Ford F-150 Tops 40 MPG

As fuel prices climb and people switch to more fuel efficient vehicles, millions of gas guzzling pickups, SUVs, and vans will still be on American roads for many years, even decades. The average age of American vehicles is about 10 years, and quite serviceable vehicles with over 150,000 or even 200,000 miles on their odometers are no longer a rarity. Pickups will still be needed on the worksite, and SUVs and vans will still be needed to carry large families.

Billions of gallons of fossil fuels could be saved if it was possible to dramatically increase the fuel economy of the hundreds of millions of fuel inefficient vehicles that will be around for quite awhile. That's what Chicago-based Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies (HEVT) is attempting to do with its plug-in hybrid electric conversion kit.

HEVT recently unveiled this technology in a Ford F-150 pickup retrofitted to operate as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). It's great choice, since for years the F-150 has been America's best-selling vehicle and there are literally millions of these pickups that could be converted. How important is this? HEVT claims that the economy of the standard engine in the F-150 is increased from about 16 mpg to 41 mpg in a typical day's driving.

The technology is a scaled-down version of the drivetrain HEVT has developed for transit buses. HEVT's Adaptive Control Unit (ACU) uses sophisticated electronics and software to control the hybrid drivetrain. An electric motor-generator is integrated with the existing drivetrain through a modified differential for electric traction. The ACU controls the electric motor and gasoline engine to optimize fuel economy and performance. An in-dash display unit monitors performance, indicating the charge remaining in the 12 kW-hour battery pack and the energy recovered through regenerative braking.

The HEVT F-150 has a 15 mile all-electric range, offers up to 41 mpg for 30 miles/day mixed-speed driving, and up to 21 mpg as a hybrid for travel beyond all-electric range. Other features include increased low-speed torque for better towing, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability, and an on-board 120-volt power availability

HEVT will next begin a small pilot program of Ford F-150 pickup truck conversions that will be offered to organizations and individuals on a custom basis. The pilot program will help HEVT's continued development and optimization, pushing conversion costs down and lowering lifetime cost of ownership for converted vehicles.

According to HEVT founder Ali Emadi, HEVT's solutions apply not only to smaller passenger cars and hybrids, but almost any vehicle including larger gas guzzlers. Further, the company's laboratory simulations show that the larger the vehicle, the greater the benefits in gas costs, particulate and greenhouse emissions, and sound pollution. For example, the current system can be easily scaled for use in F-250 and F-350 trucks.

HEVT also plans to convert a limited number of school buses to plug-in hybrids in pilot project demonstrations. HEVT projects the plug-in hybrid electric school bus, with a 35 kWh battery pack, will have up to 15 miles of all-electric range per charge. On a school bus traveling 60 miles daily, fuel economy could potentially be increased from 6 mpg to over 10 mpg, and with a mid-day recharge to over 16 mpg.