For several years, Ford has been working to reduce waste, energy use and emissions generated by its manufacturing facilities around the world. Its latest step has been to join to the Climate Registry, a non-profit group that is developing standards for reporting greenhouse gas emissions. The idea is that emissions reporting is useless unless everyone uses the same criteria to determine and record the output. Most of the U.S. states, Canadian provinces and Mexican states have adopted these standards. Companies reporting their emissions can use the same methodology in all the regions that have adopted the TCR regime. To be a member of TCR, Ford (and all other member companies and agencies) will have to measure, independently audit and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions.
When Ford launched the redesigned Escape and Mariner compact CUVs last year, the bodies and interiors were all new but the powertrains were largely carried over from the first-generation models. For the 2009 model year, that issue has been addressed with thorough upgrades to both four- and six-cylinder engines. We'll talk more about the engine upgrades next week after we drive them. In the meantime we got an early look at the new automatic transmission for the non-hybrid models. The previous four-speed unit is replaced with an all-new six speed unit dubbed the 6F35.
The new transmission is built at Ford's Van Dyke transmission plant in Sterling Heights, MI in addition to the 6F50 that debuted in the Taurus, Edge and other Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles last year. The new unit uses three planetary gear-sets and five clutch packs to provide the six gear ratios. The extra two ratios allow for a wider overall spread compared to the older four speed. Continue reading about the 6F35 after the jump.
Automakers seem to like working on making brownfields a little less brown. Chrysler is working with Michigan State University on growing biofuel crops on the dirty soil, and Ford needed to do a lot of cleaning up after itself at its Minneapolis-St. Paul-area Highland Park property. For another of Ford's brownfield projects, this one at the company's Fairlane Green retail and recreational development in Michigan, Ford won the national Phoenix Award for excellence in brownfield development this week.
The Phoenix Awards (whose website lists the 2006 winner's in the "new" category) have been around since 1997 "to honor the groups that develop significant brownfields sites across the country." Ford's work at Fairlane Green included converting the old landfill site to "a sustainable new development that provides social and economic benefit to the community in an environmentally responsible manner." Full details from Ford available after the jump.
Coca-Cola and its bottlers are increasing the number of hybrid vehicles they use in their sales and delivery fleets. By the end of this year, Coke's sales fleet of 800 vehicles will contain 550 hybrids (as of now, it has 325), and by the end of next year the entire fleet should be hybridized. The Atlanta-based soft drink giant's green fleet includes the Toyota Prius, Camry Hybrid, and Highlander Hybrid along with the Ford Escape Hybrid. Similarly, both Coca-Cola Enterprises and Coca-Cola Consolidated, the company's #1 and #2 bottlers respectively, are following suit with plans to add more hybrid cars and SUVs through next year. Coca-Cola Enterprises also operates 120 diesel-electric hybrid trucks in its larger 20,000-vehicle delivery fleet. According to a representative quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, fuel prices are a huge concern for Coke, and the hybrids are less costly to operate. The biggest impact is likely to be made as Coke's bottlers leverage hybrid trucks for deliveries. Coca-Cola Enterprises' pilot fleet showed that the hybrid trucks' emissions and fuel consumption are a third lower than their traditionally-powered counterparts. With fuel prices on a steady climb, that kind of savings gets the attention of the decision-makers in the boardroom.
Soon after the new Ford Fiesta launches in Eurpe in July, a version "with 99 grams per kilometer CO2 will come very quickly," Ford of Europe Chairman Lewis Booth has told Automotive News Europe. This is the EcoNetic version of the Fiesta, which was announced at the Geneva Motor Show, and would essentially have "conventional technology" underhood, Booth said. By using options like low rolling resistance tires, different gear ratios and aerodynamic tweaks, a sub-100 g/km CO2 version is possible.
The Fiesta is Ford's global small car, so the low-emissions option should be welcomed no matter where you live. In the U.S., Ford says the American Fiesta will be well-equipped and profitable right from the get-go. BusinessWeek is reporting today that the Fiesta might also soon makes its way to India.
Think that the SUV and/or CUV craze is a relatively new phenomenon? Peter Horbury, head of design for Ford in the Americas, suggests that the Ford Model T was really a crossover. He has a point, considering that the old-timer sat rather high off the ground (because of the shoddy roadways at the time) and featured a modular design capable of hauling people, stuff, or a combination of both.
