While reading the forums today I stumbled upon some interesting insight that I had not been expecting: the new Ford Fusion hybrid gets great gas mileage. Sure, I should’ve paid more attention at the LA Auto Show when this car was revealed, but to be honest, I didn’t expect to see such great mileage numbers. As USA Today points out, the car’s 36/41 mpg EPA rating puts it squarely in second place behind the Prius and ahead of the Honda Civic Hybrid in terms of the overall fuel economy game.

By now, we all know that two of the Big Three have received bailout money. The missing piece of the puzzle there is Ford. Ford, which used to be seen as being in huge trouble with the rest of them is confident they can stand on their own two feet for at least a few months, and when you look at this car you can tell they don’t just mean financially. Sure, the U.S. companies lag behind the cutting edge on technology, but the problem here isn’t the ability to make a fuel efficient car, it’s just doing it.

I think this is where Ford has really succeeded. I don’t praise Ford much in these pages but I think in the last few years we have really seen them step up to the plate in terms of fuel economy and integrating new technologies. The Ford Escape hybrid was one of the first hybrids on the market in the US, and the new Fusion shows that even if they’re not there first they are able to do it well.

Sure, the $27,000 ticket on the car makes it more expensive than both the Prius and Civic Hybrid (and the upcoming Honda Insight) and that’s not a good thing in a down market, but you can’t deny that Ford has done a good job to get a rather large sedan such good EPA ratings.

In the wake of automakers like Ford preparing for the worst, the bygone days of fighting back against CAFE regulations are long over. These days it seems like the new motto is “35 MPG or bust (and hopefully not bust before 35 MPG)!” However, according to Wardsauto, Ford is looking to do more than just hit 35 MPG, it’s looking even higher.

And why not? Ford’s stock is the lowest it’s been in decades and the Japanese automakers, with their thrifty, fuel efficient cars are weathering the current economic storm a lot better than their U.S.-based counterparts. Ford needs something to set them apart, and more importantly, something to give the company that so many people want to buy from a fresh, new image.

According to Ford, that something is fuel economy:

“Our objective is to go as far as possible with the technology available that we can offer consumers at an affordable price so we can have a corporate fuel economy number that exceeds regulations.”

To that effect Ford has already begun phasing in smaller, 4 cylinder engines, developing new hybrid systems, and improving fuel economy feedback. Evidently the new engines are a hit:

“The (take rate) for I-4s is now 50%. Every I-4 we can produce, there’s a customer wanting to take it,” she says. I think consumers aren’t as concerned with the number of cylinders or the numerical displacement. I think they’re concerned with performance, how it feels to drive and fuel economy.”

It may be more corporate posturing from one of the companies that has promised change for years, but it seems to be coming during a time of aggressive change and a reshuffling of priorities, so I am apt to believe it. More than that, they don’t seem to be promising anything extraordinary; they’re going to meet and beat CAFE regulations over the next 12 years. If they were claiming to reinvent the wheel and have a 100% hydrogen line up, well…that just wouldn’t fly.

Do you think Ford can pull off a turn around? Will they even make it past the current global economic meltdown?

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A8-8xUZ-0c

Sure, the video is a little obscure, but you get a sense of the new layout and the “efficiency leaves” that Ford is incorporating into their new Smart Gauge. Like we talked about yesterday with Audi, automakers are trying to encorporate fuel saving technologies into their cars. In Audi’s case, they’re trying to help you predict some of the externalities that affect fuel economy (upcoming traffic lights), but in this case, Ford is just trying to help you help yourself.

Sure, there are other fuel economy gauges out there, but even the best don’t have total integration into your car’s instrument cluster. Also, most of these gauges, save the Kiwi, can’t really tell you how to drive. The gauge will be showing up in 2010 Ford hybrids, and will include two modes, “Journey” and “Empower.” Journey mode will seem just like a normal gauge cluster for everyday driving, but for ecodrivers or information junkies, Empower mode will tell you about your vehicle’s performance and how you can improve the fuel economy.

The quirkiest feature, however, is definitely the “efficiency leaf” display. Here’s a quote from the Wall Street Journal:

In one of the two LCD screens on either side of the speedometer, bright green leaves will indicate how fuel-efficient the driver is. “You don’t have to count the leaves,” Ms. Gioia said. “But if you’re in a forest of leaves, you’ll know you’re doing well.”

Who can say now how well this will go over, but it seems to be a simple, yet interesting measure of your fuel economy, which I think more people will want to look at than a big red button flashing “LEAD” when you mash the gas pedal.

What do you think? Are the leaves a good touch or just silly?

