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 mpg in combined city/highway driving, but up to 80 mpg if you spend most of your commute in battery mode without hydrogen. Top speed is 85 mph.

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 four- to seven-hour recharge, depending on whether you use a 220- or 110-volt socket.

A small gas or diesel engine could be substituted for the hydrogen 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 hp.

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 rear 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.

Whether in battery- or fuel-cell 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 will cost, much less what hydrogen will cost by the time - whenever that is - 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."

FORD EDGE AWD HYSERIES HYDROGEN HYBRID

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-hp.

Transmission: Single speed forward

Fuel economy: 41 mpg city/highway combined

Price as tested: $2 million

The sticker

$2 million Base

Only a concept

Pluses:

Never burn gasoline again.

Minuses:

Finding hydrogen fuel.

Will the lithium ion batteries perform for 10 years?

What will the production model cost?

Q. Regarding the letter from R.B. of Cincinnati saying Ford is in trouble because 650,000 families are boycotting it at the request of the American Family Association because it advertises to homosexuals: Ford has been advertising to homosexuals for decades.

The nefarious scheme is even more extensive because other auto companies have been doing the same thing. Auto retailers accept gay dollars and don't look to stop for the foreseeable future. Out of sheer ignorance, many AFA members operate their hermetically quarantined cars, vans, SUVs and trucks that were, in fact, designed, assembled and sold by homosexuals.

-J.G., Chicago, Ill.

A. Considering the industry sells about 17 million vehicles annually in the U.S. and only 650,000 have enlisted in the boycott, have to suspect the AFA is about 16 million folks short of dictating what people buy.

Q. I saw "Casino Royale" and was blown away by the new European Ford Mondeo. What a knockout! Why can't Ford get designs from their European divisions to use on this side of the Atlantic? If Mondeo is built on a Euro-only platform, couldn't they at least copy the skin for their American products?

-J.A., Chicago

A. Some Ford critics insist that the automaker would bring vehicles to market faster if it simply shipped those it sells in Europe to the U.S. The long-term plan at Ford is to do exactly that, sell the same vehicle in more parts of the globe to take advantage of platform as well as parts and components sharing that reduces costs.

It takes time but should move faster now that Alan Mulally, new CEO and president, is liking global sharing.

However, Mark Fields, president of the Americas for Ford, said "you just can't plop a European product into the U.S." As an example, in the '90s Ford brought versions of the Mondeo sedan into the U.S. as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. "In Europe they like (to) turn dials to recline seats, in the U.S. they like levers. Mondeo used dials and so Contour and Mystique did, and we got lots of complaints."

So a vehicle has to serve more than one market, such as the compact 2008 Saturn Astra hatchback that was created by GM's Opel subsidiary for both the European and U.S. markets.

Q. I plan to donate my 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera to charity. Not long after I bought the car, there was a recall to fix faulty seat belts. I had no problem, so I didn't bring the car in for inspection or repair. Now the problem, of course, is there are no more Olds dealers to do the repair. Where can I go or what can I do to make my car safe to donate?

-H.L., Streamwood, Ill.

A. General Motors says recalls never expire. Mark Scarpelli, of Raymond Chevrolet in Antioch, Ill., which used to have an Olds franchise as well, said take your vehicle to a GM dealer and ask him to run an inquiry system computer check on it. Using the vehicle identification number, you'll be directed to dealers able to handle the recall inspection and repair - providing parts are available.

Q. You always say good things about foreign vehicles and bad things about American models.

But foreign vehicles have no American steel, no American electronics, no American upholstery and no American paint. And each one sold in this country costs Social Security $2,000 to $4,000.

-J.K., St. David, Ariz.

A. So each foreign car sold here hurts the U.S. steel, electronics, upholstery and paint industries, not to mention retirees. What U.S. steel and electronics industries?

Strictly personal: To the woman who wrote asking why the owner's manual warns that the optional 17-inch tires she can get for her car will wear faster than the 16-inch radials that are standard.

It's not that the company is selling defective tires and that even your 16-inch radials are going to need replacing soon. It's that if you look closely, the optional 17-inch tires are high-performance, or summer, treads with compounds made for exceptional handling at the expense of very quick wear. Your 16-inch treads are the far longer lasting all-season radials.

(Send questions about cars and trucks to Jim Mateja, Chicago Tribune, 616 Atrium Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061-1523, or send e-mail, with name and hometown, to jmateja@tribune.com.)

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