Ford considers building a plug-in hybrid
Ford's director of hybrid programs, Nancy Gioia delivered a speech at the Automotive News World Congress, in Dearborn and revealed that Ford is considering building a plug-in hybrid vehicle. So far, Ford's hybrid efforts have been limited to the Escape/Mariner/Tribute, although a Fusion hybrid is under development and should be available some time in 2008.As usual, the main problem is the battery. According to Gioia, the extra cost of the lithium ion battery could be prohibitive unless additional tax credits are made available. A LiIon battery is a necessity in order to get sufficient range to justify the extra complexity of the plug-in architecture. Ford showed a plug-in series hybrid, the Airstream concept at the Detroit Auto Show although, unlike the Chevy Volt, it uses a hydrogen fuel cell instead of an internal combustion engine.
A Ford spokesman confirmed that Ford has been actively testing a variety of plug-in hybrid vehicles with different configurations and platforms for some time including the HyDrive system that underpins the Airstream concept. However, until a suitable battery can be found, Ford won't be committing to a production date or platform.
[Source: Automotive News - subscription required]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andy 8:23PM (1/17/2007)
After what the public has seen since the 1970s, we have to be skeptical when looking at Detroit's track record. At least the Volt and Sequel looked like they could be somewhat put to real-world use. Ford's bizarre minivan/sport-ute is just bizarre.
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Hippie Hunter 11:29PM (1/17/2007)
No me gusta la Assstream.
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bland moves 12:13PM (1/18/2007)
Considering?
gah - ford seems to be always a day late and a dollar short.
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thomas loy 6:46AM (1/19/2007)
While the Ford plug hybrid is a good idea, using a fuel cell is not. Where are people going to get the hydrogen? There is no infrastructure for selling hydrogen. Are they going to extract it from gasoline? That negates the usefulness of the fuel cell.
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