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Sep

Ford breaks speed record

Categories: Fusion, Hydrogen and technology

Ford set a silent speed record last week with a 333km/h run in a fuel cell car at Bonneville salt flats.The Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999, which reached the heady speed of 333.5km/h to be exact, is the world’s first production-based hydrogen fuel cell race car.

The 999, named in homage to Henry Ford’s famous race car of a century ago, is seen as another step on the road toward the commercially viable hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.

The car was designed and built by Ford engineers in collaboration with Ohio State University, Ballard Power Systems and the famous Roush speed shop.

The 999 is one of two vehicles demonstrating the potential of fuel-cell technology. Ford researchers are also supporting student engineers from Ohio State University on its Buckeye Bullet 2, a streamliner-type fuel-cell-powered racer.

Gerhard Schmidt, vice-president, research and advanced engineering for Ford, said the Bonneville run would expand the company’s technological horizons with fuel cell-powered vehicles, because the use of hydrogen as a fuel could someday play a key role in meeting the energy needs of the transportation sector.

“What we’ve accomplished is nothing short of an industry first,” said Schmidt. “We established this project to advance fuel cell-powered vehicles and to do what has never been done before; and we did it.”

The final speed was reached during a run at the Bonneville Nationals, which were held from August 10 to 17.

The Ford land speed record vehicle was designed by Ford engineers and built by Roush in Allen Park, Michigan. Ford engineers leveraged the 2004 Buckeye Bullets electric motor, while Ballard Power Systems supplied the 400 kW hydrogen fuel cells. Ford retiree Rick Byrnes, a veteran Bonneville racer, piloted the vehicle on its record-breaking run.

Ohio State students have designed their streamliner, dubbed Buckeye Bullet 2, from the ground up. Ballard donated the hydrogen fuel cells, Roush its engineering services and Ford has provided overall project co-ordination and expertise in fuel cell drivetrains.

In 2004, Ohio State students set the unlimited land speed record for an electric vehicle by running 505.3km/h in the first Buckeye Bullet.

Ford has a fleet of 30 hydrogen-powered Focus fuel cell vehicles on the road as part of a worldwide, seven-city programme conducting real-world testing of fuel-cell technology. The 30-car fleet has accumulated nearly 930,000km since starting in 2005.

Ford also is doing tests with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the Ford Edge, with HySeries drive which uses a series of electric drivetrains with an onboard hydrogen fuel cell-generator .

Sep

Has Ford seen the light? Plug-in hybrid Escort coming in 2010?

By peytontstephens 1 Comment

Categories: Enviromental, Future Vehicles, Hybrids, Hydrogen and fuel efficiency

Posted Sep 24th 2007 2:27PM by Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Ford

You’d think a story like this would be all over the place, but as of right now, only Next Energy News is onto the announcement of a 100 mpge (mpg equivalent) plug-in Ford Escort hybrid due in 2010.

According to NEN, the new Escort PHEV will use nanotech lithium-ion batteries from A123 Systems (NEN calls them “Super Batteries”, which is a terrible name). The batteries are said to last for 10 years/150,000 miles. Nice as that sounds, as with all li-ion hybrid/EV battery announcements, we’ll have to wait to see just how realistic these numbers are when the cars are actually released. NEN says that the Escort PHEV will be available for the 2011 model year (fall of 2010).

By combining the Escort brand with a new-from-the-ground-up PHEV model, Ford hopes to take some sales away from the Prius and other cars with strong green identities. Man, what a week this is already turning out to be. First the VW announcement and now this. What’s next?

Could the Escort be reborn as the new small Ford?

[Source: Next Energy News, h/t to Jason S.]

Sep

Ford, U-Haul Eco-Friendly Painted Vehicles Log 400,000 Miles In First Month On U.S. Highways

By peytontstephens Leave a Comment

Categories: Enviromental, Future Vehicles, Hybrids, Hydrogen and fuel efficiency

In their first month on the road, the world’s only vehicles painted with Ford’s environmentally responsible three-wet paint technology logged more than 400,000 miles - and still look fresh from the factory.

The 200 U-Haul trucks are Ford Econoline vehicles, built and painted at Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, Ohio. They are helping Ford better understand the long-term potential of this industry-first paint system. U-Haul purchased the vehicles from Ford, tagged them with eco-friendly stickers and began renting to customers on Aug. 6.

The technology combines an advanced chemical formulation of high-solids, solvent-borne paint with an innovative three-part, wet application process that requires a smaller, less expensive and cleaner paint shop than traditional automotive paint facilities.

In addition to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 15 percent, the new technology reduces Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions by about 10 percent.

The company estimates it can save approximately $7 per vehicle by cutting the time it takes to paint a vehicle by almost 20 percent as well as reducing the size of the traditional paint shop by nearly 15 percent.

“Painting vehicles has traditionally been one of the auto industry’s biggest environmental challenges,” said Michael Vandelinder, chief engineer, Global Paint, Facilities and Environmental Engineering. “Ford is leading the industry in environmentally responsible paint application. From the chemicals we use to make paint to the size of our paint shops and how we manage waste, Ford is showing the industry there is a better way - for our business, the environment and for the customer.”

Ford’s new high-solids, solvent-borne paint formulation produces fewer VOC and CO2 emissions than water-borne and current solvent-borne paints. Because the new formulation contains more color pigment, it requires less paint to cover a vehicle than water-based paint.

Furthermore, the new technology allows for three coats of wet paint to be applied to the vehicle one on top of the other, without baking after the prime coat, eliminating the prime-coat application and its related processes.

