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Developments by Ford Help Make Conductive Charging The Choice

4 December 1998

New Developments by Ford Help Make Conductive Charging The Clear Choice for Customers

    *  Ford helps develop $295 Wall Box for charging
    *  Ford's newest EV charger technology cuts time, costs, and wear and tear
on battery

    PHOENIX, Dec. 3 -- Ford Motor Company today
announced its participation in a program to offer a conductive charging wall
box for as little as $295.
    "By dramatically lowering the cost of infrastructure, we are saying to the
customer that we have removed another obstacle to owning an electric vehicle,"
says Mike McCabe, Ford Alternative Fuel Vehicle worldwide marketing manager.
"Ford believes that conductive charging will be the choice for electric
vehicle (EV) customers and we want to do all we can to make charging
convenient and cost effective for our customers."
    For some customers such as those in California, the availability of
rebates can bring the total cost of buying and installing conductive charging
systems down to almost zero.
    In California, Ford will offer a rebate of up to $500 on the purchase and
installation of a conductive charging Power Control Station (PCS).  Ford's
rebate is in addition to a California Energy Commission rebate of $500, and a
South Coast Air Quality Management District rebate of $250.  In total, these
rebates will allow customers to have an installed PCS for almost no cost.
    "This is a great program and an example of Ford and California working
together to make it more affordable to bring clean vehicles to the
marketplace," added McCabe.
    EV chargers come with a variety of features and cost options.  With the
most expensive systems, the $1,250 offered in rebates may not cover the full
cost, but significantly reduces the overall cost of purchase and installation.
Conductive charging wall boxes available for sale include the AVCON 'Power
Pak' Series PCS, the EVI Model DS-50 PCS and the EVI/SCI 'Full Featured' PCS.

    Ford conductive charging technology advances for the future:
    Ford engineers have devised a way to make conductive charging even simpler
on future Ford EVs.  The advance involves eliminating today's on-board charger
and moving charging functions to the vehicle's Traction Inverter Module (TIM),
which not only will save its EV customers money, but also extends the life of
the vehicle's battery.
    "This is a significant advancement in electric vehicle charging technology
in that it simplifies the whole system," says John Wallace, director of Ford
Alternative Fuel Vehicle Programs.  "By taking the charging functions off the
vehicle, we have reduced overall weight, increased speed, and reduced costs.
This is another example of the efficiency of a conductive charging system."
    Removing the on-board charger and replacing its function with the TIM
takes more than 20 pounds of weight off of the vehicle and also provides a
significant cost savings.  Additionally, the improved system greatly reduces
the number of parts associated with charging the Ranger EV by 1,500,
decreasing complexity and increasing reliability.
    "The TIM is the brains of the Ranger EV and we realized that it could more
easily and efficiently perform the same tasks as the charger," says Wallace.
"And it is powerful, generating enough energy to power four houses
simultaneously, or even a large radio station."
    The TIM serves a variety of other functions, including controlling the
Ranger EV's powertrain.  This microprocessor is located in the rear of the
vehicle directly above the motor/transaxle.  The TIM is a specialized computer
that continuously monitors driver inputs such as the accelerator and brake
pedals to determine what the driver wants to do -- for example, speed up or
slow down.  The TIM translates these driver inputs and determines how much
power to provide to the motor/transaxle in order to satisfy the driver's
wants.