Ford delivers hydrogen Focus Fuel Cell Vehicles to Southeast
Michigan cities as part of a 3-year demonstration program.
Ford Motor Company is handing over the keys to five hybrid hydrogen
Ford Focus Fuel Cell vehicles to the cities of Taylor and Ann Arbor ,
Mich. , as part of a five-city, 30-car program to conduct real world
testing of fuel cell technology.
The Ford Focus FCV uses hybrid technology that has benefited from the
company's experience engineering the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury
Mariner Hybrid.
Ford is actively engaged in serious development on four advanced fuel
technologies – gasoline-electric hybrids, clean diesels,
hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines and fuel cells.
Taylor, Mich. Oct. 19,
2005 – Ford
Motor Company is handing over the keys to five hybrid hydrogen Ford
Focus Fuel Cell vehicles today as part of a five-city 30-car program to
conduct real world testing of fuel cell technology. Taylor will get
four vehicles and Ann Arbor will receive one.
Area residents will notice the Focus Fuel Cell vehicles in
their neighborhoods as city employees drive the vehicles for city
business or, in Taylor , as the water department travels to read
meters. The vehicles will also be part of community events to spread
awareness of the demonstration program.
The Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) represents Ford's
commitment to advancing the use and development of alternative-fuel
technologies. It is one of the industry's first hybridized fuel cell
vehicles combining the improved range and performance of hybrid
technology with the overall benefits of a fuel cell. Ford has been
conducting fuel cell research for more than 10 years and believes fuel
cell vehicles could be commercially viable by the middle of the next
decade.
Knowledge gained engineering Ford's Escape Hybrid and Mercury
Mariner Hybrids has been shared between the FCV vehicle engineering
team and the people working on both Ford gasoline powered hybrids on
the road today, as well as future gasoline hybrids Ford will sell.
"The engineers who work on the Focus FCV work hand in hand with
those developing our gasoline hybrids," said Mary Ann Wright, director
of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Programs for Ford Motor
Company. "The knowledge we gain by engineering these cars not only
benefits our expertise in innovative fuel cell propulsion technology,
it also will help us deliver even better gasoline hybrids in the near
term."
Ford is actively engaged in the development of four promising
future alternatives to today’s gasoline engines including, clean
diesels, gasoline-electric hybrids, hydrogen internal combustion
engines (H2ICE) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV).
The Focus FCV is the most sophisticated environmental vehicle
Ford has ever developed and its success is an important milestone in
Ford's long-term strategy to move toward hydrogen and alternative-fuel
powered cars and trucks as viable consumer transportation options.
The Focus FCV looks and drives like other Focus sedans on the
road today, but appearances can be deceiving. Although it is designed
to look like any other car on the road, under the hood of the Focus FCV
is a sophisticated hybrid electric powertrain. Tucked under the
floorpan is a hydrogen fuel cell and auxiliary energy system that
supplies electricity to the powertrain. A hydrogen tank in the trunk
carries the car’s renewable hydrogen fuel.
The Ford Focus FCV uses a fuel cell powertrain supplied by
Ballard Power Systems, the world leader in proton exchange membrane
(PEM) fuel cell technology. The FCV is hybridized with the addition of
a nickel metal–hydride battery pack and a brake-by-wire
electro-hydraulic series regenerative braking system. The fuel cell
engine converts chemical energy into electric energy using hydrogen
fuel and oxygen from air. The electric energy then powers the vehicle's
electric drive motor, producing only water vapor and heat as
by-products.
This year, Ford is delivering evaluation fleets of Focus FCVs
for placement in demonstration programs in the United States, Canada ,
and Germany. This includes five vehicles now in use in Vancouver ,
British Columbia ; five cars delivered to the Sacramento ( Calif. )
Municipal District; five cars delivered to the State of Florida ; and
the five delivered in Michigan today. All of the programs are designed
to promote development of hydrogen-based technologies.
