Automaker plugs its fuel cell Edge on Capitol Hill Detroit Free Press 01/23/07 by Justin Hyde


WASHINGTON -- As President George W. Bush prepares to offer his latest ideas for reducing the U.S. energy bill, Ford Motor Co. will have its idea tooling around the Capitol this week: a hydrogen-powered, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

While the theories behind Ford's HySeries Drive system sound similar to General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford's version has one Edge -- a working prototype installed in its new crossover that it will show to lawmakers, administration officials and other Washington types this week.

Both vehicles will be on display at the Washington Auto Show this week, as Detroit automakers promote their alternative energy research to an audience that's growing increasingly concerned with global warming and U.S. reliance on foreign sources of oil.

"We're not going to be seeing these in our driveways anytime soon," said Jim Kliesch, research associate with the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, an environmental group. "But it does indicate Detroit is paying attention to some alternative areas of interest."

The HySeries drive has five basic parts: a fuel cell, a hydrogen tank, two electric motors and a lithium-ion battery pack from the joint venture between Johnson Controls Inc. and European battery maker Saft. With fully charged batteries, the Edge can go about 25 miles on electricity alone, with a few more miles available if the driver wishes. Once the batteries discharge about 60%, the fuel cell switches on to power the electric motors and recharge the battery pack, providing another 200 miles of range.

The test Edge can get the hydrogen energy equivalent of 41 m.p.g. of gasoline, but Ford says a driver who travels fewer than 50 miles a day would get fuel economy well over 80 m.p.g. Unlike GM's Volt, Ford's HySeries was developed from the company's fuel cell efforts. While hydrogen fuel cells offer electric power with no emissions, hydrogen doesn't hold as much energy as other fuels, and has to be stored at high pressures to deliver acceptable range. Ford's fuel-cell engineers figured out that by using batteries to store extra electrical power, they could both increase the range of fuel-cell vehicles while using a smaller fuel cell and hydrogen tank.

Mujeeb Ijaz, Ford's manager of fuel-cell vehicle engineering, said Ford also decided to use a fuel cell for its plug-in hybrid because it was the hardest combination to package inside a vehicle. Ijaz said that allows Ford to swap out the fuel cell in the HySeries for a regular gasoline or diesel engine with little trouble, like GM claims for the Volt.

"We've crossed the bridge of whether this vehicle is viable," said Ijaz as he drove the HySeries Edge around downtown Washington. "Now the issue is commercialization."

While the prototype allows Ford to test several systems -- such as the one that prevents the Edge from being driven if it's still plugged into an electrical outlet -- cost remains the largest barrier to production. After much hype earlier this decade, most experts say it could take decades for fuel cells to become widely available. Ford said battery prices remain the top impediment to plug-in hybrids, but the vehicles could be feasible in a few years.

"It's great for us to have this technology...but we have to make a product," said Ijaz. "If we don't make a product with this, it's all for naught."

Mike Kinnell
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