That’s the new message that Ford wants the buyers of hybrid cars to understand. Because of Ford’s lighter battery – and its 20 percent increase in power and improved chemistry at higher temperatures – the Ford Fusion hybrid is able to stay in electric mode up to speeds as high as 47 mph, unlike the 35 mph to which many other hybrids are confined.
“The Fusion Hybrid’s ability to run at a much higher speed in electric mode allows drivers to maximize fuel efficiently in many driving situations,” says Praveen Cherian, the Fusion Hybrid program team leader.
As a Camry hybrid owner, I feel a bit of Fusion hybrid envy. It’s an awesome hybrid, an awesome car.
Still, while I’m impressed with the Fusion hybrid, I have serious concerns regarding Ford’s hybrid plans. First, if Ford’s Fusion hybrid is so awesome, why isn’t Ford trying harder to produce more than 25,000 hybrids per year? Second, if you’ve outdone Toyota in some way, why not take on the Prius and really send a message that your hybrids are better than today’s best?
Is Ford’s battery technology less cost-effective? Less reliable? Is it already dead technology and, therefore, meaningless? Just too many lingering questions.
The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid is now officially America’s most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan. Fusion Hybrid is certified at 41 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. Learn how to make the most of your hybrid
With the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid presented at the Los Angeles auto show, the Dearborn-based automaker will go directly after Toyota and Honda for title of the most efficient hybrid sedan.
Using an updated version of the full-hybrid system featured in the most recent Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids, the Fusion Hybrid is expected to return an impressive 39 mpg on the EPA city test cycle. If the Fusion Hybrid (and the mechanically identical Mercury Milan Hybrid) can achieve this figure, it will represent a 5-mpg improvement over the front-wheel-drive Escape/Mariner Hybrids and a 6-mpg improvement compared to the Toyota Camry Hybrid. The Honda Civic Hybrid posts 40 mpg in the EPA’s city regimen.
That’s an impressive figure, given that the Fusion Hybrid uses the same 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder engine that makes up the gas-powered portion of the Escape Hybrid’s powertrain. This engine incidentally makes 155 horsepower and 136 pound-feet of torque and is bolted to a continuously variable transmission, just as in the Escape Hybrid.
But Ford is referring to the hybrid powertrain in the Fusion Hybrid as “system 2.0,” copying computer company jargon. What that means is that the nickel-metal hydride battery is smaller, using 208 cells instead of 250. It’s also more powerful by almost 20 percent. And, because of “improved chemistry,” the battery can be run at a higher temperature and is cooled using cabin air instead of auxiliary air-conditioning or fresh air. And at 145 pounds, Ford says the Fusion Hybrid’s battery is 23 percent lighter. Smarter climate controls, refined regenerative braking and a host of other upgrades are also part of the installation.
According to Ford, the Fusion Hybrid can operate on purely electric power up to 47 mph, which would be a huge leap compared to the existing system, which typically fires the gas engine at about half that speed, depending on throttle application. The hybrid won’t look much different from the standard Fusion, however. Ford will add its “road and leaf” logo, familiar from the Escape Hybrid. And the hybrid wears unique 16-inch wheels.
Inside the cabin, Fusion Hybrid drivers get a standard 110-volt power outlet and an instrument package Ford is calling “SmartGauge with EcoGuide.” The SmartGauge portion of this consists of two reconfigurable LCD screens that sandwich the analog speedometer. They can be set up to display a wide variety of information including fuel and battery levels, instant and average mileage performance, engine output power, battery output power, accessory power consumption and more. The EcoGuide portion of the name indicates that Ford believes it can coach drivers into driving the car for maximum fuel-efficiency. Part of this is the kitschy “efficiency leaves” feature, which “grows” leaves and vines on the screen as a reward for efficient driving.
A frequently voiced concern about hybrids centers around the high cost of replacement batteries, which have ranged up to about $3,000. Now some relief may be on the way. Toyota announced last month that it has reduced the price of replacement batteries for the current (2002-2009) Prius by $686, to $2,299. Batteries for the first-generation Prius dropped $397 to $2,588.
That still seems like a lot of money. But overall, we have found hybrids to be very reliable and relatively inexpensive to own. Automakers are required to warranty batteries for 8 years and 80,000 miles nationwide or 10 years and 150,000 miles in states that follow California emissions regulations. Relatively few hybrids have exceeded that mileage yet.
