The Ford Edge with HySeries Drive concept features a flexible vehicle architecture which allows it to accept a wide variety of powertrain options. HySeries Drive technology allows the Edge to accept gasoline engines, diesel engines or fuel cells which can be used in conjunction with an electric motor and battery pack. This allows Ford to produce, for example, a gasoline-electric hybrid version for North America and a diesel-electric hybrid version for Europe. "This vehicle offers Ford the ultimate in flexibility in researching advanced propulsion technology," said Ford Motor Company's Gerhard Schmidt.

In its current form, the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive uses a 350-bar hydrogen fuel cell (4.5 kg of useable hydrogen) in addition to electric motors which are fed by a 336-volt lithium-ion battery pack. The Ford Edge with HySeries Drive is always powered by its battery pack, but the pack itself can be recharged in one of two ways.

Since the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive is a plug-in hybrid, the batteries can be fully topped off by plugging the vehicle into a standard home outlet using the onboard 110/220 charger. Once the battery pack has been whittled down to 40% capacity, its second source of recharging comes online. The hydrogen fuel cell takes over and generates electricity to replenish the battery pack.

All of this technology working together gives the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive the equivalent combined city/highway economy rating of 41MPG. The vehicle is able to operate for the first 25 miles on battery power alone given a fully topped off battery. After that point, the fuel cell kicks in to replenish the batteries giving an additional 200 miles of range. According to Ford, the equivalent economy rating could jump to 80MPG for drivers who travel less than 50 miles per day.