These pictures from cars.com seem to suggest to me that Ford might be announcing on Sunday a plug in hybrid for sale?

Pictures of Ford Escape Plug In Hybrid

 

I'm 99% sure that Ford does not have any immediate plans to sell plug-in cars to the public. Ford will make 20 "Demo" cars to give to Southern California Edison for research purposes only. The one in the photos is one of the demo units.

If you would like to have one today, you can buy one from Hybrids-Plus in Boulder, CO. The price tag is steep, about 2x the cost of the regular vehicle, but you can special order one, and they will hand craft one for you. But you do get up to 140 MPG city, 90 MPG highway for the first 50 miles each day.
-John

www.hybrids-plus.com

 

I would agree with John's statements. I read the Ford PR article and Ford just delievered the first (that the public was made aware of) plug-in Escape to California last month. This PR article also mention that the additonal plug-in Escapes would be "modified" based upon the feedback they received. So no, there is no immediate plans for public sales.

 

Part of me is glad that the plug-in is not yet available. I just bought my FEH and I'd hate knowing that if I waited, oh, 6 more months that the plug-in would have been ready. LOL!

On the other hand, if the plug-in works as well as Ford advertises, then I do hope that within 2-3 years (give or take), this vehicle is ready for the general public.

As of this very moment, my daily trips are very short. I work and live in the same town. I shop in the same town. Leisure activities such as movies, dining or bowling are also done in the same town. In other words, I could be almost pure electric every day. But I like the hybrid option for times when there are longer trips. For example, I just drove from the San Francisco area to the Chicago area and back (yes, very long drive). Much of that trip is 75 miles per hour. Some of it is through mountains, freezing cold, mountains and heavy snow areas. Despite these speeds and conditions, from western Wyoming to San Fran., I averaged 27.5 mpg! I was quite happy with this (again, noting the speeds and conditions). While I would love having the electric for as much of the trip as possible, knowing I have a hybrid option so I don't have to stop and spend hours recharging every few hundred miles is perfect.

I saw the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car". Part of the answer was consumers as we want bigger vehicles that go further. I agree with this. No one wants some tiny little car that costs $30K or more that only goes 100 miles. Sure, maybe it is all electric, but the practicality of it is not there. This plug-in FEH is the answer, IMO. The FEH has the room and comfort of an SUV. It has the hybrid option - which already gets good miles - for longer trips. And for normal daily use, it can be all electric. I've been telling my friends that thanks to my hybrid, I truly have a "have my cake and eat it too" scenario. I get the room I wanted from an SUV, but I get the miles of a small energy efficient vehicle. The plug-in makes that even better. We get the room of an SUV, but with minimal pollution (as some pollution is created in charging it) and zero vehicle emissions (for normal daily use).

So while I'm glad it's not out yet, I do hope it's ready to go in a few years (in terms of mass production, price, etc.). Based on this prototype, it does seem Ford is already aware of the features their customers want in the FEH (the navigation screen, various creature comforts, etc.). So this could be a good seller if Ford does this one right!

 

To illustrate how quickly things change, in late 2005 I spoke to the HEAD of Ford's Hybrid development division ( Ms. Mary Ann Wright at the time ) and she said Ford had looked into it, and said there were no plans ( at the end of 2005 ) to invest in Plug-in technologies... since their research showed that burning gas in the FEH was cleaner than burning fuel at the local power station, and they also felt the majority of owners would not view the "hassle" of plugging in every day to be an attractive or desireable "feature". For the record, I have a plug-in engine block heater... and it does help my MPG... at first it was fun to use...now, 2 months later, I am starting to view it as a hassle..... doing it day, after day, after day.... what if I'm late for work, etc....

I don't know about today, but did you know that back in 2005, the FEH was the cleanest gas-burning production vehicle available... in the world!

-John

 

Your points are good John (and by the way, great name!), but this is why I like the fact that it's not pure electric. The hybrid option allows for still very strong miles and clean burning feul on those days that people forget to plug in the car, or where no outlet is available. And as I wrote, it allows for one to drive long distances without the worry of having to spend hours recharging after a few hundred miles. To me, heating an engine block, while a nice way to maximize mileage, won't be as powerful an incentive as plugging in one's car to get zero emissions.

The biggger issue to me is the first issue - that is, is a plug-in really better for the environment? Many power stations use coal, which is a very dirty fuel. Is it better to plug in a car, and get zero emissions, but increase power plant pollution? Or is it better to stay with a hybrid? As of this moment, I don't have the answer, but it merits further investigation.

 

The pro argument for plug-ins usually revolves around moving the emissions from the city ( with high population density ) to power plants in more rural areas with less population density.

Pollution planet wise, is probably no net gain, but you'll get less "brown clould" effect in cities.

As a side note:

I just opened my electric bill ( for December use ) and my eyes popped out.

What the @!&? was my first thought! I switched to LED Chirstmas lights this year!!! Then it hit me.... this is the first year I have had an engine block heater... which takes about 1.2 to 1.5 kWh per day to be effective... About the same wattage as my old Xmas lights....

 

Ms. Mary Ann Wright now is an executive for Johnson Controls Inc.'s which is a competitor to A123 Systems. Both companies are developing automobile hybrid batteries. Here is a link to a media interview with this former Ford Executive http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher...Id=l:696039849

 

It actually is a pretty significant gain. Electrical generation from fossil fuels is 2 to 4 times more efficient than an internal combustion engine, meaning that much less fossil fuel is burned to generate the electricity. Even with the losses in transport and conversion, that's a savings. The real pollution savings comes from using the 30% or more of our electricity that comes from nuclear, hydro, wind, etc and produces no air pollution or CO2. If that 30% can be significantly increased, plug-ins make even more sense.

 

I spoke with Fords Hybrid Program uhm, guy (Sorry, don't feel like digging his card out of the pile to see what his official title is), and they're still far too early in development to be offerered anytime soon (2015 may even be too soon), they're looking at a lot of things, especially on the battery technology and cost end. (They'd like to use batteries that are a more generic standard, so that they could be used in other applications, which means more of them are made, which means lower cost.)

Also, as an aside, the Ford Fusion Hybrid is supposed to get a release, but was only barely mentioned in the press show and isn't around to gawk at, but it is coming, I was assured.