Ford Flexible Series Edge with HySeries Drive
Ford Flexible Series Edge with HySeries Drive is another Ford hydrogen vehicle. It is a plug-in hybrid electric hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (PHEH2FCV) that uses the same HySeries Drive system as the Ford Airstream, yet is packaged inside a standard Ford Edge crossover body.
The Ford Flexible Series Edge was manufactured on January 23, 2007 during the Washington DC Auto Show, which addresses the concerns of the global warming and US autocar makers. As a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the Ford Flexible Series Edge can run the first 25 miles entirely on its battery power.
Once the battery is 40-percent depleted, the Ballard fuel cell kicks in and recharges the 336-volt lithium ion battery pack, which in turn supplies current to the electric motor to drive the wheels. The 5,000 psi hydrogen tanks and fuel cell add 200 miles to the vehicle’s range for a total of 225 miles when combined with the battery pack. The Ford Flexible Series Edge can reach a top speed of 85 mph.
The convenient part of the Ford Flexible Series Edge is that the fuel cell can be easily removed and replaced with a downsized gasoline or diesel engine. With this plug-in Ford Edge, the fuel cell size, weight and cost have been reduced by half and by using this type of hybrid system, the life of the fuel cell will be double the life of other fuel cells.