Given the length of the battery warranty, even if a hybrid owner does have to replace the battery pack after 80,000 or 150,000 miles, the cost is comparable to the cost of a transmission, which would likely have failed in other cars before that point. And hybrids have fewer other issues, which more makes up for any added battery cost.
Toyota says it has been able reduce costs in part by building its own batteries through its joint venture with Panasonic, through Panasonic EV Battery Corp., thereby reducing the impact from the battery middleman. And the company says it expects battery price drops to continue.
The nickel-metal hydride batteries in the all of the current hybrid vehicles are also recyclable which may help with price reductions.
Cheaper batteries are good news for more than owners of hybrids today. Electric cars, and hybrids that plug in for extra power are the most promising near-term alternative to oil consumption. And those cars will require bigger and better batteries to meet consumer demands for performance and range.
The next generation of advanced batteries are called lithium-ion batteries, like the one we had installed in the plug-in Prius we are testing. Lithium Ion batteries are smaller and lighter for the same energy storage capacity and so lend themselves better to full electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. However, they cost even more than nickel-metal hydride batteries. And expensive lithium-ion batteries are the biggest stumbling block to building more electric cars. So the race is on to lower the price of batteries across the board.
Toyota will start building lithium-ion batteries in 2009 and mass-producing them in 2010, the company says. But Toyota’s National Manager of Advance Technology Vehicles Bill Reinert says the company is already looking beyond lithium ion for future energy storage.
Depending on who you talk to, electric cars pack the disruptive force of either Dell PCs or the Apple iPhone.
Regardless of your choice of analogy, the auto industry is facing the kind of technology-based competition it hasn’t seen in years.
And in this game, start-ups claim to have the upper hand on the incumbents.
“This is probably something that has not been seen since we moved from the horse to the engine,” said Henrik Fisker, the CEO of Fisker Automotive, which is designing a luxury hybrid electric car, the Karma.
“We suddenly have an open field where current carmakers don’t know about batteries, or software, or designing these vehicles,” he said, adding that incumbent companies are still four or five years away from mass-producing plug-in electric cars.
That may sound like bravado coming from a designer of flashy cars. But when you look at the race to deliver a breakthrough battery-driven car, the field is thick with newcomers.
The best known is perhaps Tesla Motors, which just began producing the Roadster sports car with a starting price of about $100,000. But there are several others, offering up different designs and business models to give the internal combustion engine a run for the money.
At a panel of three young car companies–Detroit Electric, Fisker Automotive, and Phoenix Motorcars–at a clean-tech investor conference last week, executives laid out some of the business opportunities and technical hurdles to cleaner cars.
On one point, they agreed: consumers will have more options to kick, or at least cut down on, their gas habit. But beyond that, their views differed on which technology–all-electric, plug-in hybrids, or hybrid electric–would succeed.
“It’s a fallacy to say that everyone is going to jump off of oil onto batteries. Then we’ll just have a shortage of lithium and the prices will go up,” said Daniel Elliot, president and CEO of Phoenix Motorcars. “What’s really going on is a fracturing of fuels.”
Pick a horse
The diversity of approaches reflects the challenges that current battery technology pose.
Fisker’s $80,000 Karma, expected for release at the end of next year, will have a custom-designed lithium ion battery that can go 50 miles. That’s a range that covers what most people drive in a day. To ensure a longer range, the car will include a four-cylinder internal combustion gasoline engine that charges the battery.
But, having both a battery and gasoline engine in one car raises costs, say advocates of all-electric cars. Fisker and Tesla have gone after the luxury market first, catering to environmentally oriented customers willing to pay for the latest technology.
Phoenix Motorcars, by contrast, is making an all-electric truck and car, as is another supplier, Miles Electric. To get around the range limitation, Phoenix Motorcars is designing its vehicles, based on an Altairnano lithium titanate battery, for use in fleets where the use and range are known.
“It’s difficult to move to plug-in hybrids and make economic sense…You have to have a conventional drive train and a battery,” said Elliot. “When you’re talking about going down-market, you really have to pick a horse.”
In the next few years, a variety of battery technologies will be put through the paces to see which chemistry will be safe, have a long life, and can be recycled.
