The Innocents are pleased to announce that they no longer have to worry that their savings might disappear in a volatile market. How have they achieved this? By astute management and puritan frugality? By extremely well-informed stock trading? By receiving large bonuses from bankrupt companies? By massive bailout? No. Even simpler than that. They have spent their savings and bought a new car! Yes, via the good offices of some good folks in McMinnville,* the Innocents have taken delivery of a 2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. We have just called this a car, but that is perhaps a misnomer. It is actually a computerized electronic navigation and entertainment system which happens to include four wheels, two motors, and one large rechargeable battery. We will write more about these main parts later, if we ever figure out how to use them.

 

The transportation part includes a 2.5 liter gasoline engine that runs on the Atkinson cycle. Atkinson engines are built like normal (Otto cycle) gasoline engines but operate with different valve timing. Invented in 1882, Atkinson cycle engines produce less power than Otto engines because they compress less air in the cylinder and thus less fuel can be burned per stroke. However, for any given amount of air, the Atkinson cycle converts a larger percentage of the heat energy into mechanical energy by having a power stroke that is longer than the compression stroke. This efficiency makes them very attractive for hybrid applications. Their inherent efficiency helps fuel economy and when extra power is needed, the electric motor can assist. Besides the Escape/Mariner/Tribute Hybrid from Ford, Atkinson cycle gasoline engines are also used in the Prius, the Camry Hybrid, and the newest Tahoe Hybrid from Chevrolet.

 

Ford has made hybrid Escapes since 2004. In 2005, 18 were placed into service as New York City taxis. The early trial was successful and by 2007 there were 288 Escape Hybrid cabs in NYC. They are also used as taxis in Chicago, Austin and San Francisco. Opponents of urban clean air standards have been quick to point out that the Escape's high center of gravity make it much more likely to roll over than the Ford Crown Victoria that it commonly replaces. But Escapes get more than double the gas mileage of the Crown Vics and save 32,000 pounds of carbon emissions per 100,000 miles driven. It was also found that because of regenerative braking brake pads and rotors last much longer in hybrids than in traditional cabs. Ford hybrids are assembled in Kansas City at the only car manufacturing plant in the world where the purchase of carbon offsets makes the manufacturing process carbon neutral. Escapes are also available with seat covers made of 100% recycled materials.

 

Ford has always used a 'full' hybrid system, as opposed to the 'mild' hybrid system used by some early GM hybrid products. Demand for the Escape/Mariner/Tribute hybrid is closely tied to the price of gasoline. But even when gas prices have been high, Ford hybrids have not been widely available. The reasons for this are not exactly clear. One theory is that Ford faces critical supply bottlenecks that prevent them from producing as many hybrids as they might like. Those who hold this theory point to the fact the Ford buys both the CVT transmissions and the nickel-metal hydride batteries from Japanese suppliers who have keiretsu relationships to Toyota. These companies, Aisin and Sanyo, may have strong incentives to devote only a limited amount of their design and production capacity to Ford.

 

Ford's reliance on Japanese suppliers is related to the fact that Ford hybrid technology is very similar to Toyota's. The official line is that Ford engineers independently designed their own hybrid system which ended up being very similar to the Toyota system. In order to resolve patent issues, the two companies announced a patent sharing agreement whereby Ford was allowed to use certain hybrid technologies patented by Toyota while Toyota was licensed to use certain other engine design technologies patented by Ford.

 

Having watched the parts sourcing drama play out over the last four years, GM has announced that it will develop its own sources--at least for CVT transmissions. Ford, meanwhile, is developing a second generation plug-in hybrid Escape using a different battery, a lithium ion device with considerably more capacity. A prototype reportedly achieves 120 mpg in city driving.

 

 

 

 

 

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*Yes, it is possible to find good people to do business with even in the world of auto sales. We dealt with Tim Richardson at Chuck Colvin Auto Center. Tim and others we met there were helpful and efficient.