The latest craze
The initiative
# A multimillion-dollar, multi-year plug-in hybrid vehicle evaluation and demonstration project.
# Ford will provide SoCal Edison with a demonstration fleet of 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs that will be benchmarked for performance characteristics.Some vehicles will be evaluated in homes.
# Additional project funding may be sought from participants such as the Electrical Power Research Institute, Department of Energy, California Energy Commission and South Coast Air Quality Management District.
# Initially, Ford will work exclusively with SoCal Edison to develop testing procedures and define its initial demonstration fleet.
As the program grows, Ford will look for broader participation as it develops a business model not only for Southern California, but potentially nationwide.
Ford Motor Co. and Southern California Edison envision a day in the not-so-distant future when drivers will routinely plug rechargeable vehicles into home electrical outlets and operate at a 50 percent to 75 percent savings compared with gasoline engines.
John Bryson, Edison International chief executive officer, and counterpart Alan Mulally at Ford, announced a multimillion-dollar, multi-year joint initiative to evaluate plug-in hybrid vehicle useage on Monday afternoon at Edison's Rosemead headquarters.
"By combining strengths - ours in hybrid technology, theirs in energy management - we can consider transportation as part of the broader energy system and work to unleash the potential of plug-in technology for consumers," Mulally said.
Ford will start out by providing SoCal Edison with a demonstration fleet of 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs to be studied in the field by engineering teams.
The companies eventually will look at whether "smart plug-in vehicles" could become part of an integrated smart home and grid energy system of the future.
Local dealers react
Executives at Ford dealerships in the Coachella Valley said the initiative to develop rechargeable hybrid vehicles illustrates how momentum is building to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption.
"I'm really glad that Ford is the one that jumped in here," said Paul Thiel, owner of Palm Springs Motors, a Cathedral City Ford dealership that is examining whether to use solar power. "For these two powerhouses to team up on something like this, I think you're going to see some results, and fairly quickly."
Initially, Ford will work exclusively with SoCal Edison to develop testing procedures and define the initial demonstration fleet. But as Ford's plug-in hybrid program grows, the automaker will look for broader participation as it develops a model not just for Southern California but nationwide.
Mike Burns, owner of Fiesta Ford Lincoln Mercury in Indio believes Ford likely chose SoCal Edison's sprawling 50,000-square-mile service area because of the challenges it presented. If the two companies can implement plug-in hybrid vehicles here, they'll easily set the stage for establishing plug-in hybrid technology in other markets.
SoCal Edison's customers will try out Ford's cars and share information about their experiences. Consumers will be able to charge their vehicles at night when costs to produce electricity is lower, then store and use that energy during peak hours of the day when electricity costs are higher.
Charging cars overnight
SoCal Edison officials believe they have the power capacity to recharge millions of vehicles at night.
The utility, which provides power to 13 million customers across much of the Coachella Valley and beyond, has a large and advanced electric vehicle fleet and has been pushing for electrical car development and tax incentives that would make such vehicles more attractive.
Thiel said sales of hybrid vehicles at his dealership tends to balloon when gasoline prices rise above $3 a gallon, then drop as gas prices decline. Because hybrid technology is somewhat expensive, buyers still are often those more environmentally conscious.
Automakers such as Ford are exploring ways to bring more highly efficient batteries such as lithium-ion batteries to hybrids, rather than heavier nickel metal hydride batteries. More battery capacity would increase the range that hybrids can travel.
Ford and SoCal Edison believe it might be possible to develop a market for the untapped value present in used plug-in hybrid electric vehicle batteries at the end of their vehicle life.
Edison's Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona is studying advanced battery technologies.
Burns said he wasn't surprised by Ford's initiative, because it was the first American auto manufacturer to develop a hybrid SUV - the Ford Escape Hybrid - now in its fourth year of production.
Burns said environmental awareness is taking many forms. His Indio dealership is supplying a hybrid SUV to Toro Equipment Co. and CBS2 TV in a project aimed at retrofitting wasteful water supplies in residential and commercial settings.
This year, General Motors also began work on its own plug-in hybrid car, which is designed to use little or no gasoline over short distances. In January, GM rolled out a concept version of the Chevrolet Volt, with a 2010 target for production.
The utility and carmaker may seem like somewhat strange bedfellows, but they believe that by working together they can create a new generation of practical, rechargeable electric vehicles while helping reduce petroleum-related emissions and improving cost-effectiveness of the nation's electricity grid, company officials said.
