Ford Teams Up With California Utility To Test Rechargeable Hybrids

The Ford Motor Co. and Southern California Edison will work together to test rechargeable hybrid vehicles in an effort to bring the environmentally friendly vehicles to market more quickly.

The utility will get a Ford Escape plug-in hybrid by the end of the year and up to 19 more Escapes by 2009 to test their durability, range and impact on the power grid.

Southern California Edison will assist Ford by placing the cars with consumers and collecting data, said Susan M. Cischke, Ford senior vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering.

"They have the wire-side knowledge about the grid and all the issues there," she said. "By partnering with these two industries...we're hoping that it does accelerate the commercialization and drive some of the costs down."

The Dearborn automaker is not the first to tap into the potential of working with a power provider. Earlier this year, Pacific Gas & Electric, another California utility, began experimenting with a Toyota Prius that has been converted to allow two-way flows of electricity. PG&E will send wireless signals to the car while it is parked and plugged in to check its state of charge. It can then recharge the batteries or draw out the power. The thinking is that eventually thousands of such vehicles could provide extra power to the grid.

How long before plug-ins are available on the showroom floor? Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said it's likely to be 5-10 years. "Ford wants to accelerate the program wherever technically possible," said Mulally, "but there are no secrets, no silver bullet. We need to make sure we balance the affordability of plug-ins with sustainability."