Ford Readies EV Fleets, Prepares to Connect to the Smart Grid

By Jim Motavalli August 19, 2009

Parked in a row at its Dearborn proving grounds, Ford showed off a trio of electric cars: A Transit Connect commercial van (to be introduced next year), a battery electric version of the Focus (coming in 2011) and an Escape-based plug-in hybrid (2012, but not as an Escape).

The cars (a $14 billion investment for the company) were not the stars, however. We were in Dearborn to talk about Ford’s ongoing smart grid partnership, which it launched with Southern California Edison in 2007. The collaboration has since grown to include 11 more utilities, plus the Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The goal is to pave the way for an updated infrastructure that will allow millions of electric vehicles (EVs) like the ones described above to plug in every day.

For full post see:

http://industry.bnet.com/auto/10002199/ford-readies-ev-fleets-prepares-t...