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The F150 has been making news during the latest gas crunch, losing its #1 spot to the Civic and then having the new model year released pushed back, but it seems that things might be turning around for the iconic American truck. ABG reports that the 2009 F150 will come in a new SFE trim, which stands for Super Fuel Economy. The SFE trim will boost gas mileage 1 mpg to give the trucks 15/21 mpg by the new EPA ratings.

This new SFE model is meant to compete with GM’s XFE models, which were recently expanded to some trucks and SUVs. SFE is slightly unfortunate, because it sounds so much like XFE, and because “super fuel economy” gives you the idea that “wow, this vehicle must get great gas mileage.” However, it’s a truck, and it while it might get good mileage for a truck, or compared to other trims, it’s definitely not “super.” I’m not hating on Ford here, but it would’ve been more accurate to choose a name with the connotation of “better” than “best.”

Setbacks and funky names aside, Ford has managed to match the fuel economy of GM’s trucks, and while trucks are definitely not going to be the way of the future for most consumers, they’re still the bread and butter of these two companies. And for my part, I’m not going to complain about anyone getting better fuel economy than they would otherwise.

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Ford is really throwing down the guantlet by showing how dedicated it is to the new EcoDriving initiative we talked about the other day. I really liked it because it validates a lot of what we’re trying to do on the forums in terms of improving fuel economy on an individual level, but also showed that automakers were willing to commit (at least in name) to supporting fuel efficient driving. However, it seems Ford has really stepped up to the plate by offering ecodriving lessons over the course of several days to see how effective it really is.

Ford takes on ecodriving

Recently, Ford and a group called Pro Formance decided to take on ecodriving in the form of a 4-day long seminar with 48 different drivers taking part. Using the ecodriving tips taught by Pro Formance, the participants increased their fuel economy between 6-50%, with and average increase of 24%.

With the gas crunch hitting people hard, it’s good to see a company like Ford stepping up and showing consumers that there’s more than just air up your tires and cleaning out the trunk. Here’s their take on ecodriving:

“By working with Pro Formance to conduct validation testing, Ford is proving that eco-driving techniques are teachable and work across a broad spectrum of vehicles and drivers,” said Drew DeGrassi, president and CEO of Pro Formance Group. “It’s a great initiative for Ford to lead in this country. It’s not the end-all solution for America to obtain energy independence, but it is an important part of it.”

I would love to see what the training program is like, but for the rest of us Ford give us 10 ecodriving tips. Sure, they pale in comparison to EcoModder’s ecodriving tips list, but most drivers aren’t interested in getting really involved, and Ford’s hands-on approach is a good way to get results without asking too much of people.

Evidently they have been doing this since the 1990s in Germany, where gas mileage has been an issue for longer than it has in the US. Hopefully, this will encourage other manufacturers to bring their most efficient vehicles and programs to a ready-and-willing US market.

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Recently the BS-o-meter of many forum members was tripped by a guy claiming to get 110 mpg out of his 1987 Ford Mustang. Though the claim seems a little ridiculous, and I think most people would be quick to dismiss it, the fact that it’s getting some media attention warrants a debunking.

The first thing to say is that conspiracy theories will not be considered here. I am not on the payroll of big oil, the government, Saudis, terrorists, or any of that. Nor is there any real evidence that any of these agents are going above and beyond normal business tactics to keep the US addicted to oil. Sure, the Saudis may produce more oil to lower prices and make the need for alternatives less pressing, but is Exxon assassinating the “water4gas” internet spammers? I think not. So, if your argument for the feasibility of this device is that it’s always been possible and the man is keeping it down, then don’t waste your breath arguing.

Now on to this specific case. Here we have a mechanic named Doug Pelmear with an ’87 Ford Mustang that he claims gets 110 mpg, 400 horsepower, 500 ft-lbs of torque, and can do 0-60 in 3 seconds. According to Doug, the builder:

“My grandfather had the idea back in the 40′s that he can make a difference then,” Pelmear says, “There was quite a need at that time also with the war going on and everything, there was quite the need then.” And quite a need now.

This should throw up our first red flag. His grandfather had an idea back in the 40s that this guy has remade into some sort of miracle device 60 years later? Nevermind the fact that automakers spend billions of dollars working on having the best of the best in terms of both power and efficiency, and that to date the Honda Insight holds the mileage crown at with a combined EPA rating of 53 MPG. Doug Pelmear claims to more than double that using something his grandfather thought up 60 years ago? Engine technology from that period is nothing like the fuel injected, computer controlled tech of today, but this device still works wonders?

