FEH Article on "Hybrid Patrol" in Automotive News
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10-19-2005, 07:32 AM
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FEH Article on "Hybrid Patrol" in Automotive News
Hybrid Patrol: Ford showing owners how to get the most out of Escape, Mariner Hybrids
RICHARD TRUETT | Automotive News
Posted Date: 10/19/05
DETROIT -- Early on a crisp Saturday morning at Ford's Research and Innovation Laboratory in Dearborn, Mich., Mary Ann Wright is crackling with energy. She's cracking jokes, shaking hands and showing Ford Escape Hybrid owners how the various electronic parts on their vehicles work.
As director of Ford's sustainable technologies and hybrid programs, Wright, 43, has become the public face and voice for Ford's hybrid vehicles, the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. She spent Oct. 8 and 9 meeting with about 300 Escape Hybrid owners.
The event kicked off Ford's "Hybrid Patrol," a 10-city initiative this fall that aims to show hybrid drivers how to drive for best fuel economy.
One reason Wright and several dozen members of her engineering team are meeting with Escape Hybrid owners is to avoid the customer-dissatisfaction problems that are tarnishing hybrids from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
Many buyers of the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid are angry that their vehicles aren't getting the EPA estimated fuel economy printed on the window sticker. A Prius that has an EPA rating of close to 60 mpg in city driving typically gets closer to 40 mpg, according to about a dozen Web sites and owner forums. The EPA is working to revamp its decades-old test procedure.
The four-wheel-drive Escape Hybrid is rated at 33 mpg on the EPA's city driving cycle and 29 mpg on the highway cycle, and most buyers at the Dearborn event said they were getting close to those figures.
Paid own way
The Escape Hybrid drivers came on their own dime from 24 states and Canada to meet with Wright and the vehicle's engineering team. Ford engineers conducted a one-hour class and then went on short trips with owners to show them how to drive their vehicles to get maximum fuel economy.
Wright says she is not bothered by the pressure to take Ford's annual hybrid vehicle volume from 0 in 2004 to 250,000 by 2010 and make a profit.
"I am an environmentalist, and I believe in minimizing the imprint we have. But if you talk to my engineering team today, they think like I do. It gives you something to care about. This gives us something to stand for," she told Automotive News.
With the exception of the new Mustang and F-series trucks, Ford has not had much success lately. The company is losing money and market share. But the Escape Hybrid has brought a new type of customer to Ford -- the kind of auto enthusiasts car companies dream of.
Ford launched the Escape Hybrid about a year ago. It's the most technically complex vehicle Ford has made. And it went on sale just when buyers were warming up to the technology.
No significant problems were reported in the Escape Hybrid's launch. About 20,000 have been sold in the United States, which was the first-year goal. Wright's mission in the coming years is to develop the next-generation hybrid powertrain and expand hybrid offerings to 50 percent of Ford's nameplates.
Wright and Ford's marketing team also took the opportunity in Dearborn to listen to early customers and get ideas about improving the next generation of hybrids.
Escape drivers filled out numerous surveys. Ford engineers spoke to consumers individually, a rare thing for an automaker to do. Such research usually is carried out in highly controlled focus groups. Then the information is filed, cataloged, filtered and sent to engineers.
Customers at the Ford event said they wanted better fuel economy and more power from the electric motor. Some wanted to plug in their hybrids so they could driver longer distances on electric power alone.
No complaints
No one voiced complaints about vehicles in a question-and-answer session. No one said he or she was dissatisfied with a vehicle's quality, reliability or fuel economy.
Bill Hammons, 59, a San Diego customer who last year took the first delivery of an Escape Hybrid, drove his SUV to Dearborn. He said he got about 27 mpg on the highway and has logged 15,600 trouble-free miles.
"I would like to see plug-in available as an option," said Hammons, president of the electric vehicle association in San Diego.
Several Escape Hybrid owners said they came to Dearborn because they wanted to learn more about the battery pack and electric motor so they could explain it to others.
"The biggest reason I am here is because I don't fully understand" how it works, said Walt Sylvia, 66, of South Riding, Va. "People ask me about it quite a lot. Around the neighborhood and family, people are interested in it," said the retired Air Force veteran.
Richard Otto, 61, of Chicago, said he bought an Escape Hybrid because he wanted an SUV that was easy on gasoline and on the environment.
