Plug-In Hybrid Cars Touted as 'Game-Changing Technology'

Dearborn, Mich., March 20, 2008 — -- Start your car today and you may get 20 miles a gallon.

But what if you could get 60? Or 100? Or more?

"Conceivably, they could run on electric mode day in and day out," says Nancy Gioia, director of hybrid vehicle programs at Ford.

To see if that's possible, we were given a private test drive of the Ford Escape, refitted as what's called a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle — PHEV for short.

Turn the key — and there isn't a sound. Plug-ins get most of their power from batteries, supplemented when necessary by a gasoline engine.

From the driver's seat, the car looked and ran much the same as a production-model Escape, which is a small SUV.

But we were barely out of the parking lot in Dearborn, Mich., when Ford's Greg Frenette, sitting in the passenger seat, pushed a few buttons on a read-out screen and announced, "You've already saved three cents on this trip."

Frenette, who is chief engineer for advanced hybrids at Ford, says his team has taken pains to make the car drive like any other — except that in routine suburban driving, you may be able to go 30 miles without using a drop of gas.

That saves money, because it's estimated that at today's prices, gasoline costs most drivers about 10 cents a miles, while electricity from batteries cost about a third as much.

David Sandalow of the Brookings Institution, who worked at the U.S. Department of Energy in the 1990s, is a believer. In a new book, "Freedom From Oil," he writes, "Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are a game-changing technology. They can break our oil addiction, cut driving costs and reduce pollution."

Automakers have been selling hybrid cars for years, such as the Escape or the market-leading Toyota Prius. The Escape hybrid gets about 30 miles per gallon, while the smaller Prius gets 45.

But those vehicles run principally on gasoline, with electric motors to help out.

A plug-in would be just the opposite. Ford added larger, more powerful batteries beneath the floor of the trunk. The result: It's the gas engine, not the electric motor, that's there for backup for most drivers.

You charge the batteries overnight — the only way the PHEV is notably different to its owner. There's a plug on the outside, just in front of the driver's door.

In Ford's case, one can use a standard extension cord. Toyota has designed a special cable for its PHEV prototype.

As we drove around the Detroit suburbs, the Escape was noticeably quieter than its gas-powered cousin. The gas engine only comes on when you floor the pedal.

Frenette, watching his screen, did some more calculations and said, "You're getting about 80-90 miles per gallon."

That's unusually high, he said, probably because the terrain around Ford's headquarters in Dearborn is very flat, and because I was light on the pedal. Other test drivers tended to get 50-60 miles a gallon — still more than double the mileage the conventional Escape gets.

A lot of work remains to be done before PHEVs can hit the market. Lithium ion batteries, good for cell phones and laptop computers, have to be refined so that large clusters can be put in a car without overheating or wearing out.

And Sandalow of the Brookings Institution cites estimates that say the cost of a plug-in might be $8,000-$11,000 higher because of the technology. But he urges federal tax credits to help entice buyers. And many analysts point out that because of the reduced driving cost, a PHEV might pay for itself in just a few years.

Market analysts say the automakers are hedging their bets by making PHEVs. They make a lot more money off a conventional SUV. But they also worry that rising gasoline prices, and federal regulations, may force them to seek alternatives.

"I think it's conceivable within the next five years that we could put a vehicle like this into our showrooms," Frenette said.