Ford News
-
My alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy, has now partnered with Ford to retrain automotive engineers to develop electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. While this training program was developed to support Ford's desire to prepare their engineers for future EV / HEV developments, the program is NOT EXCLUSIVE to Ford employees, so any individual may attend with private / public / corporate funding. The University of Detroit Mercy has always catered to the automotive industry's needs, from preparing undergraduate and graduate students to work in the auto industry, to offering advanced...
-
2011 Mazda2 Subcompact To Launch At Los Angeles Auto ShowWe previewed the upcoming 2011 Mazda2 subcompact a couple of months ago, but now we have more details, along with photos of its updated styling. The five-door hatchback will be officially unveiled in early December, at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The 2011 Mazda Mazda2 will go on sale in the U.S. and...
John Voelcker -
Jay Leno Debuts New 2012 Ford Focus EV Racer, Conferees Drive Old OneAttendees excitedly swarmed around a prototype of the all-electric 2012 Ford Focus EV at an October conference held on Microsoft's Redmond campus, outside Seattle, Washington. But a newer, nice, cooler, and much flashier prototype of the 2012 Focus EV made its debut a few weeks earlier in rather...
John Voelcker -
Small Vehicles Will Be Largest Part Of U.S. Market By 2013, Ford SaysToday we were in Michigan to learn quite a lot about the 2011 Ford Fiesta--absolutely none of which we're allowed to share with you today. (Soon, soon!) Yesterday, though, Ford's George Pipas presented data to journalists in New York that shows what Ford thinks about the future of small vehicles...
John Voelcker -
Ford Transit Connect EV to be Electrified By Azure Dynamics, Deal With Smith Electric Mutually TerminatedFord and Smith Electric Vehicles had planned to jointly produce a BEV version of the Ford Transit Connect for a scheduled release next year ahead of the companies Focus EV. The partnership was such that Ford would provide the rolling chassis and Smith Electric would install the EV components. ...
Eric Loveday -
Ford Developing Smart Charging System with Help From DOE and Utility CompaniesIf you have followed our recent articles highlighting Ford's thoughts on both battery swapping and fast charge stations, you are probably left wondering what Ford thinks will be the answer to the charging dilemma for EVs. Well the company has an answer. To read Ford's response to other charging...
Eric Loveday -
The Nikkei is reporting that Sanyo Electric Co. has signed an agreement with PSA Peugeot Citroen to supply nickel-metal hydride batteries for diesel-electric hybrids. Peugeot wants to be the first car maker to put diesel-electric powertrains into production vehicles. The French auto company will use the batteries in the 2011 Peugeot 3008 SUV and the Citroen DS5 luxury car. Both of the upcoming vehicles will use diesel engines to power the front wheels and electric motors to move the rear wheels. This is the fifth partnership of its kind for Sanyo, which already supplies nickel-metal hydride...
-
2011 Chevrolet Cruze Compact Car Launch Delayed Til Next FallAs U.S. carmakers get serious about building world-class compact cars, one of the most eagerly awaited entries is the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, which will face off against a totally new 2012 Ford Focus as well as revised models of the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, and Nissan Sentra. Now reports say that...
John Voelcker -
Is Your Ford As Reliable As a Toyota?Could American Cars Break Threw the Unreliability Stigma?
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Ford Fiesta To Be Ford’s Next Big Seller, Or Will It?The New Ford Fiesta Is Booming In Europe, But Will U.S. Be the Same?
Jonathan McGrew -
Here It Is: New 2012 Ford Escape, But Will There Be a Hybrid?The Ford Escape compact sport utility, including its hybrid model, is now long in the tooth or beyond. It was first introduced as a 2001 model, and has been restyled twice. It still sells well, though, and Ford continues to update the hybrid model. Nonetheless, it's overdue for replacement. Now...
