Ford Modifies a Conventional Internal Combustion Engine to Hydrogen Power
On the road to finding a greener alternative to gasoline, engineers and scientists have come up with a variety of power
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| The Focus C-Max H2 ICE is a different approach to zero emissions. (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
It seems that diesel is Europe's answer to a greener world, and the more technically advanced hybrid-electric powertrains are Japan and North America's solution. Both have their positive and negative attributes, of course, the positive being excellent fuel consumption, a reduction in emissions over conventional gasoline and reduced cost. On the negative side is a higher cost than comparative gasoline engines, and the fact that both technologies still burn fossil fuels (with the exception of bio-diesel).
Hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) offer a combination of high-torque, zero-emission electric motors and a small, frugal internal combustion engines (ICEs), most often gasoline powered but diesel is starting to show up among HEVs too. The unorthodox approach is proving to be quite popular, demonstrated by Toyota's Prius
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| Ford announced that it plans to sell upwards of 20,000 of the much anticipated Escape Hybrid SUV in 2005. (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
Ford has its own HEV, the much anticipated Escape Hybrid. The auto company announced in Seattle on Friday, July 16, 2004, that it plans to sell upwards of 20,000 eco-friendly compact SUVs in 2005. Still, it won't be a profit making venture, at least at first. Ford stated it plans on absorbing much of the additional cost of adding the battery, electric motor and various HEV parts, along with the conventional gasoline engine, which is estimated to add an additional $5,000 to $7,000 to each Escape. Ford will only be increasing the regular price by $3,400.