Florida Goes Ford Green
May 24, 2007

Ford delivered a fleet of hydrogen-powered shuttle buses to the state of Florida Wednesday in conjunction with the state opening its first hydrogen fueling station.

The Ford E-450 shuttle buses have an internal combustion engine, modified to run only on hydrogen fuel instead of gasoline. The buses can travel 150 to 200 miles before refueling, deliver five to 10 miles per gallon –- the equivalent of similar diesel-powered buses –- and release about 1 percent of the carbon dioxide that a Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid does, said Sue Cischke, Ford senior vice president in charge of sustainability.

Ford has delivered four 12-passenger shuttle buses to Florida and will deliver four more later, said Cischke. Ford delivered five such buses to Canada in 2006. The company plans to deliver 30 of the buses throughout North America by the end of the year.

The state is paying $250,000 each for the $1 million-plus vehicles -- the same cost as a traditional shuttle -- under a deal with Ford. The buses carry people at Orlando International Airport, the Orange County Convention Center and other tourist spots throughout central Florida.

Florida got its first hydrogen-powered bus from Ford two years ago, but it took since then to build the fueling station -- a Chevron station -- and one of the first in the Southeast U.S. Another station is planned for later this year in Florida and will be used to fuel six Ford Focus cars owned by the state.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:57 AM under Ford , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine