Ford Focus To Be The Company's Fuel Cell Platform

Autoparts Report, Nov 15, 2000

Ford will begin to ship the company's first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle in 2004, the company said.

Many automakers, including Ford, General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Honda have all committed to building small numbers of fuel cell vehicles by 2004. Ford recently unveiled its Focus FCV fuel cell car in Las Vegas, saying the car was a production prototype of the one it hopes to sell in four years. "It's a very practical, family type vehicle sold internationally," said Bruce Kopf, director of engineering for Th!nk, Ford's alternative fuel division. "We've done some other electric-drive vehicles that are trucks, so it's time to do something car-wise."

As built today, the FCV has a range of about 100 miles and power that's comparable to a current Focus, Kopf said. The Focus FCV will be among the more than 50 fuel cell vehicles tested over the next three years under the California Fuel Cell Partnership, Ford said.

Kopf said the Focus FCV will likely be sold for use in business fleets that can install equipment for handling hydrogen. He said reducing the cost of fuel cell power was the biggest technical challenge, one that Ford won't likely solve before 2010.