Ford Announces Plan to Sell Hybrid SUV
Stealing a march on its domestic competitors, Ford Motor Co. on Thursday became the first U.S. car maker to announce plans to sell a hybrid passenger vehicle that uses both gasoline and electric motors.
Ford officials said the company is committed to marketing the hybrid electric version of its new small sport-utility vehicle, the Escape, in 2003. The Escape HEV will achieve fuel economy of about 40 miles per gallon and will qualify for California’s tough super-ultra-low emission vehicle (SULEV) rating.
“We are developing what we believe will be the most fuel-efficient and clean-operating sport-utility vehicle available anywhere,” said Neil Ressler, Ford’s vice president for research and vehicle technology.
The new hybrid would help Ford meet federal guidelines for reducing average vehicle fuel consumption.
It is unclear, though, whether it would help the company meet California’s tough requirement that major car makers begin offering zero-emission vehicles by 2003. SULEVs with 150,000-mile emission-system warranties and zero emissions from fuel evaporation will get partial zero-emission credit, and a Ford spokesman said the company hopes to fit the Escape HEV into that category.
The hybrid sport utility has not yet been priced but will be sold without subsidies and will be competitive with other hybrids, Ford said. The company also plans to sell it in Europe as the Maverick HEV.
Honda Motor Co., with its two-seat Insight, and Toyota Motor Co., with its five-seat Prius compact sedan, are beating Ford to the market with hybrid electric vehicles in the U.S.
The Insight, which went on sale at the start of the year, is priced at $19,000, while the Prius, scheduled to hit showrooms in July, will start at about $20,000. Honda has said it plans to build only about 4,000 Insights this year, while Toyota said it expects to sell 12,000 of its hybrid.
General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler have developed prototype hybrid vehicles but have not announced production plans.
Hybrids combine small electric motors and small gasoline engines to provide power that proponents argue is less environmentally damaging and more fuel efficient than conventional gas engines. Honda, however, makes several gasoline-only cars that achieve better emissions ratings in California than does the Insight.
Typically, a hybrid’s electric motor acts as a supercharger to provide additional boost when needed, although Toyota’s system also enables the car to run on pure electric power at very low speeds. Ford said its system would mate an electric motor and a four-cylinder gasoline engine into a system that provides the acceleration of a V-6 with almost 500 miles of range on a 12-gallon tank of gasoline.
