DETROIT AP – Ford Motor Co. and Southern California Edison will team up to test rechargeable hybrid vehicles and hasten mass production of the new technology.

The California utility, which serves 13 million people in 11 central, coastal and Southern California counties outside Los Angeles, will get a Ford plug-in hybrid vehicle by the end of this year and as many as 20 by some time in 2009 to test durability, range and impact on the power grid, said Susan M. Cischke, Ford senior vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering.