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Ballard and Ford Maintain That EVs Are the Way of the Future

September 25, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

Ballard Power Systems (Burnaby, BC) held a ceremony recently in which they accepted a prototype battery-powered car from Ford Motor Co. (Detroit, MI). The ceremony was significant because the Ford design will potentially rival cars powered by Ballard's electricity-producing fuel cells. Ford officials, however, believe that different technologies for powering environmentally-friendly electric cars will co-exist rather than compete in the future."As we're going forward in the future, we're going to see a variety of different vehicles to satisfy different needs," said Ballard Chief Financial Officer Paul Lancaster. Both companies maintain that it is important that the public realize that electric cars are the way of the future, whether they use batteries or fuel cells to power them.Designed for urban driving, the vehicle delivered to Ballard was produced by Ford's TH!NK electric vehicle unit and has a range of 90km between charges. Testing of the vehicle is slated for later this year in Canada, though the cars are already being sold in Scandinavia.