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Showing posts with label Ford Cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ford Cars. Show all posts
Ford Plans to Start Electric-Car Tests in Germany
Ford Motor Co. will start a two-year test program of electric Focus compact cars and Transit vans in Germany on Jan. 4 as the U.S. company prepares to introduce battery-powered models as early this year.
The 25 vehicles will be driven under normal traffic conditions in Cologne, where Ford’s European division is based, said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Germany’s University of Duisburg-Essen, which is overseeing the 15 million-euro ($22 million) study.
The drivers will include researchers and customers selected by Ford, Dudenhoeffer said today in a telephone interview. Data from the models will be monitored on computers that can simulate testing of more than 10,000 vehicles, he said.
Bernd Meier, a spokesman for Ford in Cologne, said the study is the automaker’s first in mainland Europe. The company is already trying out battery-powered vehicles in London, Meier said.
Ford, the first U.S. automaker to offer a hybrid model, said on Dec. 8 that it may spend $300 million to $500 million on factories in its home state of Michigan to build electric vehicles and batteries. The Dearborn-based company has a target of rolling out an electric-powered version of the Transit Connect commercial van next year, followed by an Ford electric Focus in 2011.
Local utility RheinEnergie AG will supply vehicle-charging stations for the test, which is being financed by the German government’s economic-stimulus package, Dudenhoeffer said.
The 25 vehicles will be driven under normal traffic conditions in Cologne, where Ford’s European division is based, said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Germany’s University of Duisburg-Essen, which is overseeing the 15 million-euro ($22 million) study.
The drivers will include researchers and customers selected by Ford, Dudenhoeffer said today in a telephone interview. Data from the models will be monitored on computers that can simulate testing of more than 10,000 vehicles, he said.
Bernd Meier, a spokesman for Ford in Cologne, said the study is the automaker’s first in mainland Europe. The company is already trying out battery-powered vehicles in London, Meier said.
Ford, the first U.S. automaker to offer a hybrid model, said on Dec. 8 that it may spend $300 million to $500 million on factories in its home state of Michigan to build electric vehicles and batteries. The Dearborn-based company has a target of rolling out an electric-powered version of the Transit Connect commercial van next year, followed by an Ford electric Focus in 2011.
Local utility RheinEnergie AG will supply vehicle-charging stations for the test, which is being financed by the German government’s economic-stimulus package, Dudenhoeffer said.
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Ford's Electric Car Built on the SUV Line
It’s a sign of the times. Ford’s new Focus-based electric vehicle (EV), will be built in a Wayne, Michigan factory that once built nothing but SUVs—and supplied half of Ford’s worldwide profits.
The Ford Focus itself was designed in Europe and will debut in 2011. It’s a world car, destined to sell two million units around the globe. The EV version, with lithium-ion batteries, is being developed in partnership with Magna International and will appear that same year.
Ford is investing $550 million in what was once known as the Michigan Truck Plant. For nostalgia buffs, the 140-acre, 2.8-million-square foot site opened in 1957, when it made station wagon bodies. It later produced the Ford Bronco, Ford F-Series, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
Ford is also retooling Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Ohio ($350 million spent) to produce a very green product line, specifically the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engines to be offered in the Ford Flex, Ford Taurus SHO, Lincoln MKS and Lincoln MKT crossover. The plant also has a history, producing more than 35 million engines, including the famous 351 Cleveland, the 302 and 5.0 liter V-8s.
Dan Kapp, Ford’s director for powertrain research and advanced engineering, says the 3.5-liter EcoBoost “does what the 5.4-liter V-8 does today.” He said EcoBoost will reach the 1.3 million-unit level by 2013, when it will be available on 95 percent of Ford nameplates.
The battery Focus is just one part of a multi-pronged electric strategy that includes a Transit Connect commercial vehicle next year, and a “next generation” hybrid and plug-in hybrid in 2012.
According to Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, “We’re changing from a company focused mainly on trucks and SUVs to a company with a balanced product lineup that includes even more high-quality, fuel-efficient small cars, hybrids and all-electric vehicles. As customers move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, we’ll be there with more of the products they really want.”
The Ford Focus itself was designed in Europe and will debut in 2011. It’s a world car, destined to sell two million units around the globe. The EV version, with lithium-ion batteries, is being developed in partnership with Magna International and will appear that same year.
Ford is investing $550 million in what was once known as the Michigan Truck Plant. For nostalgia buffs, the 140-acre, 2.8-million-square foot site opened in 1957, when it made station wagon bodies. It later produced the Ford Bronco, Ford F-Series, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.Ford is also retooling Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Ohio ($350 million spent) to produce a very green product line, specifically the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engines to be offered in the Ford Flex, Ford Taurus SHO, Lincoln MKS and Lincoln MKT crossover. The plant also has a history, producing more than 35 million engines, including the famous 351 Cleveland, the 302 and 5.0 liter V-8s.
Dan Kapp, Ford’s director for powertrain research and advanced engineering, says the 3.5-liter EcoBoost “does what the 5.4-liter V-8 does today.” He said EcoBoost will reach the 1.3 million-unit level by 2013, when it will be available on 95 percent of Ford nameplates.
The battery Focus is just one part of a multi-pronged electric strategy that includes a Transit Connect commercial vehicle next year, and a “next generation” hybrid and plug-in hybrid in 2012.
According to Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, “We’re changing from a company focused mainly on trucks and SUVs to a company with a balanced product lineup that includes even more high-quality, fuel-efficient small cars, hybrids and all-electric vehicles. As customers move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, we’ll be there with more of the products they really want.”
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