Fuel Cell Works Supplemental News Page

**Ford to test fuel-cell vehicles around Orlando**
Publication date: 27-April-2004 Source:Sun Sentinel
Steven Cole Smith Sentinel Automotive Editor Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce today that Orlando is one of two U.S. cities getting a fleet of experimental cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The other city is Detroit, where an announcement will also be made at an afternoon news conference. The news follows an initiative announced Monday by President Bush that calls for a $350 million package to back hydrogen research. It also comes during the 15th annual U.S. Hydrogen Conference, now under way in Los Angeles. Fuel cells are the long-term hope for weaning the transportation system off oil-dependent resources. On-board fuel cells use hydrogen to generate electricity to power vehicles, with water as the only byproduct. A central problem, though, is the infrastructure needed to develop a network of hydrogen-refueling stations. That was to be addressed at this afternoon's news conferences: BP PLC, the world's largest integrated oil company, and Progress Energy, Florida's second-largest electric utility, will develop and build a hydrogen-refueling station that's expected to be a prototype for future stations. "This represents quite a commitment to Central Florida," said Mike Vaughn, Ford's public affairs manager for global technology. The Orlando fleet of Ford fuel-cell vehicles, expected to total six or more, are based on the carmaker's Focus sedan. Fuel-cell vehicles are different from "hybrid" vehicles, which use small, conventional gasoline-powered engines to help generate electricity that charges onboard batteries and runs an electric motor. Although several hybrid vehicles are in production and for sale, including the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight and the Honda Civic Hybrid, there are as yet no mass-market hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on the market. Mike Schwarz, director of Ford's Sustainable Mobile Technologies group, said manufacturers are still "years away from mass production and sales" of fuel-cell vehicles. The vehicles coming to Orlando are called Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicles, or Focus FCVs. Onboard fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy, which charges a battery pack consisting of 180 small batteries, each the size of a D-cell flashlight battery. The battery pack helps power an 85-kilowatt electric motor, which translates to about 117 horsepower. By comparison, the base-model Ford Focus has a 110-horsepower gasoline engine. The Focus FCV's hydrogen storage tank, which can handle up to 5,000 pounds per square inch of hydrogen, is good for a range of up to 200 miles before refueling. Vaughn says there are about 20 Focus FCVs on the road in a research capacity, most of them in the Detroit area. Ford will also base five Focus FCVs in Vancouver, British Columbia, to give its Canadian "evaluation partners" an opportunity to test the vehicles in real-world applications. At least one of the Central Florida vehicles is expected to be used to patrol Wekiwa Springs State Park, which is the location of today's local news conference. Ford is not the only manufacturer working on hydrogen-powered vehicles. Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW and several others are also developing fuel-cell technology. ~

Steven Cole Smith
Sentinel Automotive Editor

Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce today that Orlando is one of two U.S. cities getting a fleet of experimental cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The other city is Detroit, where an announcement will also be made at an afternoon news conference.

The news follows an initiative announced Monday by President Bush that calls for a $350 million package to back hydrogen research. It also comes during the 15th annual U.S. Hydrogen Conference, now under way in Los Angeles.

Fuel cells are the long-term hope for weaning the transportation system off oil-dependent resources. On-board fuel cells use hydrogen to generate electricity to power vehicles, with water as the only byproduct.

A central problem, though, is the infrastructure needed to develop a network of hydrogen-refueling stations.

That was to be addressed at this afternoon's news conferences: BP PLC, the world's largest integrated oil company, and Progress Energy, Florida's second-largest electric utility, will develop and build a hydrogen-refueling station that's expected to be a prototype for future stations.

"This represents quite a commitment to Central Florida," said Mike Vaughn, Ford's public affairs manager for global technology. The Orlando fleet of Ford fuel-cell vehicles, expected to total six or more, are based on the carmaker's Focus sedan.

Fuel-cell vehicles are different from "hybrid" vehicles, which use small, conventional gasoline-powered engines to help generate electricity that charges onboard batteries and runs an electric motor. Although several hybrid vehicles are in production and for sale, including the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight and the Honda Civic Hybrid, there are as yet no mass-market hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on the market.

Mike Schwarz, director of Ford's Sustainable Mobile Technologies group, said manufacturers are still "years away from mass production and sales" of fuel-cell vehicles.

The vehicles coming to Orlando are called Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicles, or Focus FCVs. Onboard fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy, which charges a battery pack consisting of 180 small batteries, each the size of a D-cell flashlight battery. The battery pack helps power an 85-kilowatt electric motor, which translates to about 117 horsepower.

By comparison, the base-model Ford Focus has a 110-horsepower gasoline engine.

The Focus FCV's hydrogen storage tank, which can handle up to 5,000 pounds per square inch of hydrogen, is good for a range of up to 200 miles before refueling. Vaughn says there are about 20 Focus FCVs on the road in a research capacity, most of them in the Detroit area.

Ford will also base five Focus FCVs in Vancouver, British Columbia, to give its Canadian "evaluation partners" an opportunity to test the vehicles in real-world applications. At least one of the Central Florida vehicles is expected to be used to patrol Wekiwa Springs State Park, which is the location of today's local news conference.

Ford is not the only manufacturer working on hydrogen-powered vehicles. Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW and several others are also developing fuel-cell technology.