Word: forde
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...auto industry wants to take another crack at it. A hybrid version of the Honda Civic, the best-selling compact car in America, started rolling into dealerships nationwide last week. Next year Ford, which has produced a string of electric cars, is expected to be the first U.S. manufacturer to introduce a hybrid vehicle. I took the politically correct version of the six-cylinder Escape for an exclusive spin earlier this month. Meanwhile, Toyota, General Motors and Chrysler have all promised a new crop of hybrid vehicles by 2004. J.D. Power & Associates, which tracks consumer tastes for the auto industry...
...excitement? "Hybrids are the first viable alternative to the gasoline engine," says Prabhakar Patil, the chief engineer for Ford's hybrid program, who notes that cars that run on fuel cells--widely expected to be the next technological advance in automotive power--are at least 10 years off. Hybrids still have a major hurdle to overcome: sticker shock (more on that later). But for car buyers who want to do their part for the environment and are willing pay a few grand extra to do it, hybrids are the only game in Motown...
...Ford, for its part, claims that when its hybrid Escape SUV goes on sale next year, it will have all the zip of the regular Escape, even though it will run off a smaller four-cylinder engine. The extra horsepower is supposed to come from a state-of-the-art electric motor. The company is promising an impressive 40 m.p.g. in city driving, vs. the 23 m.p.g. the gas-only version gets today...
...behind the wheel of a hybrid Escape when I visited Ford's product-development center in Dearborn, Mich., earlier this month. Ford would not let me drive the prototype up the steepest test hills or around the sharpest curves, but I was impressed by the gentle, seamless shifting between the gas engine and electric power at low speeds. The car went silent every time I released the gas pedal or drove it slowly in reverse...
...pedophiles get this help, as Berlin is one of only a dozen or so doctors who run such clinics in North America. "We don't have Betty Ford centers for people with sexual disorders," he says. Instead, a 1996 federal law requires sex offenders to register with state authorities. When an offender is released from prison, the state can (and often does) notify neighbors. It's unclear whether the legislation is preventing abuse...