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Pooling green investment Ford’s £1 billion UK environmental engineering strategy doubles its rate of spend in this area, with the potential to reduce annual emissions by the equivalent of the CO2 produced by a large UK city like Newcastle upon Tyne. ANTHONY HOWARD reports...
CLIMATE change is one of the greatest single challenges facing the auto industry and society today, believes Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group chairman and CEO Lewis Booth. ‘A broad business strategy that serves all our brands is the only way we can achieve the level of improvement in emissions and fuel economy required,’ he told a conference in London. ‘We are not going to introduce just one or two high-profile green cars that sell in relatively low numbers and leave it at that. To tackle this issue, we are getting our 3,700 R&D people in Essex, our 2,000 engineers in Coventry and our 3,300 engineers in Warwickshire to work together. ‘By pooling our engineering investment, our brands will develop a broader range of technologies, available faster than they could afford individually. And by deploying these technologies across the breadth of our product range – mass market and premium products, passenger cars and commercial vehicles – we can deliver far more significant reductions in the total amount of CO2 generated by our total vehicle fleet. ‘We can also help reduce our customers’ consumption of fossil fuels, which saves them money.’ Citing the ‘multiplier factor’, Booth said that for example only a small decrease in CO2 emissions from the Focus – the UK’s best seller at 145,000 a year – would do more to reduce CO2 discharged than the combined effect of all hybrids currently sold in the UK. And he predicted a regular Focus would emit less than 100g of CO2 /km – a 20 per cent improvement on today’s version and equivalent to more than 70 mpg. Booth also claimed considerable progress over the past 10 years – the current Focus 1.8 TDCi diesel, for instance, offered better performance and fuel economy and produced 26 per cent less CO2 than the equivalent 1998 Escort 1.8 TCi. And he predicted: ‘Our fleet in the next decade will use literally millions of tonnes less CO2 over its lifetime on the road than our fleet does today. ‘We need governments to set the right legislative and fiscal framework to allow competing environmental technologies to flourish without distorting the marketplace. ‘That means focusing incentives on the CO2 outcomes rather than the vehicle or fuel technologies that deliver them. It also means more engagement with consumers to encourage a shift in behaviour over time. ‘It is critical that taxation incentives are intelligently applied across all car segments and over time to encourage sustained improvement. Dramatic tax changes which distort the market or unfairly target specific market segments will not achieve the results we all want to see.’ Ford’s chief technical officer Richard Parry-Jones declared: ‘The size of the challenge we face is enormous. There is a body of scientific work that shows the globe is heating up, but there is no agreement on the level of CO2 stabilisation required.’ He said it was it was clear the car industry – and even transport as a whole – were not solely responsible. Estimates were that the average UK household’s heating, hot water, lighting and appliances produced more than double the emissions generated by the occupants’ personal transportation. So action was essential in all aspects of life and industry. challenge Parry-Jones said Ford had to pursue a multiple technology strategy for three reasons: 1: No single technology on the horizon would enable the automotive industry to play its full part in stabilising levels of atmospheric CO2. 2: It was impossible to say for certain which way the market would go in future and what influences regional differences would have. Ultimately customers would decide which technologies best suited their needs. 3: As vehicles became progressively cleaner, the technological challenge of further improvement increased. Deploying multiple technologies would make a series of small and medium size gains, leveraging the range of vehicles and sales volumes. ‘This approach has the benefit of enabling us to vary our product offering to meet the needs of a range of customers in different market segments and to address the differing market preferences around the world,’ Parry-Jones explained. ‘We will be able to build cars with technology bundles to improve the gains we can deliver. And an array of technology will also mean we have the flexibility to adapt and respond quickly to market place developments and new legislative frameworks.’ Ford and its brands will focus on the following key technology areas: 1: An all-new generation of lightweight aluminium vehicles. Jaguar has already launched two of the first mass-produced all-aluminium monocoque cars: the XJ saloon and XK sports car. The XJ ‘body-in-white’ is around 40 per cent lighter than the previous steel body. Now a core competency at Jaguar, expertise in working with aluminium will be shared with other members of the Ford group. The next generation of lightweight premium cars will deliver further CO2 savings, both from base vehicle weight reduction and also from a virtuous circle of lighter components as loads are reduced. 2: Five all-new petrol engines will be offered with advanced direct injection – directly into the chamber with much finer control for more efficient combustion, augmented by pressure charging, stop/start capability and advanced valve actuation. Though smaller, these engines will deliver the same performance with improved driveability, but with CO2 savings of up to 20 per cent. Three advanced diesel engines will provide further CO2 reductions of 5-10 per cent. Four advanced transmissions with gearing more efficiently matched to engine speed will deliver CO2 savings 5-10 per cent. 3: Ford is a leader in development and commercialisation of hybrid vehicles in North America, and others brands in the group will benefit from this. Dissimilar driving conditions in Europe – and a high level of acceptance for diesels – are likely to suggest alternative combinations of engine and hybrid system. For example, micro-hybrid diesels offer European customers a better cost-benefit proposition than full gasoline hybrids. Depending on customer approval and vehicle appropriateness in different markets, Ford will deploy a variety of hybridisation permutations – micro, mild or full coupled with diesel or gasoline engines. CO2 savings range from 8 per cent for a micro-hybrid to 25 per cent for a full hybrid. 4: Further development and more widespread availability of bio-fuels – especially the so-called second generation – will provide some of the greatest reductions in personal transportation CO2 emissions. COLLABORATION The company is committed to offering bio-fuel vehicles and to working with oil companies to accelerate development of these fuels. Ford is already a leader in flexi-fuel E85 ethanol vehicles, both in the US and European countries such as Sweden, where flexi-fuel accounts for 80 per cent of Ford Focus and Ford Focus C-Max and 16 per cent of Volvo S40 and Volvo V50 sales. E85 capability will be extended across the brands, delivering ‘well to wheels’ improvements of 30 to 80 per cent depending on ethanol source. Ford and BP have been collaborating to reduce greenhouse gas and other emissions by looking at the car and fuel as a complete system. 5: A further objective is to improve drivers’ behaviour by providing information systems and selectable driving modes to enable them to take maximum advantage of new fuel economy technologies. Additional efficiencies – with CO2 savings of 3 per cent – will be sought by eliminating waste in vehicle systems, for example through improved warm-up times, smart switching to cut drag and reduce loads, diminished pumping and hydraulic losses, and enhanced interaction of each system with the rest of the vehicle. Despite inroads by others, Ford asserts its continued dominance in the UK. It retains its 30-year overall market leadership with annual sales of almost half a million cars and commercials and, with 33,000 staff, it is the UK’s largest automotive employer. Its two engine and four vehicle assembly plants make it the country’s leading auto manufacturer, and it is top automotive exporter by value. Furthermore it claims 80 per cent of the UK’s total automotive R&D investment. Ford-owned Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover are all based in the UK, and design, engineer and build all their vehicles there. Ford also owns Volvo in Sweden and 33 per cent of Mazda Motor Corporation in Japan l
1345 words Copyright © 2006 by Anthony Howard for Vehicle Engineer |
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