Parallel to technical development in batteries, new companies are trying to innovate with new business models.
Project Better Place, started by ex-SAP executive Shai Agassi, is planning to test a battery-swapping program in Israel, Denmark, and perhaps San Francisco. It now has a prototype of its car, which will be built by Renault.
Premium green
Apart from all the technical and business challenges remains the question of customer demand.
To fleet owners, replacing trucks with rechargeable electric vehicles could simply be a question of saving money in the face of rising fossil fuel prices. They can also potentially benefit from government incentives for cleaner transportation, such as California’s zero-emissions vehicle plan.
But for many consumers at this point, it’s more of a lifestyle statement, argued Fisker. Buying a luxury hybrid electric car is like buying Apple’s iPhone when it first came out. Buyers of some of the first consumer-oriented electric cars will be technology early adopters, eager to be part of the future, he said.
Meanwhile, Think Global is making an all-electric town car, called the Think City, which can top out at 65 mph and go 110 miles on a single charge. Rather than try to compete with a typical sedan, it’s aimed at urbanites who want a smaller, fuel-efficient car, perhaps used as a second car. It plans to bring the Think City to the U.S. and is exploring business models where consumers can swap out batteries.
The incumbent automakers are not sitting still, either. Nissan this week said that it will offer an all-electric car in 2010. GM’s Chevy Volt is supposed to come out in 2010, while the other incumbents are pursuing different paths to better mileage.
“We’re putting the pressure on the bigger boys,” said Albert Lam, CEO of Detroit Electric, which plans to make electric cars and buses in 2009. “We are the ‘Dells’ of the industry–the smaller boys that have a tremendous opportunity to validate the industry and to be the next big thing.”
Lam said consumers are also getting more savvy about green claims from automakers. He said a hybrid with a big 6-liter engine, like the one Lexus is making, is “a joke, an oxymoron.”
Fisker likens battery-powered cars to iPhones, a product consumers are willing to shell out extra for, even if it means taking on some risk of being an early adopter.
“We’re seeing a movement where people are demanding a product which is not there. People want a green car,” he said. “I think what we are going to see are people are going to take that risk because there is no other alternative.”
It was a little more than a decade ago when Toyota completely changed the automotive landscape with its small, oddly shaped economy car called the Prius. Equipped with what Toyota calls its Hybrid Synergy Drive, the Prius was the first mass-marketed hybrid in the world.
“Hybrid” refers to the car’s powertrain. It consists of a lean-burning gasoline engine and an electric motor that work together to achieve more than 40 mpg, or even 50 mpg, in city driving. With gasoline prices currently soaring to all-time highs, we at Road & Track have had our attention focused on the all-new third-gen Prius, which will hit dealerships in the spring of 2009.
Toyota is saying very little about the future Prius, but we were able to uncover key bits of information regarding its appearance and technology.
The general shape of the car will remain intact, but the front end will be thoroughly redesigned. Thanks to canted headlights and a steeply raked windshield and hood, the new Prius will look sportier than the current model. The car will grow slightly, to an overall length of 179 in. (up from 175.0 in.), resulting in a more spacious interior.
As for the motor/engine, here’s what we uncovered. The displacement of the inline-4 will grow from 1.5 liters to 1.8, which will result in more power and torque. The gasoline engine will produce about 100 bhp and 105 lb.-ft. of torque, and the electric motor generating about 60 bhp, making the new Prius more powerful than ever. We hear it will run from zero to 60 mph in about 9.5 seconds and reach a top speed of about 115 mph.
With this extra oomph, one would expect the car’s fuel economy to suffer. Nope. Amazingly, the Prius will be even more fuel-efficient than it is now. According to our sources, Toyota has improved its hybrid system so the electric motor plays a bigger role when driving. Therefore, don’t be surprised when a slow drive to the corner market is achieved without using a single drop of gasoline.
Now here’s the real kicker. The price of the all-new Prius will probably be the about same, perhaps even lower, than the current one. Toyota is expected to offer three trim levels: base, luxury and eco, with the base model starting around $21,000. Of course, these prices are at the mercy of the dollar/yen exchange rate, so don’t take them to the bank just yet. What is sure is that the next Prius will be as ground-breaking as the model before it, and Toyota will remain the global leader in fuel-efficient modes of transportation.
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