Dream PHEV Headline by Ford/Edison Monday
Jul 7, 2007 (From the CalCars-News archive)

Late Friday we got calls from journalists asking what we know about a
Businesswire media advisory. It was an invitation to media to hear
Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, and John Bryson, CEO of Edison
International, parent company of Southern California Edison, at a
2:30 PST press conference Monday to announce:

"a joint electric transportation initiative designed to explore ways
to advance plug-in hybrid technology for the U.S. market. This will
be the first time a major automaker and a large electricity utility
have combined resources to study ways to make plug-in hybrid
technology more accessible for all customers."
Promised video includes: "Hybrid vehicles and a bank of electric
vehicle charging stations/B-roll footage of a Ford hybrid and the SCE
electricity system."

We no nothing more than you. The description sounds like a small
study with a handful of prototypes -- but with both CEOs showing up,
it could be far more. We hope Sherry Boschert is right when she was
quoted by Reuters (below), that automakers are finally "realizing
that the handwriting is on the wall." We hope Monday marks the
culmination of years of efforts by PHEV advocates to encourage Ford
to see the opportunity. It's Ford's chance to get people excited
about their cars, take the lead in innovation -- and in the race to
be first on PHEVs, beat GM and Toyota to the starting line.


THE HEADLINE/STORY WE'D WELCOME
Ford/Edison Offer Cash-Back Hybrids to Fleets

Ford announces it will make available in the coming months hundreds
of Ford Escape [or other model] PHEVs for testing in vehicle-to-grid
(V2G) experiments and evaluation of everyday driving use, by SCE, the
US National Labs, Pacific Gas & Electric, Austin Energy, King County,
Google, and the other consortia and companies that want to prove out
PHEV performance and begin integrating transportation and power
generation. The company announces a fast-track timetable for
mass-produced PHEVs. And it commits to support legislation now under
consideration in the House and Senate to incentivize producers and
buyers of PHEVs.

NOTE: The V2G capability would require not only larger batteries and
associated electronics, but also two-way controllers so the car can
be fully integrated into the power system. This hardware is
"existing, proven technology" -- AC Propulsion has made and sold them
for years, and Hybrids-Plus is about to sell them. And a number of
companies are developing software and systems to integrate plug-in
cars with the grid's management and billing systems.


CONTEXT FOR MONDAY'S ANOUNCEMENT
Here's a partial recap of Ford's recent history with hybrids and
plug-in cars (details of many at
<http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html> and
<http://www.calcars.org/carmakers.html>):

HYBRID DEVELOPMENT
* After five years, Ford launched the Ford Escape Hybrid in summer
2004. The much-anticipated first hybrid SUV offered MPG in the low
30s (compared to the low 20s for the non-hybrid). Customers,
especially in states like California and Virginia, where high-MPG
hybrids were allowed in the HOV (carpool) lanes, expressed their
disappointment. (It came close to being called a "muscle hybrid,"
like the Accord recently discontinued by Honda.)
* Under Bill Ford, the company promised to increase hybrid production
ten-fold by 2010, then retracted the commitment.
* The Sierra Club's national leadership partnered with Ford to
introduce the Mariner hybrid. Sierra and other groups were
disappointed when only a few thousand were produced. Many are still
in the process of realizing they could support far more than hybrids,
and that reducing petroleum use is not the same as displacing it with
renewable, domestic electricity.
* Responding to Ford's position as the US carmaker with the lowest
average fleet fuel economy, Rainforest Action Network and Global
Exchange launched the Jumpstart Ford campaign for higher-MPG cars
throughout the Ford line. (Later broadened and joined by the Ruckus
Society, it was renamed the Freedom From Oil Campaign.)

PLUG-IN HYBRID EFFORTS
* CalCars, working with architect-designer Bill McDonough (former
sustainability advisor to the Bill Ford and the company), and with
Prof. Andy Frank, engaged with Ford in 2005-2006 for six months with
proposals for PHEV projects, but never managed to get buy-in.
* Bill Ford, when publicly asked at the May 2006 shareholders
meeting, said the company was "keenly looking" at PHEVs but had
nothing to announce.
* Ford introduced two concept cars that it said showed its interest
in PHEVS: the HySeries Edge and the Airstream. Both were greeted with
much skepticism, since they start with hydrogen fuel cells as the
range extender.
* Continuing contacts with Ford engineers indicates that the
impediments are more about business models and company priorities
than technology.

