Ford backed out of Hydraulic-hybrid in 2004?

[JM]

In today's WSJ...

 

Mr. Gray's team was allowed to press on in a joint venture with Ford Motor Co., which announced it would use the EPA technology to improve the fuel economy of light-duty trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Ford and EPA scientists developed a hybrid-hydraulic Ford Expedition, a big SUV that got more than 27 mpg in city driving. Then in 2004, Ford withdrew, opting instead for a licensing agreement with Toyota that allowed it to build hybrid-electric vehicles. "We definitely think hydraulic hybrid has merit," says Nick Twork, a technology spokesman for Ford, "but we decided that it wasn't going to be on the top of our list."

 

So does that mean the rumors of the Expedition and F150 aren't true? Did I miss something? Is Ford licensing this technology?

All of these links date after 2004: 60 mpg F150 thread

[RichardJensen]

Uncharacteristically bad reporting on the WSJ's part.

 

Ford's hybrid program dates back to 1998, and the license with Toyota was certainly not in lieu of hydraulic hybrids, but rather to clear the way for the launch of Ford's own electric-hybrid system.

 

Hydraulic hybrids are roughly where electric-hybrids were in 1995/6. Ford will, apparently, launch a mild form of hydraulic hybrid with the '08 SD, but the use of this system on a full scale is not yet doable. Too many details to be ironed out. People expect to be able to use these things for 100k+ miles, y'know.

[silvrsvt]

Well the upshot to this is that no one will see it coming when Ford does :lol: