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Automation & Control

Ford Showcases Its First Plug-in Hybrid

Sherif Marakby, Ford Motor Co.’s director of electrification, talks about the technical choices that Ford made on its new C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid.
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1/19/2012 | 7 comments
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apresher
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Blogger
Plug-In Hybrids
apresher   2/25/2013 1:59:39 PM
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Thanks for this report. The 20 mile range does seem to be big limitation of this technology at the moment.

jsmith14
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Silver
Re: I'm Curious
jsmith14   5/25/2012 10:56:33 PM
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The designer was proud of teh fact teh LED taillaights were distinctive. They are, but. I would like to see a more practical and imaginative use of LEDs. Replace all light bulbs with LEDs. No more burnt out bulbs and Ford TSB. This would be a real customer-engineer related advantage.

tekochip
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Platinum
I'm Curious
tekochip   4/28/2012 2:03:59 PM
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The all electric range is a little short, but the total range is quite good.  I guess the next question is the cost of ownership.  It seems that the pricetag has been pretty hefty these days, and 20 miles is just a little short to keep the cost down.  I also wonder of the 20 miles is with all the lights, heat, wipers and everything off, so as soon as it's cold and raining at night the range drops to 5 miles.

Brentlim
User Rank
Iron
Re: Range anxiety
Brentlim   4/28/2012 12:10:31 PM
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Seems strange that it took this long to add a built-in battery charger to a hybrid. This finally seems like a real starting point for electric cars, all problems solved. No gasoline for short everyday trips, but not having to buy another car when road trips come up. Standard hybrids were a small gain in efficiency due to all the power still deriving from gasoline.

I just hope they got the sticker price right as well, make it affordable so that the extra cost ROI is less than 5 years.

naperlou
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Blogger
Re: Range anxiety
naperlou   2/17/2012 4:40:33 PM
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That's right Charles.  Remember, that is pure electric range.  You don't use any gasoline.  For myself, that would work well.  There are many days where I drive less than 20 miles.  On those days I would not have to use any gasoline.  On the other hand, if I had to go somewhere further, the gasoline engine would just kick in.  I also assume that like a regular hybrid, the system would "harvest" energy (breaking, for example) while driving in hybrid mode.  This is not a Nissan Leaf or Tesla system.

Charles Murray
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Blogger
Re: Range anxiety
Charles Murray   1/19/2012 7:51:41 PM
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Twenty miles isn't much, but a shorter all-electric range means a smaller battery, and a smaller battery means less cost.

zookfit
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Iron
Range anxiety
zookfit   1/19/2012 4:27:19 PM
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A plug-in hybrid with 20 mile range of electric power is not good. 

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