Ford Motor Co. has been instrumental in developing flexible fuel technology over the years. In fact, it was the first company to introduce a commercially produced line of flexible fuel vehicles (FFV) in the United States more than a decade ago. Now the company looks to merge two alternative-fuel vehicle technologies into one extreme concept—an FFV hybrid. 
 
 At the Washington Auto Show nearly six months ago, Ford announced its R&D intentions to tackle the challenges of merging its electric hybrid technology with its pioneering and extensive FFV knowledge base. Ford complemented this announcement at the exhibition by showcasing its Ford Escape Hybrid E85 research vehicle. Through this project, Ford has set the concurrent goal of achieving partial zero-emissions vehicle (PZEV) status for the FFV hybrid. If successful, Ford would be the first company to overcome the technical challenges involving not only the commercial development of an evaporative emissions control system that operates proficiently under a hybrid's electric mode, but also achieving PZEV status with an FFV, which is tough due to E85's more volatile chemistry.

 
 Ford isn't there yet though, says Nick Twork, spokesman for the automotive giant. "We're still looking at the whole concept to see if it makes sense," he tells EPM. 
 
 Evaporative emissions controls systems were first used in the early '70s on vehicles sold in the United States, the general concept and design of which really haven't changed much since then. Essentially, the system's core is a canister of activated carbon interconnected with the fuel tank and fuel intake system. The evaporative emissions—or unburned hydrocarbons emitted from the fuel tank that would otherwise vent into the atmosphere were it not for the closed-loop system—are routed to the carbon canister where they accumulate. Based on readings from exhaust sensors by a vehicle's onboard diagnostics system, a purge valve periodically releases those hydro-carbonaceous vapors into the combustion process. 
 
 A hybrid vehicle operates in both electric and combustion modes, so the obstacle Ford seeks to surmount is developing an economically competitive evap system that will operate while a hybrid vehicle runs in electric mode—when accumulated vapors aren't being combusted. Current evap technology only performs while the engine is running. 
 
 Additionally, PZEV certification is so stringent that virtually zero exhaust and evaporative emissions can be released from the vehicle to meet the standards. Therefore, to achieve PZEV status on an FFV—not to mention an FFV hybrid—more robust evaporative and emissions systems need to be employed. Reducing exhaust emissions beyond that of the regular functioning of a catalytic converter necessitates heating up the converter quicker to satisfy cold-start emissions requirements and, thus, helping to meet overall exhaust emissions regulations for PZEV certification. According to Twork, Ford has at least 12 models in production (non-FFVs) that meet PZEV standards, including the Focus, Milan and Fusion. Dual-walled exhaust manifolds and heat-shielded catalytic converters are a couple of ways Ford has already addressed the issue of reducing tailpipe emissions for this standard, Twork tells EPM. At this point, however, he says it's too early to discuss any of Ford's recent R&D work related to evap systems for its FFV hybrid concept.

Ford looks to 'Escape' Challenges in Hybrid-FFV Crossover

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Ford looks to 'Escape' Challenges in Hybrid-FFV Crossover