Friday, July 25, 2008

Ford Says Electric Cars “Commercially Feasible” By 1977

From io9:
Move over, EV Smart Car, here comes your granny—the Ford Comuta! Two test models of the tiny (80 inch long) electric car were built by Ford in 1967 and demonstrated in the U.S. and Britain. Powered by batteries located in the wheel hubs, the Comuta’s top speed was a mere 25 mph.

Six months prior to its introduction to the press in 1967, Ford president Arjay Miller said that electric cars like the Comuta “could be available in five to 10 years.” According to the New York Times in 1967...MORE including a great retro video.

HT: Memebox's Future Scanner.

Meanwhile, back in Dearborn:

Ford mass plug-ins at least 5 years away
Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote) is at least five years away from manufacturing big numbers of plug-in electric vehicles for the mass market, an executive said on Tuesday.

"We're clearly at least five years away from starting what I would call the ramp from very small volumes to substantial volumes," Nancy Gioia, Ford's director of sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs, said in an interview....MORE from Reuters.