Here's the official FORD announcement. As my warning stated two weeks ago, my information is that ICF beat Ballard out on this one. It is still confusing.
FORD AND DOE TEAM UP TO BUILD FUEL CELL VEHICLE
DEARBORN, Mich., April 21 /CNW/ - Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) plans to build a prototype hydrogen fuel cell vehicle as part of an ambitious joint research project with the United States Department of Energy.
Ford will develop the vehicle as part of its recently announced P2000 project, which is associated with Ford's participation in the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program. PNGV is a collaboration among the domestic automakers, the federal government and suppliers with a primary objective of producing breakthroughs in fuel efficiency. The Energy Department manages the fuel cell development effort of PNGV and has worked with Ford since 1994 to develop a hydrogen-fueled power system for automotive applications.
``We're very pleased that the U.S. government has the confidence in Ford to entrust us with this project,'' said John McTague, Ford vice president for Technical Affairs. ``It's very exciting to form a technical team like this to develop a powertrain with such vast potential benefit to society.''
With P2000, Ford is developing a number of lightweight research vehicles to achieve very high fuel efficiency and very low emission levels while maintaining the passenger comfort, performance, safety and affordability levels demonstrated in today's family-sized sedans.
Ford's fuel cell prototype will have a direct hydrogen configuration, which means that hydrogen will be stored on-board and used directly as needed for power. A fully-integrated research vehicle could be ready for evaluation by the year 2000. Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, British Columbia, Mechanical Technologies, Inc. of New York and International Fuel Cells of Connecticut are likely fuel cell suppliers for the project.
``This project comes as a welcome sign of industry interest in advancing this important technology,'' said Mary Good, Commerce Under Secretary for Technology. ``Putting a fuel cell car on the road to test its ability to meet the challenging goals for fuel efficiency, emissions and customer expectations would be a major step in the evolution of automotive technology.'' The Department of Commerce is responsible for the overall coordination of the government side of PNGV.
For further information: Terry Bresnihan of Ford, (313) 337-2456 |
