Ford's road map for electric and electrified cars

Consumer Reports News: April 03, 2009 05:30 PM

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This week, Ford shared its strategy and philosophy for tackling the oncoming transition to electric (and electrically assisted) cars. I met with the company's director of sustainable mobility technology and hybrid vehicles, Nancy Gioia, who laid out the Ford's plans and the challenges the industry faces in moving forward.

Ford expects rising gasoline prices over the long term to drive a shift toward smaller, more-efficient cars. And adding hybrids and electric cars to the lineup will be a big part of that.

"We don't view vehicle electrification as an option," she said. "This is what needs to happen." Even counting emissions from electric power generation, she says, electric cars bring a net reduction in CO2 emissions.

Among the challenges in developing electric cars:

They're expensive. "Electric drive trains are expensive, because they're early on the technology curve and are produced in very low volumes," she said. Beyond early adopters who have been willing to pay extra for hybrids, she said the payback for more efficient drive trains needs to be within three years, or else the monthly payments need to be equivalent to a conventional car. One way Ford is looking at achieving that is through leasing the batteries for use in an electric car and then putting used battery packs to another use with utility companies or elsewhere where they may have longer duty life. They could also be used in powering homes.

Legal hurdles may pose problems. For example, a supplier's engineer pointed out that federal motor vehicle standards forbid a vehicle's engine from being started while the transmission selector is in "Drive." Yet hybrids' engines start and stop frequently when the car is under way. And while all cars are required to have hydraulic brakes on all four wheels, hydraulic systems, per se, may not be necessary in hybrids.

In the end, Ford's plan sounds a little more conservative than those of other big automakers, but the company is actively developing electric vehicles and working diligently on cutting gasoline use, as evidenced by the 2010 Ford Fusion we drove this week.

Read "Obama pledges $2.4 billion for electric vehicles & technology."

—Eric Evarts

Learn about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section.