Plugging in an FFV? The Best of Both Worlds

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) Earlier this year, the Renewable Fuels Association unveiled our 2022 Ford Escape plug-in hybrid electric flex-fuel vehicle—the first of its kind anywhere in the world. While automakers have previously combined “mild hybrid” technology with flex-fuel capability (Ford manufactured a small number of hybrid FFV Escape demonstration vehicles in 2007 and Toyota offers hybrid FFVs in Brazil and India), our 2022 Escape is the first in the world to combine external plug-in charging and an independent battery-powered motor with a flex-fuel internal combustion engine.

Why are we doing this? The answer is simple. We want to prove to policymakers, auto manufacturers, and (most importantly) American drivers that low-carbon renewable liquid fuels in combination with plug-in hybrid technology can deliver excellent environmental performance at a lower cost than a full battery electric vehicle. We want to show that consumers don’t need to sacrifice optionality, convenience, or affordability for superior environmental benefits. And we want to show that ethanol and electricity can be complementary decarbonization solutions.

In recent surveys, both current owners and potential buyers of battery electric vehicles have expressed several concerns and challenges that have caused them to think twice about their next vehicle purchase. Range anxiety, long recharging times, lack of public charging locations, higher vehicle purchase price, lack of flexibility, the cost of installing home charging capacity, and other obstacles were commonly cited.

Most—if not all—of these concerns can be overcome with a plug-in hybrid electric FFV like our new Escape.
With a full tank of E85 and a full charge of the battery, it can travel about 430 miles, with most of that coming from the E85. That’s about double the mileage range of a comparable battery electric vehicle. And, depending on the carbon intensity of the ethanol used in the E85, this vehicle can reduce emissions by about 80 percent today compared to a Ford Escape running on gasoline. One day soon this could be the first real Zero Emissions Vehicle to run on 100 percent renewable liquid fuels!

In addition, recent testing of the RFA Escape conducted by the University of California, Riverside (UCR) showed major benefits in reducing emissions of other harmful pollutants. When operating on E85, the vehicle showed a 48-79% reduction (compared to E10) in emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which causes smog and is a contributor to respiratory illnesses and heart disease. Emissions of particulate matter—which contributes to poor air quality and human health concerns—fell 70-76% when operating on E85.

Meanwhile, the Escape has not seen the “mileage penalty” that critics typically associate with E85’s lower energy density. During the UCR testing, the vehicle’s onboard computer showed just a 3-4% loss in miles-per-gallon on E85, and nearly 15,000 miles of real-world driving have generated similar fuel economy results. It is likely that the Escape’s 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle 4-cylinder engine, which has an impressive 13:1 compression ratio, can take advantage of E85’s higher octane rating to overcome the fuel’s lower energy density. READ MORE

Excerpt from Ethanol producer Magazine/American Coalition for Ethanol: We’re testing our theory using a standard-sized hybrid vehicle, so results won’t be dismissed as coming from a specialty vehicle or tiny clown car. We bought a 2019 Ford Fusion Hybrid in July 2021 for about $50k less than the most popular new EVs, filled it with E10 and drove 3,688 miles to establish a real-world fuel use baseline, rather than competing with fictional best-case showroom sticker mileage and EPA emissions estimates saying our car should get 42 mpg on E10, with lifecycle CO2 of 255 grams per mile. That’s much better than the 25 mpg and 430 g/m of the non-hybrid Fusion, but pre-transition E10 HEFF’s results were just under 35 mpg and 310 g/m CO2. We’ve also periodically run tanks of E10 to recalibrate for winter temps, age, and battery capacity changes. All results are used to estimate gas consumption and cost with each fill; our goal is to demonstrate low CI and durability, but critics always ask about mileage and cost.

By comparison, depending on where you plug in, EPA estimates 2019 Tesla 3 Long Range emits 110 to 180 grams/mile CO2 based on 310 miles per charge. Unscientific Uber driver estimates say they get 225 to 240 miles, and Car and Driver’s scientific 40,000-mile test agreed, getting 80 miles below 310 per charge, making Tesla’s real CO2 number 150-245 grams/mile.

Our baseline trip ended in San Diego, where Pearson Fuels arranged to transform the Fusion to HEFF with an eFlexFuel Plus conversion kit. Recording price, miles, and ethanol content of every fuel purchase, and calculating E10 use and cost, so far, the one weird trick of running our hybrid 24,867 miles on flex fuel produced average lifecycle GHGs of 202 g/m CO2—comparable to real Tesla numbers. Regular gas in the vehicle would’ve emitted 375 g/m CO2. And HEFF chugged 958 gallons of E71 vs. a calculated 770 gallons regular, but the E71 cost $2,500, compared to $2,719 for gas. More details to come! READ MORE