The new Ford protocol for the validation of the life of batteries has two decades of experience in electric vehicles to predict how lithium-ion (li-ion) are capable of operating up to 240 000 kilometers on the road.
It was determined that the reliability of the batteries was the main factor in purchasing potential customers, ahead of other factors such as fuel economy.
Ford is investing 135 million U.S. dollars in the design, engineering and production of key components - including doubling its capacity to test batteries - five for electric vehicles that will be presented by the end of year.
Battery technology Ford plays a vital role in providing fuel economy and a class-leading range thanks to its range of hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrids and all-electric.
Ford has developed a new test - the test of functional components - specifically for its new lithium-ion (li-ion), based on over 20 years of experience and detailed data to provide reliable hybrid vehicles today.
This test allows engineers to simulate many factors in the laboratory, including the location of a battery in a vehicle, the temperatures they can endure, and many other types of acceleration and braking that different drivers may use it. The scope of this test also includes the ability to inflict 240 000 kilometers (equivalent to about 10 years of average use) the battery test in about 10 months.
This test functional components designed to offer better batteries and more reliable, according to Kevin Layden, director of Ford's electrification programs.
In fact, the reliability of the batteries is ranked as the factor most important purchase for potential customers of hybrid vehicles - beating 17 other factors, such as fuel economy and the number of safety features, according to a recent survey controlled by Ford.
"Recent studies show that customers keep their vehicles longer and the regulations in certain areas now require batteries offer guarantees for long distances," said Layden. "Fortunately, our tests take into account distances and conditions that go beyond the normal requirements. '
Ford will offer five electric vehicles by 2013 - all equipped with lithium-ion technology. Vehicles of previous generations of the Ford range offered nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH). The lithium-ion batteries offer many advantages, including the size (25 to 30 percent smaller) and the ability to provide nearly three times the amount of energy per cell compared to previous Ni-MH peak .
Other tests include batteries to simulate a typical hot and sunny Phoenix, subjecting the battery to temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius, the simulation of extreme cold conditions typical of Manitoba (Canada) with tests to cold temperatures of -40 degrees Celsius and driving vehicles equipped with these batteries in ditches filled with water to ensure that there is no problem.
The experience of Ford's hybrid vehicle technology dates from the late 1980s. The technology has advanced rapidly, resulting in a limited supply of Ranger EV models in 1998, Escape Hybrid 2004 Fusion Hybrid and 2009. Ford relies on all the data collected from the older generation hybrid vehicles.
For example, 50 million battery cells have been produced since 2004 for the Ford hybrid vehicles from the previous generation, such as the Escape Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid.
Some were used in taxi fleets, for example, in cities such as San Francisco and New York, and some taxis have reached more than 400 000 kilometers individually and taxi fleets in California only reached a total of nearly 160 million kilometers.
The success rate is exemplary of all hybrid vehicles produced by Ford to date, only six battery cells failed among the 50 million used.
"We can not make a meaningful comparison between the nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries," said Mazen Hammoud, Chief Engineer electric powertrains. "But we can assess much of the data to see how hybrid vehicles are driven, the types of conditions that meet their driver and expectations of them. Knowing all this helps us to compare our tests to ensure that the lithium-ion batteries meet the requirements. '
Go further
The test of functional components represents one aspect of Ford's commitment to offer the best range of vehicles in terms of fuel economy and triple production capacity of electric vehicles by 2013.
Ford is investing 135 million U.S. dollars in design, engineering and production of functional components - including doubling its capacity to test batteries - five for electric vehicles that the company will offer its range of vehicles at the end year: Fusion Hybrid, Fusion Energi the hybrid, the C-MAX Hybrid, C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and Focus Electric.
Ford also has more than 1000 engineers working on the electrification of vehicles, with headquarters in the center of electrification advanced 285,000 square feet, Dearborn.
Investment in people and infrastructure is already profitable Ford has reduced its costs hybrid systems existing 30 per cent compared to the previous generation technology and vehicles are put on the market 25 percent faster.
Source: Ford