"I'm getting close to the EPA rating," he said. "The reliability is good. I haven't had any problems."
RICHARD TRUETT | Automotive News
Posted Date: 10/19/05
DETROIT -- Early on a crisp Saturday morning at Ford's Research and Innovation Laboratory in Dearborn, Mich., Mary Ann Wright is crackling with energy. She's cracking jokes, shaking hands and showing Ford Escape Hybrid owners how the various electronic parts on their vehicles work.
As director of Ford's sustainable technologies and hybrid programs, Wright, 43, has become the public face and voice for Ford's hybrid vehicles, the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. She spent Oct. 8 and 9 meeting with about 300 Escape Hybrid owners.
The event kicked off Ford's "Hybrid Patrol," a 10-city initiative this fall that aims to show hybrid drivers how to drive for best fuel economy.
One reason Wright and several dozen members of her engineering team are meeting with Escape Hybrid owners is to avoid the customer-dissatisfaction problems that are tarnishing hybrids from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
Many buyers of the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid are angry that their vehicles aren't getting the EPA estimated fuel economy printed on the window sticker. A Prius that has an EPA rating of close to 60 mpg in city driving typically gets closer to 40 mpg, according to about a dozen Web sites and owner forums. The EPA is working to revamp its decades-old test procedure.
The four-wheel-drive Escape Hybrid is rated at 33 mpg on the EPA's city driving cycle and 29 mpg on the highway cycle, and most buyers at the Dearborn event said they were getting close to those figures.
Paid own way
The Escape Hybrid drivers came on their own dime from 24 states and Canada to meet with Wright and the vehicle's engineering team. Ford engineers conducted a one-hour class and then went on short trips with owners to show them how to drive their vehicles to get maximum fuel economy.
Wright says she is not bothered by the pressure to take Ford's annual hybrid vehicle volume from 0 in 2004 to 250,000 by 2010 and make a profit.
"I am an environmentalist, and I believe in minimizing the imprint we have. But if you talk to my engineering team today, they think like I do. It gives you something to care about. This gives us something to stand for," she told Automotive News.
With the exception of the new Mustang and F-series trucks, Ford has not had much success lately. The company is losing money and market share. But the Escape Hybrid has brought a new type of customer to Ford -- the kind of auto enthusiasts car companies dream of.
Ford launched the Escape Hybrid about a year ago. It's the most technically complex vehicle Ford has made. And it went on sale just when buyers were warming up to the technology.
No significant problems were reported in the Escape Hybrid's launch. About 20,000 have been sold in the United States, which was the first-year goal. Wright's mission in the coming years is to develop the next-generation hybrid powertrain and expand hybrid offerings to 50 percent of Ford's nameplates.
Wright and Ford's marketing team also took the opportunity in Dearborn to listen to early customers and get ideas about improving the next generation of hybrids.
Escape drivers filled out numerous surveys. Ford engineers spoke to consumers individually, a rare thing for an automaker to do. Such research usually is carried out in highly controlled focus groups. Then the information is filed, cataloged, filtered and sent to engineers.
Customers at the Ford event said they wanted better fuel economy and more power from the electric motor. Some wanted to plug in their hybrids so they could driver longer distances on electric power alone.
No complaints
No one voiced complaints about vehicles in a question-and-answer session. No one said he or she was dissatisfied with a vehicle's quality, reliability or fuel economy.
Bill Hammons, 59, a San Diego customer who last year took the first delivery of an Escape Hybrid, drove his SUV to Dearborn. He said he got about 27 mpg on the highway and has logged 15,600 trouble-free miles.
"I would like to see plug-in available as an option," said Hammons, president of the electric vehicle association in San Diego.
Several Escape Hybrid owners said they came to Dearborn because they wanted to learn more about the battery pack and electric motor so they could explain it to others.
"The biggest reason I am here is because I don't fully understand" how it works, said Walt Sylvia, 66, of South Riding, Va. "People ask me about it quite a lot. Around the neighborhood and family, people are interested in it," said the retired Air Force veteran.
Richard Otto, 61, of Chicago, said he bought an Escape Hybrid because he wanted an SUV that was easy on gasoline and on the environment.
"I'm getting close to the EPA rating," he said. "The reliability is good. I haven't had any problems."
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