Ford and Hydro Quebec both stand to benefit greatly from this research endeavor.

Ford will get to test their PHEV technology in a cold climate. One of the issues with Li-Ion batteries is their ability to function in cold climates. Certain types of Li-Ion batteries fare better than others, however there is some point at which they all need a little warm up to be able to provide power. In either case, the vehicle will need to be hooked to a block heater, or the engine will run and generate some electricity to warm the battery pack. The program is already being tested in a much more temperate climate: southern California.

Hydro Quebec gets to further a technology which will increase their revenues through higher power consumption. HQ states that if one out of every four passenger vehicles in Quebec were to switch to plug-in technology, they would see increased consumption of 3TWh per year, or about 500MW of hydro generation turbines.

The Ford Escape PHEV is a parallel hybrid – this means that the electric motor and gas engine combine to move the vehicle. This is not the same as the Volt, which is a serial hybrid, where the gas engine turns a generator to power the wheels.

The Escape PHEV can go up to 30 miles at under 40MPH on electric power. Once over 40MPH the gasoline engine kicks on to supplement the power the batteries can provide. After the batteries are depleted it reverts to a standard hybrid mode. There is no mechanism to recharge the on-board batteries from gasoline.

Ford states that the vehicle can get up to 120MPG however this is highly dependent on driving techniques. If you’re above 40MPH you’re still using some gasoline (though probably not as much as you would otherwise). This is probably because the current Li-Ion batteries cant source enough power to move the vehicle. As batteries improve their specific power and specific energy, this speed will move up, and eventually the entire vehicle will be able to be powered on batteries only in a serial hybrid configuration.

Ford also states that the battery will take 6-8 hours to recharge. At 110V/15A, thats between 10 and 13kWh. At 30 miles, its an energy efficiency rating of 380Wh/mi (which doesn’t seem too terribly efficient, I would have expected low 300s). Assuming a 50% depth of discharge, it would be a pack size of around 22kWh. At 100Wh/kg and 400W/kg, thats 220kg of batteries and 88kW of power. My V6 Escape has a 124kW (171hp) engine, though I would assume the curb weight of the PHEV escape would be higher than the standard configuration (possibly 600-700lbs more).

Via ABG