Green Energy News | March 17, 1997

March 17, 1997 – Vol.1 No.50

ENERGIES... week of March 17, 1997

FORD MOTOR COMPANY will move ahead with plans to build an ultra high mileage environmentally clean car in the next decade. Weight, propulsion, rolling resistance and aerodynamics will all be optimized in the project to build a mid-sized sedan comparable to today’s Taurus - yet getting three times the fuel economy.

Dubbed the P2000, the first running versions will be assembled this fall and fully functional vehicles with similar characteristics, and features to those found in today’s new sedans, will begin testing in 1998.

FORD IS REINVENTING the automobile with the P2000 program. The approach is to take every part, panel and system and reengineer it for fuel efficiency, ease of production, consumer acceptance and cost. Lightweight materials such as aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber, titanium and metal matrix composites will be used extensively throughout as well as traditional steel. The goal is to keep the sedan at 2000 lbs, some 1200 lbs less than today’s Taurus.

But it doesn’t end with the body. A variety of new power trains will be developed based around a new engine called DIATA (Direct Injection Aluminum Through-bolt Assembly). DIATA is a compression ignition, direct injection unit that at 1.2 liters will offer the same performance as the 3 liter V-6 now mounted in the Taurus.

DIATA will also be linked to a variety of hybrid systems. One system involves using a battery to store energy along with a combination starter-alternator that will allow the engine to be shut off at idle or deceleration and quickly restarted by pushing on the gas pedal. The starter-alternator will also be used to capture braking energy and store it in the battery

Another version, the Post-Transmission Hybrid, will use larger batteries than the above and the regenerative power of braking to recharge the batteries.

Ford also hasn’t ruled out the use of turbines and fuel cells in later versions of the P2000 project.

MARKETABILITY is key to the P2000 vehicle. Ford knows consumers are slow to accept new technologies. People won’t buy on fuel savings alone as long as gasoline remains cheap.The new cars must be much better than today’s offerings for people to buy them.

P2000 is part of the New Generation of Vehicles Program (NGVP), a partnership of U.S. automakers, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Department of Energy and host of suppliers and research institutions