Donald W Nauss in Dearborn, Michigan
THE Ford Motor Company this week unveiled an advanced mid-sized sedan that is 40% lighter than today’s comparable vehicles and gets up to 30km/l. Prototypes will be produced later this year.
The company said the experimental vehicle, the P2000, would use a small, efficient diesel engine. Two versions would be hybrid-electric vehicles that use battery power in addition to the combustion engine.
The announcement is the clearest indication yet by any carmaker on how it will comply with the requirements of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), a joint industry-government effort to design affordable vehicles that get up to 34km/l by 2003.
Ford plans to build up to 16 of the vehicles for testing.
Programme director Robert Mull said the vehicle – a computer-designed five-seater – could be mass produced by the middle of the next decade if certain technical and cost barriers can be overcome.
“It’s very exciting stuff,” said Ford head Alex Trotman. “We expect to put cars like this on the road some day.”
The National Research Council last year identified so-called direct-injection diesels as the front-runner to achieve PNGV goals. But it also raised questions whether such engines could meet current and future emissions standards.
Diesel engines, which are popular in Europe, provide improved fuel economy but may increase emissions of particulates and nitrous oxides. Ford officials, however, maintained that their diesel engine could meet California’s ultra-low emission standards.
Unlike some competitors, Ford is not aiming for a niche vehicle, but one that would be produced in high volumes of 300 000 or more. Such large-scale production can reduce manufacturing costs.
Mull said it would cost about $200-million to develop the P2000, with about half provided by Ford and the rest from the government, suppliers and national laboratories. He said the vehicle costs several thousand dollars more to produce than the Taurus, Ford’s best-selling car. – Los Angeles Times