Mustang News
Do Soy-Based Seats Make The Mustang A Vegan?
By All Ford Mustang News
May 23, 2009, 23 May 2009 19:48:00

The 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang's interior is, quite literally, good enough to eat (Disclaimer: please don't eat your car)

In 2007 Ford introduced a new soy-based polyurethane foam that they used to pad the seats in that year's Mustang.  Since that time, this foam has been introduced to virtually every model in the Ford family, most notably the F-150, the Expiedition, the Escape, the Mercury Mariner, and the Lincoln MKS, accounting for over 1 million vehicles.  The introduction of a soy-based polyurethane, instead of the traditional petroleum-based variety, Ford has reduced its petroleum consumption by more than 1 million pounds per year.  Also, the 2010 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner will be featuring the first-ever soy-based foam headliner.

So what does Ford have planned for the future?  Well, it seems they just went down the vegetable aisle of a local grocery store and started making vehicle components out of produce.  The aforementioned soy bean will be lending some of its protein chains to the production of rubber that will be used for such things as door seals, gaskets, floor mats, and splash shields.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Hey, why don't they make some sort of plastic out of vegetables?"  Well, you're right on track because Ford is currently developing a corn-based plastic.  There are a number of huge benefits to this process.  First, and most important, these plastics are compostable, meaning that once they have outlived their usefulness, they will not sit in a landfill until the end of time.  Instead, the natural fibers could be recycled for other uses.  Also, these plastics and natural-fiber composites have potential in being used for many automitive components that generally require strong glass-fiber plastics.

Whether this field produces corn-on-the-cob or plastic for a Mustang, it's an American classic

Last, but certainly not least, is a little something called polylactic acid (or PLA for short).  This is a biodegradable plastic that is constructed out of sugars taken from corn, sugarbeets, sugarcane, and switch grass.  Once the life-cycle of the plastic has been reached, it can biodegrade within 90 to 120 days.  Not bad at all.

So, in short, any time somebody says that your Ford Mustang is a blemish on the environment, let them know that your car is essentially made out of vegetables, and vegetables can't be bad.