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The Ford Ecostar is an experimental electrically-powered small delivery van that was built by Ford Europe. A sodium-sulfur battery in the floor of the cargo area stored power for a electric motor under the front hood. The Ecostar introduced the road-and-leaf logo now used on a number of Ford products. Just over 100 Ecostars were produced, and used in fleet tests between 1992 and 1996 with over driven. The Ecostar averaged on a full charge, and demonstrated miles range in one test. However, on several occasions the battery burst into flame during recharging. For this, and several other reasons, Ford lost interest in the sodium-sulfur battery and turned to fuel cell concepts instead. The product niche appeared to be a useful one and has led to a number of similar designs. The Citroën Berlingo électrique was almost identical in looks, performance and range. Ford is re-entering the market as well, with an electric version of the Transit Connect. ==History== Ford developed the sodium-sulfur battery technology in 1965,〔("Today in Ford History--Feb. 3" ), reprint of a 1992 article〕 but had not developed it commercially. Development was later picked up in Europe. The Ecostar was introduced as a purely experimental effort, to help develop all aspects of electric vehicle design from engineering to supplier development to market development. A "prototype-of-the-prototypes" was completed with lead acid batteries in 1992, and introduced with the comment that future models would include the new battery technology. Several similar models followed and were lent out for test drives with favorable results.〔Richard Stepler, ("Coming: Speedy Electric Delivery" ), ''Popular Science'', January 1993, pg. 32 (sidebar)〕 A total of 80〔 to 105〔 "production-prototype" sulfur-powered Ecostars were hand-built starting in 1993, and used in fleet trials with a number of customers starting the next year.〔Seth Leitman and Bob Brant, ("Build Your Own Electric Vehicle" ), McGraw-Hill, 2008, pg. 62〕 At the time, the cost of the battery was a significant $46,000. However, the vehicles were hand-built at a cost of $250,000, so the battery cost was not representative of a production version.〔Anita Lienert, ("Where's the plug?" ), ''Management Review'', 1 December 2005〕 The tests ran for 30 months. Throughout the tests there were problems with the system, including two vehicles that burst into flame while charging.〔("Ford Unplugs Electric Vans After 2 Fires" ), ''Chicago Tribune'' (Bloomberg Network News), 6 June 1994〕 The sulfur in the battery was flammable, a serious safety risk. ABB introduced a new version of the battery, but was unwilling to guarantee performance beyond one year.〔("Advanced Automotive Technology" ), US Congress, pg. 106〕 In late 1997, Ford announced a partnership with Daimler-Benz and Ballard Power Systems to introduce car-ready fuel cells,〔Donald Nauss, ("Ford Investing $420 Million for Fuel-Cell-Powered Auto" ), ''Los Angeles Times'', 16 December 1997〕 and their experiments with the sodium-sulfur batteries ended. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ford Ecostar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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