Ford Unveils First E85 Ethanol-Fueled Hybrid

A new version of Ford's hybrid SUV, the Escape Hybrid E85, will be the first hybrid electric vehicle to run on ethanol-based fuel.

Ford introduced its Ford Escape Hybrid E85 concept at this week’s 2007 Washington Auto Show, open to the public through Jan. 28. The model on display is the first of 20 vehicles that Ford will deliver to various test fleets in six states starting in the spring. The company didn't say whether or when it would start selling the Escape Hybrid E85 to the public.

Vehicles that can run on E85 ethanol, called flexible- or flex-fuel vehicles, are already available to consumers, such as General Motors' Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon. But there are currently no hybrid electric vehicles on sale that can use this fuel. Ford says it is committed to making half of its vehicle fleet flex-fuel capable by 2012.

Ford’s introduction of the Escape Hybrid E85 in Washington, D.C., was no doubt timed to coincide with President Bush’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, which happened to promote the development of biofuels such as ethanol as key to the domestic agenda.

Ethanol is a renewable fuel produced from organic substances such as corn or sugarcane. E85 fuel is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Typically, gasoline sold in the U.S. contains only 10 percent ethanol.

Ethanol is widely used in some foreign countries, including Brazil. That country’s large sugarcane industry makes producing ethanol easier than in the U.S., where corn is used instead of sugarcane (it’s harder to convert corn to ethanol than it is sugarcane).

Ford said that the Escape Hybrid E85 produces 25 percent less carbon dioxide emissions when fueled by E85 as opposed to gasoline. If 5 percent of U.S. vehicles were powered by E85 ethanol-capable hybrids, oil imports could be cut by 140 million barrels each year, the company said.

“If all of the nearly six million flexible-fuel vehicles now on America’s highways operated on E85, more than 3.6 billion gallons of gasoline could be displaced a year,” said Sue Cischke, Ford’s VP of environmental and safety engineering. “That would be equivalent to saving a full year of gasoline consumption in a state like Missouri or Tennessee.” The issue of decreasing dependence on foreign oil aside, critics question whether burning the fuel required to produce ethanol negates any reduction in gasoline or oil consumption that comes as a result of ethanol being used in motor vehicles.

The gasoline-only Escape Hybrid became the first hybrid SUV available to the public when it was introduced in 2004; its 2007 model made ForbesAutos.com’s list of the 10 most fuel-efficient vehicles of 2007. Ford recently unveiled an updated 2008 version of the Escape Hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

GM has also updated its hybrid SUV for 2007, the Saturn Vue Green Line, and will launch a new version for 2008.

http://www.forbesautos.com/news/headlines/2007/january/fadc012407-ford_escape_hybrid_e85.html