Ford and Edison Team Up on New Hybrids

Partnership prompted by airport-terminal chat

(NEWSER) - A trans-Pacific partnership between Ford and Toyota is set to bring us a new generation of hybrid vehicles. The two companies will join together in creating a gas-electric hybrid system suited to light trucks and SUVs, the Wall Street Journal reports. The two firms already have hybrid systems that power front-wheel drive cars; now, they’ll aim to make rear-wheel drive vehicles more efficient within the next decade. More»

...but it's a minivan

(AP) - Ford is making a minivan that will become its first US vehicle sold only as a hybrid. While the automaker sells hybrid versions of some cars, it's got nothing like the hybrid-only Toyota Prius. Ford's new minivan is based on a five-passenger van, the C-Max, which is a non-hybrid already sold in Europe. The minivan, which goes on sale next year, will get about 41mpg. A plug-in version (C-Max Energi) also will be sold. More»

(NEWSER) - AT&T pledged to spend $565 million to replace its current vehicle fleet with models that run on alternative fuels, the Detroit Free Press reports. The firm will buy over 15,000 hybrid and natural-gas-powered cars, mainly from Ford. AT&T billed the move as not only environmentally responsible but also as an act of economic stimulus—it estimates the move will save or create 1,000 jobs the next 5 years. More»

Just 2 of task force's 8 members own domestic models

(NEWSER) - Detroit’s Big Three might be in worse trouble than they thought: Of the eight people on the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, and the 10 policy aides assisting them, just two own cars built by American-owned manufacturers, the Detroit News reports. The co-chairs—Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers—drive a Honda and a Mazda, respectively, even though Geithner’s grandfather was a Ford vice president. More»

The highly anticipated hybrid will start appearing at dealerships this spring

(NEWSER) - Ford’s 2010 Fusion hybrid will debut this spring with an EPA rating of 41mpg city and 36mpg highway, writes Joseph White in the Wall Street Journal, but reaching those underwhelming numbers could be a tough ride for most consumers. Complicating Ford's tough sell are anemic gas prices, writes White, but the Fusion represents the direction Ford—and other American automakers—will need to take to compete with foreign carmakers' more accelerated leap into the green segment. More»