A Tale of Two Automakers,
Continued

This migration to advanced technology finds its biggest impact with EcoBoost. Simply put, EcoBoost engines are designed to produce the horsepower and torque of larger engines while maintaining the fuel economy benefits of smaller engines. The company’s EcoBoost 3.5L V6 generates upwards of 350 horsepower depending on model application, yet maintains the fuel economy characteristics of a conventional V6 engine. Ford plans to use the EcoBoost V6 to replace V8 engines in virtually all of its vehicles in coming years, including the venerable F150 pickup, where a EcoBoost V6 will replace the 5.4L V8 engine sometime later this year.

Plus, Ford plans to introduce 2.0L and 1.6L four-cylinder versions of the EcoBoost engine in coming years; the 2.0L will replace many traditional V6 engines in the Ford lineup, while the 1.6L engine will replace larger four-cylinder engines — all while maintaining the fuel economy of larger engines, according to Trajnowski.

By the end of 2010, Trajnowski said that as many as 23 percent of all new Ford vehicles could be equipped with EcoBoost engines, and by the end of 2013 EcoBoost engines will equip as many as 90 percent of all new Fords.

The company isn’t just focusing on engines, either. By 2013, Trajnowski said virtually all Ford vehicles will be equipped with six-speed transmissions, units that offer up to 6 percent fuel economy improvement over four-speed units. Plus, by 2013 the company expects to have electric power steering systems installed in all its new vehicles. By replacing the traditional hydraulically operated power steering system with a computer-controlled electric motor, Trajnowski said parasitic losses can be reduced, resulting in a 3 to 5 percent fuel mileage improvement.

In the mid term leading up to the end of the next decade, Trajnowski said Ford is working on additional endeavors, like reducing the per-vehicle weight up to 750 pounds, improving aerodynamics by up to 5 percent, increasing the use of hybrid-electric (HEV) drive systems, and introducing plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). Tranjowski said the automaker will only adopt diesel engine technology if the marketplace demands it, a scenario he viewed as unlikely.

“We don’t believe diesels are something the American consumer wants to drive,” he said. “Plus, the government wants to see an investment in HEV, PHEV and BEV technology, because diesel fuel does not answer the imported oil issue.”

While HEVs and PHEVs are based on proven technology, Trajnowski said there is much room for improvement, especially in battery technology and, critically, in battery cost. For instance, at an average price of $2.62 per gallon (about the national average during 2009), it would take the typical driver logging some 15,000 miles per year more than 12.6 years to recoup the higher price of purchasing a hybrid vehicle rather than a conventional vehicle. (Trajnowski compared that with a 2.7-year cost recovery for purchasing an EcoBoost engine.) The cost recovery time only increases for PHEVs (14.5 years) and BEVs (29.2 years). Until battery technology becomes more reliable and less expensive, internal combustion engines will continue to be an integral part of vehicle powerplants.

“Electric vehicles face a number of challenges — affordability and the accessibility to recharging being chief among those,” he said.

Finally, looking long term Trajnowski said Ford is hard at work attempting to both expand its use of hybrid-electric technology as well as iron out the kinks in fuel-cell technology. With fuel-cell technology, an onboard fuel cell “stack” would convert a fuel (typically pure hydrogen) into electricity, with water vapor being the only emission. While this is the holy grail of automotive propulsion technology, Trajnowski said it will be years before customers can purchase a fuel cell vehicle in showrooms.

“We have a long way to go before these vehicles are available on the market,” he said. In addition to increasing numbers of hybrid vehicles, however, what consumers can expect will be the increasing use of renewable biofuels like corn-based ethanol, Trajnowski said. (Automakers get “credits” for these vehicles that allow them to raise their fleet’s fuel economy standards even though the vehicles powered by biofuel may not achieve the higher fuel economy standards.)

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