An electric car doesn’t burn an ounce of gas or emit a droplet of emissions.
But the batteries only go so far before they need to be plugged into a socket for a recharge.
That’s why many feel a gas/electric is better, using batteries to start the car and to give the gas engine a boost when passing and thus reducing reliance on gasoline. The big benefit is driving range, limited as with a gasoline-only vehicle to a few-minute stop at the pumps every so often for a refill.
But hybrids still burn petrol and release gunk into the atmosphere.
General Motors just came up with a better alternative–the Chevy Volt concept.
It uses batteries to start and keep the car going–for 40 miles before a 6.5-hour recharge. . But it also sports a 3-cylinder gas engine to create more electricity to keep you going another 600-or-so miles without a recharge. You then have to refill and recharge.
The drawback, of course, is that you have to refill the gas tank and, therefore, create emissions.
Ford provides another alternative. Its hybrid uses batteries to start and keep going. You do have to recharge the batteries after 25 miles but can travel an additional 200 miles by switching to a hydrogen fuel cell that creates electricity. Refueling requires 4.5 gallons of hydrogen.
This technology is in the Ford HySeries hydrogen hybrid concept of the Edge crossover.
Hydrogen conserves petrol and eliminates air pollution. Its only byproduct is water vapor that escapes from an exhaust pipe.
We tested the Edge hybrid during a bitter cold spell when the water vapor from the exhaust pipe hit the pavement and froze.
Mujeeb Ijaz, manager of fuel cell vehicle engineering at Ford, said that’s easily addressed.
“We could run a line from the exhaust to bring the vapor back through the car to the dash. You could drink the water,” he said.
Hmm.
There’s another side benefit from that water vapor: It warms your hands when the temperature falls into the single digits, as it did the day we tested the hybrid.
Neat, but the ability to warm hands didn’t solve the problem of seeing the Ford Escape following in the rearview mirror wherever we traveled. The Escape was sent by Ford to carry a supply of hydrogen to refill the hybrid Edge if needed, since no filling station in the neighborhood dispenses that fuel.
Ijaz said you can expect the equivalent of 40 m.p.g. in combined city/highway driving, but up to 80 m.p.g. if you spend most of your commute in battery mode. Top speed is 85 m.p.h.
If you commute only a short distance, you could run forever on battery power and never have to switch to hydrogen. Simply plug in each night.
Of course, that’s a risk. You have to keep tabs on the odometer each trip to make sure you’re not nearing the 25-mile range before the required 4- to 7-hour recharge, depending on whether you use a 220- or 110-volt socket.
A small gas or diesel engine could be substituted for the hydrogren fuel cell to extend Edge’s limited range, but that would defeat the purpose of trying to eliminate reliance on foreign oil and to clean the air of automotive pollution.
The HySeries Edge is powered by two electric motors that get their energy from a 130-kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack. The power source delivers 170 h.p.
All the hybrid hardware, however, adds about 1,000 pounds, weight you feel in the wheel when moving from the stoplight, switching lanes or simply slipping into a parking space. It makes the midsize Edge feel like a full-size Expedition in terms of maneuverability.
Two buttons in the instrument panel set this hybrid apart from the gas version. One extends how long you stay in battery power. Typically, you remain in battery mode until the charge falls to 40 percent; hydrogen is then called on to produce electricity. Pushing the button lets the charge dip to 10 percent before calling in the fuel cell.
The other button activates the fuel cell for a boost to pass or climb the steep hill. It’s like sending a turbocharger or supercharger into action.
Acceleration is decent in battery mode only, but that extra 1,000 pounds feels like a small boat tied to the bumper. Push the button to take off in fuel-cell power, and it’s like someone unhooked the trailer.
It takes energy to move 1,000 pounds as well as to stop it. So braking is best done a little early.
Whatever mode, this is an electric and that means it runs silently. No roar, no rumble, no cylinder and piston commotion, no performance-tuned exhaust. It takes time to adjust to the quiet.
Two gauges differ from those in a gas vehicle: One shows the charge left in the battery pack, sort of an “electricity to empty” reading, the other shows how much hydrogen is left in the tank.
Outside, a fuel filler door opens to expose a metal port to accommodate a metal hydrogen filler head. Twist to lock it before releasing hydrogen into the tank.
Another door above the front fender opens to expose an electrical connection for the lithium-ion battery pack.
Same ample room and comfort as the gas version.
For this concept to become reality, obviously hydrogen has to become readily available. Also, the lithium-ion battery pack has to function for 10 years in any kind of weather.
Ijaz said lithium-ion batteries will start the car in temperatures as low but no lower than 15 below zero, even if the car is left outside overnight.
It may mean those in cold climes will have to garage their cars in the winter, perhaps in heated garages, to ensure they start. Of course, until hydrogen filling stations dot each corner, no use locating a furnace in your garage as yet.
No telling what the hybrid, much less hydrogen, will cost by the time–whenever–this vehicle is production ready.
“We still have to work on bringing down the cost of the batteries and the fuel cell,” Ijaz said. “This vehicle is far from commercially feasible. I don’t see it coming any sooner than 10 years. If that sounds like a long time, keep in mind the internal combustion engine has been around more than 100 years.”
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Ford Edge AWD HySeries hydrogen hybrid
Price as tested: $2,000,000
THE STICKER
$2 million Base
Only a concept
THE NUMBERS
Wheelbase: 111.2 inches
Length: 185.7 inches
Power: Two electric motors powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and 130-kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack that develops 170-h.p.
Transmission: Single speed forward
CITY/HIGHWAY COMBINED: 41 m.p.g.
PLUSES
Never burn gasoline again.
MINUSES
Finding hydrogen fuel.
Will the lithium ion batteries perform for 10 years?
What will the production model cost?
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Read Jim Mateja Sunday in Transportation and Tuesday and Thursday in Business. Hear him on WBBM-AM 780 at 6:22 p.m. Wednesdays and 11:22 a.m. Sundays.
jmateja@tribune.com
