, a year-old Internet service helping consumers monitor all kinds of home energy usage. In the case of electric cars, time-shifting the recharge to late at night is important because recharging effectively a home’s daytime energy usage.