Ford and computer giant Microsoft are to work together on future electric car technology.
Ford outlined its electric car plans at the New York motor show. It will put five electric vehicles on sale by 2013, starting with the Connect Electric in late 2010 and followed by the Focus Electric in 2011, and a next-generation hybrid electric vehicle and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in 2013.
Starting with the Focus, the electric Fords will be compatible with Microsoft Hohm, an energy management application.
"We have to work together now more than ever to make electric vehicles more affordable," said Ford president Alan Mulally.
Hohm, which is internet-based, will help owners determine when and how to most efficiently and affordably recharge their cars, as well as helping utility companies manage the added demands of electric vehicles on the electric grid.
It will provide insight into the car owner's energy usage patterns and suggest ways of saving energy and money.
Hohm is available for free in the US for residential consumers, and is expected to be expanded globally in time.
Ford is also investigating an iPhone application that will tell users the charge status of their cars.
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Re: Ford and Microsoft team up
how about ford / microsoft team up with virgin racing for a complete cock up. although fords are quite good now, and ford is beginning to make money. most people simply have not upgraded their computer to allow for the latest software. unless your some sort of specialist. changing your pc and shifting all your files / software and then getting it to work is simply not worth the hassle.
Re: Ford and Microsoft team up
Symanski, very good. This warming up of your PC has always baffled me. I even questioned a PC boffin about it, but he just tried to explain it away by saying that the processor has to arrange stuff, and that takes time!
Clarkson did a programme about everything slowing down - it's so true. PCs are crap, the internet is crap, email gets delayed, links don't work. I read the other day that the word 'technology' is the word given to stuff that doesn't work properly yet.
It's okay Ford bringing out sparky cars, but will they be cheap enough? As with Renault, how can you make a car expensive (when it doesn't have an engine) then say that the expensive bit is still to add on - the batterypack!?!
404notfound
Re: Ford and Microsoft team up
Yeah, I like that Symanski! How can a company with a product as damned unreliable and full of bugs have such a market share and profitability? It's trying to do too much, and just awful. I'm not a computer programmer, but never understood why a PC should take two minutes to boot up. Why can't it just keep the settings from when it was shut down. Couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of peoples lives wasted while waiting for it to boot. Imagine if a Microsoft OS was combined with a French car's reliability.........