COMPANY AND MANAGEMENT EVENTS
* Ford abandoned its popular Th!nk all-electric car; after several
corporate reorganizations, Think Global cars will soon be produced
and sold with battery packs from Tesla Energy Systems, the new
subsidiary of Tesla Motors.
* Ford tried to take back a small number of remaining Ranger EV
trucks, but finally gave in to the Don't Crush Campaign, which then
became Plug In America.
* Mary Ann Wright, who led the Ford Escape Hybrid development, took
the job of CEO of a Johnson Controls-Saft Battery joint venture to
sell lithium batteries to GM and other carmakers.
* When Boeing's Bill Mulally took over as Ford's new CEO, business
analysts described one of Ford's main problems as "it will take them
five years to change their product mix." We responded with messages
we hope reached Mulally that, in less than a year, the company could
extend the Ford Escape Hybrid line with a PHEV option.

FORD ESCAPE CONVERSIONS (see <http://www.calcars.org/where-phevs-are.html>)
* When we showed our Prius PHEV to Bill Clinton last year, his
reaction was that he wanted to convert the Mariner Hybrid the company
had customized for him.
* Escape hybrids have been converted to PHEV and publicly shown by
Hymotion/A123 and by All Cell Technologies in Chicago, but have
received relatively little attention.
* Canadian battery company Electrovaya has a conversion under
development, as does Colorado's Hybrids-Plus.
* Hybrids-Plus plans to include with its Escape the "Inverger, an
integrated Inverter and Charger to transfer power in either direction
between the electrical grid and the PHEV battery."
* We were intrigued that the South Coast Air Quality Management
District's announcement of a contract with Quantum Technologies for
conversions of 20 Escape Hybrids is described as occurring "with
support from Ford," but we've been unable to find out any further
details (the contract isn't final).


REUTERS PREVIEWS MONDAY
Ford, utility join to promote plug-in ve
By Kevin Krolickihicles Fri Jul 6, 2007 7:59PM EDT
<http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0620997020070706>

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co and power utility Southern
California Edison will announce an unusual alliance on Monday aimed
at clearing the way for a new generation of rechargeable electric
cars, the companies said.

Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Edison International Chief
Executive John Bryson are scheduled to meet with reporters at
Edison's headquarters in Rosemead, California, the companies said.

The two chief executives will announce a "joint initiative" that
represents a first-of-its-kind tie-up between a major automaker and a
major utility in the area of "plug-in" hybrid vehicle technology,
representatives of both companies said.

Further details were not immediately available, but environmental
advocates said the tie-up showed the momentum building for developing
rechargeable hybrid vehicles as a way to reduce oil consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental advocates, particularly in California, have been
pressing automakers to roll out such plug-in vehicles that would be
capable of running on electricity for short distances and recharging
at a standard electric outlet.

"I think they're all realizing that the handwriting is on the wall,"
said Sherry Boschert, a plug-in vehicle advocate and author.

Southern California Edison, which supplies power to some 13 million
people in the area around Los Angeles, has been a vocal advocate for
the development of electric vehicles and proposed tax incentives and
rebates to speed their development.

SCE has said that its existing power-generation facilities would be
capable of supplying millions of vehicles if they were recharged at
night when demand is low.

Experimental technology being tested in northern California on a
small fleet run by Web search giant Google Inc. also allows parked
plug-ins to transfer stored energy back to the electric grid, opening
a potential back-up source of power for the system in peak hours.

Ford became the first American car maker to introduce a hybrid
vehicle when it released the Escape in 2004.

But faced with declining U.S. market share, Ford later backed off
ambitious sales targets for hybrids and was criticized by
environmental advocates for having lost momentum in the race to
develop alternatives to combustion engines.

In June, an executive for Ford said it was developing new hybrid
vehicles but saw deep-seated engineering problems with plug-in vehicles.

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., who led the automaker until
last September, said last month that he regretted that Ford had not
moved faster to seize the lead in addressing environmental concerns.

Led by Toyota Motor Corp's Prius, the current generation of hybrid
vehicles uses batteries to power the vehicle at low speeds and in
stop-and-go traffic, delivering higher fuel economy.

General Motors Corp. has already begun work this year to develop its
own plug-in hybrid car, designed to use little or no gasoline over
short distances.

GM showed off a concept version of the Chevrolet Volt in January and
has set 2010 as a target for production.

Analysts have said pending legal and regulatory changes could speed
the adoption of hybrid technology.

The U.S. Senate last month approved sharp increases in fuel economy
standards and is considering a package of tax credits for consumers
who purchase plug-in vehicles and the companies that make them.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is one of the
sponsors of that legislation.