Additionally, there’s no need for the air-conditioning process or additional low-temperature oven, which are required in water-borne paint shops to evaporate the water from the paint.

The paint formulation contains new polymers and other additives that prevent running and sagging during the three-wet application process. And Ford’s laboratory tests show the high-solids, solvent-borne paint provides better long-term resistance to chips and scratches than water-borne paint.

Said Dean Cerimeli, U-Haul’s director of Truck and Trailer Product: “When it comes to the environment and sustainability, we are happy to partner with Ford in this important field test. We believe this is the most environmentally responsible way to paint vehicles. And we applaud Ford for leading the industry.”

In June, Ford won the “Best Technical Prize” for its new paint technology at SURCAR: The International Conference on Automobile Body Finishing in Cannes,

Aug

Ford to redesign Ford, Lincoln and Mercury Brands by 2010

By peytontstephens Leave a Comment

Categories: Future Vehicles, Hybrids, Hydrogen, Lincoln Mercury, Mercury, Sync and production line

Ford Motor Co. maker of top-of-the-line Mercury parts has recently announced their plans to redesign the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury by 2010. The decision was part of Ford’s Bold Moves to produce new great products that hopefully will be much better than what Ford is offering at present.
Ford has also expressed their interest in selling B segment cars which are more of sub-Focus size. They are also considering the prospect of offering small cars along with technology integration which they will use in revamping their offerings.
Their latest Sync technology which they have developed in partnership with Microsoft is expected to add value and substance to Ford’s lines of vehicles. Likewise, exploring the possibilities that goes with the development of hybrid and fuel cell as well as fuel-cell powered hybrid are also being look into by Ford.
The house of Lincoln Mercury will also be given attention to provide it with further personality that would make it to rise from the rest of Ford’s lineup.
Facts on Ford’s Mercury
Mercury is an automobile marque of Ford which was founded in 1939. It is founded to market near-luxury cars slotted between the entry-level Ford and luxury Lincoln models. At present, most of the Mercury models are based on Ford platforms. The Mercury is a name taken from Roman mythology which means “messenger of the gods”. During its early years the Mercury brand was famous for its high performance. The Mercury Marauder in 2003 has for a short time revived the Mercury brand.
Ford is selling its Mercury brand in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and the Middle East. In the year 1999, Mercury models that were sold in Mexico and Canada were renamed as Fords but after a year it was returned to its original Mercury brand name.
Mercury’s range is small almost similar to those sold under the Ford brand. Many industry observers were even wondering if the Mercury brand will survive but Ford has already reassured them that the automaker has no intention whatsoever of stopping the production of the Mercury. And as proof, Ford has introduced new models like the Milan, the Montego, the Mariner, and the Meta One Concept.
The alliance of the Mercury brand to Lincoln has helped it to survive all these years. Likewise, the Mercury brand is also helping Lincoln dealers have some lower-priced vehicles in their showrooms. As part of Ford’s effort to promote the Mercury brand, it has started developing new design elements that is going to be common to all their vehicles in order to come up with a more unified marque. Examples of these design elements are the updated version of the signature waterfall front grille and badge lettering based on the last generation Cougar.

Aug

Thanks to speed record, fuel-cell cars could multiply more quickly

By peytontstephens Leave a Comment

Categories: Future Vehicles, Hydrogen and fuel efficiency

Bloomberg News

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After being clocked last week at a record 207.297 mph, this Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 could help fuel-cell-powered vehicles reach the market more quickly.

Ford Motor Co. said a speed record set last week by the company’s prototype fuel-cell car could hasten use of the technology in its vehicles.

The car, powered by hydrogen and an electric motor, reached 207.297 mph Wednesday at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, the automaker said.

High-speed performance is a step toward getting such power trains in cars and trucks available to consumers, said Mujeeb Ijaz, Ford’s manager of fuel-cell vehicle engineering.

“If power trains are going to be real, they will show up at Bonneville and will show up in racing,” he said. “Race cars have been where passenger-car power trains have been developed.”

Ford, the second-biggest U.S. automaker, and competitors are under pressure from governments to reduce emissions and gasoline consumption.

Fuel cells generate electricity in a chemical process that combines hydrogen and oxygen, with only water vapor as a byproduct under ideal conditions.

The car that Ford tested at Bonneville, the Fusion Hydrogen 999, was built to be more aerodynamic than previous fuel-cell prototypes, Ijaz said. A fuel-cell vehicle design for passenger cars is “still two or three years away,” he said.

Car designers, drivers and race enthusiasts gather annually for Speed Week at Bonneville, the 159-square-mile dried lake bed of compacted salt that is ideal for setting speed records.

“It’s a good day for fuel cells and electric drives,” said Steve Ellis, the manager of U.S. sales for Honda Motor Co.’s FCX fuel-cell car. “It proves electric drives don’t have to be golf carts.”

Ellis declined to say whether Honda would try to break Ford’s record. Honda leases more than a dozen fuel-cell cars in the United States to city fleets and two individual owners in California.

A new sports-car version of Honda’s FCX will be leased to U.S. customers in 2008 with a top speed that is electronically limited to 100 mph, Ellis said.

Honda and other automakers have said building fuel-cell vehicles costs about $1 million each. Companies such as Ford and Honda have engaged in projects aimed at reducing the expense.

Toyota Motor Corp., Asia’s largest automaker, said in September that it was less optimistic than competitors about the technology.

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