Ford, SCE to Partner in PHEV Program

July 10, 2007 – Vol.12 No.16

FORD VEHICLES TO CONNECT WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON’S GRID.

Ford and Southern California Edison (SCE) have announced they’ll work together to further research into the viability of plug-in hybrids for the next generation of green vehicles. Key areas of focus will be battery technologies and the concept of the car/home energy system, using surplus power of the existing power grid, as well as home generated power, to energize vehicles.

SCE will lend its more than decade-long experience with plug-in electric vehicles. Ford will supply a fleet of Escape Hybrids reengineered to become PHEVs, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Ford is on the heels of GM’s PHEV, and possibly and Toyota’s, efforts in that direction. But Ford’s words send a stronger statement than either to justify the rationale for the car/home connection. The words, too, show a change in direction for the troubled automaker.

In a statement Ford says this:

“Each night, a large percentage of America's power generation infrastructure sits idle. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that if every light duty car and truck in America today used plug-in hybrid technology, 73 percent of them could be plugged in and fueled by excess capacity in the electricity grid without constructing a single new power plant.”

And this:

“Using off-peak electricity to fuel transportation could increase grid productivity and help bring down the price of electricity for utility customers.”

And this:

“Plug-in hybrid technology offers the opportunity to use as transportation fuel the nation's growing renewable generation portfolio as well as surplus off-peak power.”

And this:

“ The electric grid is the only alternative fuel infrastructure accessible to every U.S. home.”

In other words Ford is admitting there’s a vast pool of unused power out there that is not being put to work. Ford and other major car manufacturers never mentioned this in the 1990’s when California was trying to build its fleet of all-electric vehicles. The propaganda then was that new power plants would be needed to recharge all the battery-powered vehicles. In an attempt to turn the public against battery electrics, the word ”nuclear” was used when discussing the new power plants.

But to give Ford a break, the world has been turned upside down since the 1990’s. Cheap oil is gone, along with the company’s business strategy of focusing on highly profitable but fuel-hungry SUVs and light trucks.

Technology has changed in a decade as well.

Since the 1990’s, renewable energies - particularly solar and wind - have improved technologically as well as in installed capacity. Ford mentions that home-brewed solar power could be used to charge plug-in hybrids for increased energy independence, still lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Batteries, too, have come a long way. It was only in the last few years of the big electric vehicle push of the 1990’s that lithium was being considered seriously for use in electric vehicles. Now it seems like it’s the only battery game in town.

Ford doesn’t mention lithium by name but does say that it and SCE will try to “develop a market for the untapped value present in used plug-in hybrid electric vehicle batteries at the end of their vehicle life.”

If lithium as raw materiel is expensive (but can be recycled) it should have significant value as a recyclable commodity. A spent, worn-out lithium battery in a PHEV would have some value at the end of its service. Its value as a recyclable material would defray the cost of a new one. The high cost of the replacement battery might not be so frightening if the worn out one would contribute to the cost of the new one.

If Ford is finally catching on, if the company truly believes in the words it has published, it and other automakers interested in plug-in hybrids are finally on the right track.

Ford’s statements, “Fueling at the plug instead of the pump would be cheaper for consumers. As a transportation fuel, electricity is 50 percent to 75 percent less expensive than the equivalent cost of a gallon of gasoline. The diverse mix of energy sources used to generate the nation's electricity supply is priced lower and is more stable than the cost of petroleum.”

And this, “The use of plug-in hybrid vehicles holds the promise of reduced greenhouse gases and enhanced energy security” speaks of what could be a growing enlightenment by the world’s automakers: It’s time for a change.

The road that relies on petroleum fuels is getting increasingly bumpy and unsafe. It’s time to find a new road. Ford, and the others, may have found it.

Links:

Ford at http://www.ford.com

Southern California Edison at http://www.sce.com

US Department of Energy study on PHEVs

http://www.pnl.gov/energy/eed/etd/pdfs/
phev_feasibility_analysis_combined.pdf