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Ford Fiesta ECOnetic |
In Ford's 10th Annual Sustainability Report, one gets the sense of two differing, yet complementary, sustainability strategies. The first is to introduce revolutionary new products that will make giant leaps towards making Ford a more environmentally neutral, yet still profitable, company. Three of these products came to light in the past year.
The first is the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, which has recently gone on sale in Europe and has the lowest carbon emissions for a family vehicle, with only 98 g/km. The second is the EcoBoost engine technology which, at its most simple, delivers the power of a V8 in a 3.5-liter V6 package, and with V6 fuel economy. A four-cylinder version of the EcoBoost engine is getting set to go into the European Ford Focus and will be available in the U.S. once the next generation of American Focus (which will be based on the European platform) is realeased. The third major product release from Ford is the Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids, which acheive a combined 41 mpg rating, although recent tests have shown that you can hit 80 mpg in a Fusion Hybrid if you're careful.
Those three products all contribute to Ford's goal of cutting vehicle emissions by 30% by the year 2020 (using the company's 2006 vehicle lineup as an emissions benchmark). The EcoBoost engines, which are expected to be available on 90% of the company's models by 2013, cuts emissions by 15% by itself, so that goal is within reach.
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The twin-turbo 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 |
The other main strategy that Ford is using in its goal of sustainability is that of refinement. This tactic does not count on any one big product to be a game-changer, bu rather use a variety of methods that, while small by themselves, add up to a big change. One example of this is the installation of new energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems in some of Ford's facilities. The company acheived a 4.5% reduction in energy costs this past year, which tallies up to a cool $16 million. Also, their refinements are evident in their vehicles by the fact that Ford earned the most five-star safety ratings of any automaker this year from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS).
If you want to learn more about Ford's sustainability efforts, the company has released their full report as a freely accessible website.
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