Ford Escape Hybrid Now has Electric A/C

It is good to see that Ford is adopting new technologies like this, beyond just selling hybrids.

 

It's about time. Now if only they'd figure out how to manufacture more hybrids, it seems like they've been production limited in sales for some time. I've seen a handful of Fusion hybrids on the road around here, they do look nice.

 

Considering that the Ford Hybrid Drive system is basically a variant of the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive (both fundamentally work the same way, since both uses the Power Split Device), it's only logical that the next improvement they make would be an electric AC unit.

You can probably expect future models of the Fusion Hybrid and Escape Hybrid to incorporate many of the improvements Toyota has made to the HSD like the exhaust heat recovery system and such.

 

I heard a rumor that a future Fusion PHEV will have a swing-arm with a GM-compatible power plug so that it can "siphon" off electricity from the Volt at stoplights.

 

Given that the HSD is just a variant of the TRW hybrid system from the 1970s, that TRW tried to sell to Ford back then.... (you fill in the rest)....