John Voelcker -
How Many Non-Hybrids Do You Think Make the Ten Most Fuel Efficient Cars for ’10?The Results Might Surprise You
Jonathan McGrew -
Nissan has made a bigger bet on electric cars than any other automaker, with plans to launch its 2012 Leaf electric car globally. But if electric cars are the future of green vehicles, hybrids are today's state of the art. And there, Nissan has lagged. It is developing its own hybrid system, but CEO Carlos Ghosn told Automotive News at the Tokyo Motor Show that Nissan will just add hybrid technology to existing models. No special bodies Translation: It does not plan to offer any "dedicated" hybrids, or vehicles that are sold solely as hybrids, without a plain gasoline equivalent (e.g. the...
-
100-MPG Bright Idea Delivery Van: Now With 40 Electric Miles!Back in April, startup company Bright Automotive unveiled its design for a plug-in hybrid light delivery truck. Now, we've had a chance to drive the prototype, briefly, just as Bright raised its electric range to 40 miles. Our test vehicle was the only Bright IDEA van prototype built thus far by...
John Voelcker -
Your New Car Is Made Of Old Carpet, Milk Jugs, and Ripped JeansWhen you think of a brand-new, gleaming, 2010 model car rolling out of your driveway, what materials come to mind? Steel, chrome, soft-touch interior plastics, maybe even supple leather upholstery? Well, how about some old carpets, ground-up milk cartons, and shredded, faded, raggedy blue jeans?...
John Voelcker -
Best Fuel Efficiency in the U.S.: 2010 Toyota Prius, at 50 MPGWell, now it's official. The 2010 Toyota Prius offers the best gas mileage of any new car sold in the U.S. for the upcoming 2010 model year, with a blended EPA rating of 50 miles per gallon. The 2010 Prius had actually been rated at 50 mpg back in March, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
John Voelcker -
Increasing Ford Hybrid Sales Buck Industry TrendThe latest figures from Autodata Inc. indicate that Ford Motor Company Hybrid vehicle sales have risen 73% this year in comparison with the same period in 2008. This contrasts with a slight decline in hybrid sales across the industry. Ford attributes much of this growth to the popularity of the...
Jon Vandervelde -
Will the 2011 Ford Mustang Get An EcoBoost Engine Too?We always enjoy talking cars with the opinionated Alex Nunez from Autoblog, most recently last week when we both appeared on FoxNews.com's Fox Car Report with dapper host Gary Gastelu. This week's guest was Derrick Kuzak, who heads up global product development for Ford. Meaning he's the guy...
John Voelcker -
With record unemployment numbers and an active global recession, it's not news that vehicle sales have been lousy, falling by more than one-third from the record levels of a few years ago. But at least one maker's green cars are doing better than ever: Ford's U.S. sales of its hybrid-electric vehicles are up by 73 percent, based on the successful launch of its 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid midsize sedan and its counterpart, the 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid. Through the first nine months of 2009, Ford sold 26,016 hybrid vehicles, according to figures from Autodata Inc. All-important "conquest" buyers...
-
Ford Names Director of Global ElectrificationIf there was ever any doubt that Ford wants to be known for hybrids and electric vehicles, that was put to rest today, after the Dearborn, Michigan, based automaker named a "Director of Electrification." The newly created position will be filled by Nancy Gioia, who has served almost four years as...
Robert Scardino -
-
Video: Fox News Criticizes DOE Loans to Fisker and TeslaWhile discussing two upstart electric car companies, contributors to the self proclaimed "fair and balanced" Fox News Channel (FNC) have proven that they are not smarter than a fifth grader. Jeff Foxworthy didn't even have to ask a single question. In reports criticizing recent Department of Energy...
Robert Scardino -
More Tesla Turmoil? Executive Turnover ContinuesExecutive turnover continues at Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors, with three executives leaving in nine months and two more hired. The turnover comes both in Vehicle Engineering--the group that must executive and deliver the 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sports sedan--and in...
John Voelcker -
Most Popular Green Car Posts for September: Condoms, Of CourseThis is our favorite end-of-month activity, looking back over the most popular posts of the last 30-or-so days on GreenCarReports.com. To celebrate the onset of autumn (for us Northern Hemisphere types, anyhow), we're back on schedule too. We repeated three of August's most popular posts, and...
John Voelcker