Ford wonders what a modern-day version of the T may look like and what it would be powered by. To find out, Ford commissioned some young designers the task of modernizing the Tin Lizzy. The winning design, created by Dong Trang, a junior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, is an electric vehicle which features a removable battery. That battery is charged with on-board solar panels and an electricity-generating suspension system. The innovative modular structure can be converted from a hatchback to a pickup bed and can seat up to four passengers. Click past the break for some video of Trang explaining some of his concepts.
Ford's President of the Americas, Mark Fields, wants the company to build more E85 capable flex-fuel vehicles but he doesn't want to have to deal with state level fuel economy or carbon dioxide regulations. The former should be no surprise as every car and truck so equipped gets a credit of 1.2mpg towards its mileage rating. Fields also wants to see mileage mandates done at a national rather than at the state level. Like other car-makers, Ford's issue is apparently not so much with having to meet whatever mandate is enacted. They just don't want to do the paperwork and testing repeatedly for potentially dozens of states. Fields hasn't said where Ford stands relative to meeting the new CAFE rules but it's a safe bet that new Ford products will probably be coming with wider tracks and longer wheelbases to increase their footprint. As a result they will have a lower mileage standard to meet. Ford's upcoming EcoBoost engines will also be getting flex-fuel capability to help meet the new rules.
Get ready for some crazy abbreviations here. Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE) will debut Ohio's first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) on May 3 in Marysville. Created by the Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives (OREC) and Hybrid Plus in Boulder, Colorado, Plug-In 1 is a converted Ford Escape Hybrid. The stock nickel metal hydride battery has been yanked in favor of a new lithium ion pack which contains 1,600 separate cells that add up to 12 kWhs of capacity.
The PHEV was created by the Ohio-based utility companies to study what effect plug-ins will have on the grid. According to URE President Roger Yoder, "It will yield information of importance not only for the transportation sector but for utilities as we prepare to meet the energy and environmental challenges of the future." With plug-ins like the Volt expected within a few years, this data will become increasingly important. Plug-In 1 is equipped with an on-board computer which will track all kinds of data which should be useful to the utilities. Full press release after the break.
For those of you in the southeast Michigan area, you might want to swing by the Green Street Fair in Plymouth MI this weekend. The street fair will feature exhibits and workshops on all things green, from gardening, recycling and transportation. Ford, Toyota and Bosch will all be on hand displaying their wares and discussing what they are working on and how to get better mileage with the cars you have now. The Electric Automobile Association, Metropolitan Alternative Energy and Vespa of Ann Arbor will be pushing alternative forms of propulsion as well.
There will also be plenty of exhibitors and workshops focusing on ways to be greener when you aren't on the move. There will be speakers talking about subjects including human impact on the environment, air pollution in the home and organic lawn care (hint, stop watering, don't spray anything on it and only cut it when it's long enough) and more. Bring your unwanted clothes along for the Swap-O-Rama or take a Yoga class. The fair is located in downtown Plymouth from 10-7 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday.
The second generation of the baby of Ford's European lineup is going kinetic when it arrives later this year. The new Ka shares a platform with the Fiat 500 and Panda, but it has a look totally in keeping with its stablemates. The kinetic design language common to other current Euro-Fords translates remarkably well to the diminutive dimensions. The Ka will be built at Fiat's assembly plant in Poland. Ford's mini-car will also share engines with the Italian-branded cars. Four cylinder engines of 1.3L MultiJet diesel or 1.2L gasoline varieties will be offered. The new Ka will debut in November of this year. For now at least there are no plans to offer the Ka in the U.S. market.
According to FedEx, its hybrid delivery vehicles have saved approximately 83,000 gallons of fuel and eliminated 950 tons of greenhouse gas emissions while racking up an impressive 2 million miles overall. Because of this success, the global delivery giant will be adding 75 new hybrid vehicles to its fleet, making for a total of 172 hybrid vehicles. The hybrid trucks used by FedEx are said to improve fuel economy by 42 percent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30 percent and cut particulate pollution by 96 percent.
FedEx uses hybrid technology from Eaton, Isuzu, Iveco and Azure Dynamics with Ford engines and chassis. That's a lot of different systems for one company. Mitch Jackson, director of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at FedEx, calls for "truck manufacturing industry to create its version of the Prius: clean, affordable and widely available for truck fleets."
FedEx also plans to test Class 6 vehicles using hybrid hydraulic technology from Parker Hannifin Corporation and replace some of their air fleet with more efficient Boeing 757 planes. All of these changes will result in less fuel consumption, helping FedEx's bottom line and, more importantly, reduce harmful emissions.
