Ford Motor Company’s first demonstration Escape Plug-In Hybrid is ready to roll on California roads. Ford today delivered the first of 20 research PHEVs to Southern California Edison to begin road testing as part of a unique partnership between the automaker and utility.
The Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid, a research vehicle using high voltage, lithium-ion batteries, can deliver up to 120 miles per gallon which would mean far fewer trips to the gas station. The vehicle uses common household current (120 volts) for charging. Full charge of the battery takes six to eight hours. When driven for the first 30 miles following a full charge, the Ford Escape PHEV can achieve up to 120 mpg when driven on surface streets. The vehicle is not range limited by the amount of charge available in the high-voltage lithium-ion battery, because once the charge in the battery has been depleted, the vehicle continues to operate as a fuel efficient, standard Ford Escape Hybrid. The transition is automatic and unnoticeable to the driver.
The delivery comes just five months after Ford and Southern California Edison announced their collaboration to advance the commercialization of plug-ins by exploring the values of new technologies and new business models when the battery is connected to the home and, in time, the electrical grid.
More information can be found at PureGreenCars.com
Jay Leno took a test drive in the Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid. See what Jay thinks of the new technolgy.
Toyota also has a plug in Prius Hybrid in the works…see it here at The Environmental Blog