Those this technology could be working to increase the thermodynamic efficiency of the engine, as one ecomodder pointed out,  thermodynamic efficiency can only be increased so much before it is at 100%, which would be impossible. Given that car engines are typically 25-30% efficient, there is only so much gain to be had before you’re claiming to have broken the laws of physics.

As for the car itself, 1987 Mustangs come with EPA ratings from 17-24 MPG, with 17 being the number assigned to the V8 variety.  Completely disregarding the performance claims Doug is making, if we are to assume he’s using the 5.0L V8 as a base, he’s claiming a 640% increase in fuel economy. While ecomodders regularly report increases of 50% to 100% on the extreme side, does such a huge improvement seem feasible? And if so, how could it be done while dramatically increasing power output?

The next red flag comes up when we learn that Doug won’t tell anyone what he’s done to the car or what technology he’s using:

While Pelmear won’t let us look under the hood, he says the technology can easily be applied to smaller engines for even better gas mileage. He’s entering the car in the prestigious Progressive Automotive X competition; a race where inventors from around the world compete for the best mileage with a car that is the most marketable. Pelmear says, his technology is very marketable because it will allow people to drive large cars and SUV’s without sacrificing gas mileage.

As the original report notes, the X-Prize is a prestigious competition, but to me it seems like he is only using the name in order to make his claims appear more legitimate. While his plan to sell his design to automakers in order to make it big certainly could explain why he wouldn’t want to make a DIY and post it online, but he can’t expect anyone to believe his claims if he’s not even willing to drive the car around and fill it up at the pump to throw a little weight behind his claims.

And even that brings up another question. Evidently Doug’s job was recently cut in Ford’s latest round of lay-offs. If he intends to use this invention to bring back the US automotive industry, why didn’t it see the light of day during the years he worked for  billion-dollar manufacturer? This kind of technology would have definitely gotten him a nice promotion, a fat paycheck, and position as the savior of his company. Instead, he doesn’t mention until he’s out of a job.

If you watch this video from CNN, you will see a few more interesting things:

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=sBG2QGM8SUI

The first thing that I notice is that he’s running (or at least claiming to run) E85. While E85 is higher octane, it is also known for returning lower fuel economy in flex-fuel vehicles. Wikipedia notes that  the flex-fuel Chevy Tahoe is rated for 18 mpg with regular gasoline, but only 13 mpg using E85. That’s 38% less fuel economy in a vehicle designed to run on E85.

Secondly, when the 110 mpg image pops up, you’ll note that it actually says “MPGe.” This stands for “miles per gallon energy equivalent,” which, coupled with the knowledge that he is running E85 suggests that he is getting less that 110 mpg and using a conversion factor to make the number sound more impressive than it otherwise would. Using the previous Chevy Tahoe example as an analogy, this means that he might only be getting 80 mpg while deceptively claiming 110 mpg. Though his website does show “MPGe” and state that it means “energy equivalent,” he neither explains this to readers nor to the reporter. This, at least, seems as if he is trying to mislead us and makes me question his other claims.

Finally, you’ll notice that even though the two men behind the scenes are talking up the performance of this car, we only see it peacefully cruising the neighborhood streets. Were the reporters to daft to ask for a ride or is that another one of Doug’s secrets? Surely a muscle car like that would be capable of a few burnouts or revs to show off for itself. However, we’re left knowing nothing more than that it actually runs under its own power.

In the end, Doug Pelmear doesn’t give us any reason to believe his claims. All his website states is that on the 14th of June the car will be tested at a race track. Sadly, that was posted on the 16th of June, and there were never any results. There are plenty of reasons to believe this is nothing more than a fuel price-related scam cooked up by someone pissed off that he got fired from his job at Ford, and unless there is some great revelation, I’m calling this a hoax. As always, feel free to disagree.

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If you haven’t noticed, people aren’t exactly keen on driving trucks and SUVs these days. This isn’t just affecting commuters, but also city governments, businesses, and truckers. Just last month the F150 finally fell from it’s position as the best-selling vehicle in the US, and now it’s come out the Ford is delaying the release of the iconic truck.

Originally, production of the 2009 F150, a highly anticipated redesign, was supposed to begin production this month. According to Edmunds, however, that production schedule has now been pushed back two months until August and September. This is amid news from Ford that the company will be scaling back its production of trucks and SUVs while working on a more fuel efficient vehicle lineup.

Ford will be rereleasing it’s Fiesta subcompact, to be built in Mexico, in 2010. Ford also plans to update its popular compact car, the Focus, so that it is common with the European model. The 2011 Focus will not only be redesigned, but should get much better mileage as the company looks to compete with the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

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