Hybrids help you save gas at the pump, this is something we all know. We also know why burning less gasoline is good: fewer greenhouse gases are emitted to the atmosphere, it reduces our dependence on foreign oil and we spend less money at the pump. However, there is always the question about what is the overall impact of using a hybrid versus using a non-hybrid version. There are currently 17 hybrid models available in the U. S. market and all but one have a corresponding non-hybrid counterpart to compare with. As part of our Earth Day coverage today, we took a closer look at the following two questions:
Question #1: How far can we drive with a hybrid powertrain compared to a non-hybrid?
Question #2: When will the hybrid investment pay for itself through gas savings?
Before we go to the complete list let me explain the criteria we used. First of all we chose the "economy" powertrains, when we had the option. Therefore we'll be comparing mostly 4-cylinder models. In the case of SUVs, we chose the AWD/4WD versions. For a few models, we've compared them to the European diesel versions data, although this should be taken with a pinch of salt due to the EU's different driving cycles. Finally, we used $3.5/gal as the price of gasoline and added the car's MRSP price. Don't forget that some of these vehicles will qualify for various tax breaks, so you might have to recalculate our numbers for yourself. Got all that? Good, let's see the results (after the jump).
To help kick off "Green Week," NBC is taking the wraps off its new eco-friendly satellite truck on the Monday edition of the Today show. The New York-based SUV that the studio calls its "mean green streaming machine" will strut its stuff for viewers before being pressed into service to help MSNBC cover the Pennsylvania primary tomorrow.
Using a white and green Ford Escape hybrid as a platform, the vehicle incorporates three deep cycle batteries that can operate the satellite and cell phone video technology for 5 to 6 hours. When a recharge is needed, solar panel mats are rolled out and wind turbines hoisted to avoid running the engine as a generator like a typical satellite truck might. At $100,000, this vehicle is also much less expensive than the $500,000 spent for those usually used to transmit live feeds and it runs at 20 amps instead of 60.
NBC is planning all kinds of different "green" programming this week from Darryl Hannah showing off organic skate boards on "Last Call with Carson Daly" to Dateline reporting on the melting snow in the mountains of Bolivia. This won't be the only "green week" at NBC however as two more are already being planned.
Ford announced during the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit that it's investing a bunch of money in researching nanotechnology for developing paints, plastics, light metals and catalysts that will allow reduced vehicle weight and improved fuel economy. The idea is to use nanoparticles dispersed in existing materials to improve properties of those materials.
Examples of this technology are potential new alloys that could make engines lighter, or a thermally sprayed nano-coating that could replace the heavier cast iron liners that provide the necessary wear resistance of cylinder bores in aluminum block engines. Then there's improved surface coating for the vehicle's sheetmetal and nanotechnology in lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.
The rumor has now been confirmed. Smith Electric Vehicles launched the Ampere electric van at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham NEC. If the Ampere looks like a Ford Transit Connect to you, nicely done. It's built on the Transit Connect chassis. The EVs specs are quite respectable: a 70mph maximum speed with a range "in excess" of 100 miles. It is powered by a 50kw motor and an under-slung lithium-ion battery pack, which leaves the van's full interior volume available for carrying capacity. The Ampere has a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of 2,340kg and a payload capacity of up to 800kg. Smith's factory in Washington, Tyne & Wear will start production of the Ampere for European markets later this year.
At the CVS, Smith EV also announced the Faraday II, an EV truck using the Ford F650 chassis cab. This larger truck has a GVW of up to 13,000kg and is expected to have similar specifications to the Smith Newton truck that is sold in the UK and Europe. Specs are: top speed of 50mph and a range of more than 100 miles on one battery charge. Finally, Smith also confirmed that the Newton will use now Iron Phosphate lithium-ion battery packs instead of Sodium Nickel Chloride batteries. Those batteries had been used since the Newton launched in 2006,
Ford's President of the Americas, Mark Fields, wants the company to build more E85 capable flex-fuel vehicles but he doesn't want to have to deal with state level fuel economy or carbon dioxide regulations. The former should be no surprise as every car and truck so equipped gets a credit of 1.2mpg towards its mileage rating. Fields also wants to see mileage mandates done at a national rather than at the state level. Like other car-makers, Ford's issue is apparently not so much with having to meet whatever mandate is enacted. They just don't want to do the paperwork and testing repeatedly for potentially dozens of states. Fields hasn't said where Ford stands relative to meeting the new CAFE rules but it's a safe bet that new Ford products will probably be coming with wider tracks and longer wheelbases to 
_thumbnail.jpg "Beijing 2008: BYD e6")
