How Would You Like an SUV That Gets 130 mpg?

Electrovaya Company delivered a Ford Escape SUV Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV) to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authorit...

Electrovaya Company delivered a Ford Escape SUV Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV) to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The new PHEV Escape is capable of getting 130 mpg (at least in testing).

Electrovaya (go ahead, try to say that 5x fast!) was awarded $100,000 contract back in January to demonstrate a “plug- in hybrid” concept using the Ford Escape Hybrid vehicle. The vehicle uses the MN - Series Lithium-Ion SuperPolymer battery®, which can be charged usign 120V electrical outlet and/or by the gas engine.

The PHEV testing is part of a $10 million project by the NYSERDA to convert the state's 500 plus standard hybrids to plug-ins.

Paul D. Tonko, NYSERDA president and CEO welcomed the vehicle as the second in the NYSERDA Plug-in Fleet. "By year's end we will have six plug-in conversions, testing the three major hybrid brands already in the State fleet, Ford Escape, Toyota Prius and Honda Civic. In cooperation with U.S. DOE, we will test them and place them into daily service among various State agencies," he said. "Those results will offer us data on the potential to convert more State vehicles," Tonko said.

NYSERDA is a premier sponsor of the Tour de Sol.

A successful test by Electrovaya of their lithium-ion battery pack would put more pressure on the car makers to build more of their own plug-ins. Ford has begun developing plug-ins on their own, developing a partnership with SCE to deliver 20 of them by 2009. Toyota has begun road testing their own plug-in. And Chevy has the Volt.

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