Ford goes for the green Edge

Global auto major Ford has become the latest carmaker in the US to unveil a prototype vehicle that runs on green alternative fuels at the Washington Motor Show, though the company acknowledges that selling it remains a distant dream. At the Los Angeles Motor Show in November 2006, General Motors launched its Chevrolet Volt concept car - the first mass market prototype designed to operate purely using an electric motor.The vehicle will be powered by new-style lithium batteries which will plug into the garage electricity socket and could also feature a range of supplementary power sources including hydrogen fuel cells and an ethanol-based petrol engine.

The Ford Edge is a hybrid vehicle capable of running on a combination of compressed hydrogen and a battery pack that plugs in to an electric socket.

The company, however, admits that major technical hurdles still need to be overcome before such a car could be sold, as the fuel cell in the vehicle costs millions of dollars to build.

Coincidentally, the unveiling of the vehicle comes as president George W Bush is set to ask Americans to cut petrol consumption by up to 20 per cent by 2017, in view of commercially viable ethanol and other alternative fuels being produced.

Carmakers are developing environmentally friendly cars because they fear that their links with the old gas-guzzling vehicles is not helping their image. But last week, GM chairman Rick Wagoner warned that without support to develop alternative energy, the US "runs the risk of reverting back to our traditional energy policy".