That is indeed good news, though I question their comments about the feasibility of all-battery power for vehicles. After all, you can already get the battery for the Prius (after-market) that gets 40 miles on electricity and 120 MPG afterward. Besides, Ford actually had a very small all-electric plug-in car called the "Th!nk" that they discontinued.

Maybe what Ford means is that they would have trouble getting a relatively heavy SUV to run on all electric power. Ford recently ran an ad that poo-pooed sedans as "unexciting" and tried to pursuade drivers to by the Ford Escape SUV instead, so I wouldn't be surprised if Ford isn't willing to sacrifice the size of an SUV in making an electric vehicle.

Not just the weight; the aerodynamic qualities of SUV's aren't very good, either.

Ford, I think, still believes that people buy their cars like they do meat...by the pound.

Ford is notorious for being way behind the curve with even the simplest implementation of new technology. They have just now started running very expensive TV commercials about availability of factory installed Sirius satellite radios on certain models. They expect us to fall over backwards...whooo...satellite...really? They're only about six years late on that one. Their marketing and R & D departments are completely out of touch with their customer base. Either that or the execs that run the show are complete idiots.

Gotta give 'em credit where it's due, though: the CEO (I believe) recently paid Toyota a visit to learn from them. If they're looking at turning themselves around, then maybe they'll get 'er done.

Unfortunately, Ford has become obsessed with the idea that they have to make the F-150 a top priority in their lineup, keeping it at the top of the sales ladder. All their other vehicles, save the 'Stang and the Super Duty lineup, are just waddling and waning (or so it would seem).

I'm beginning to think this country needs another "Gas Crisis" just to jar our thinking back in the right direction.

I have hopes for Ford. They are pushing their Fusion nowadays which has been a small success, so I am thinking that perhaps they are getting serious about being competitive in the car market again. As much as I like Toyota, I like to see it have healthy competition. It will take a few years before it will be clear whether Ford is successful at their restructuring or if it was all just a front.

One thing about batteries, is that battery life is very important. Remember, that in order for Toyota to make the Prius battery last a long time, they limited the batter charge to 40-80 percent. So, the batteries are oversized by 60%, simply to extend battery life.

Lithium Ion batteries do not like to be fully charged and discharged either.

Just because some high school kids can build an electric car does not mean that they can build an electric car with a reasonable battery life.

One of the problems with GM's EV1 was with battery reliability. I know that "who killed the electric car" documentary does not like to talk about that. (after all that would blow their whole premise)

I think battery reliability is the "deep seated engineering problem" that Ford is talking about, in regards to plug in hybrids.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Jun 13 2007, 12:49 PM) [snapback]460981[/snapback]</div>

I think you could strike the word "faster" from that sentence.

But they could add a heavy steel plate to the bottom of their Explorer to lower the center of gravity so it was less likely to tip over. Granted, this was a few years ago, and cheaper solution than a redesign (or face injury/death lawsuits), but you didn't hear any talk about the feasibility of weight then.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Jun 14 2007, 02:31 PM) [snapback]461763[/snapback]</div>

Or given the success of both the Prius and the Civic Hybrid, why don't they build a Fusion Hybrid, they already have technology similar to Toyota's in the Escape, just port it over.

Supossedly, the Fusion hybrid will out in 2008.

As too the difficulties of a plug-in, they are likely refering to implementing it with the their current hybrid system. Yes, people have converted the Prius to a plug-in, but, as I understand, pure electric motive power is limited to 34mph. To reach 60mph, you'll have isolate the ICE or spin it with a parasitic loss. Spinning it is the easier answer, but will call for a larger battery.

GM is the only one to annonce a plug-in, and they are going with the simpler, time tested series design.