I’ll admit upfront, I’m a Ford fanboy. I bleed Ford blue. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a car fanboy in general, but Ford is numero uno in my book… and now I have another reason to love the Blue Oval.
According to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency, Ford has improved its average fleet fuel economy by 20% over the last five years, twice the improvement of any of its competitors.
For what it is worth, at the beginning of the decade Ford was amongst the worst offenders when it came to fuel efficiency. The Explorer, Expedition and Excursion were egregious gas guzzlers and Ford’s top sellers, though the latter two models are now buried and the Explorer was the single most popular trade-in during Cash for Clunkers. But Ford has also made fuel efficiency improvements on many fronts.
First there is the Escape Hybrid, the best selling hybrid SUV in America. While some may argue about the green credentials of any SUV, not everyone can or wants to drive a Prius. Sales of the peppy Escape hybrid have grown every year, and it is now joined by the Fusion Hybrid, universally hailed as a great car (the Fusion won Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 2009).
But that’s not all. The 2010 V6 Mustang offers 305 horsepower and 30 MPG on the highway thanks to a new engine and a choice of either manual or automatic 6-speed transmissions. These transmissions are going to start appearing in other cars alongside Ford’s new flagship engine technology, the twin-turbo EcoBoost engines. Up till now the engine was only offered in crossovers, SUV’s, and the Taurus SHO in 2009. But soon the technology will spread throughout Ford’s lineup including the F-150.
Ford has also made an effort to both improve the aerodynamics of their cars and lower the weight. Cars have grown larger and fatter in recent years, and Ford estimates for every 10% in weight savings, a 3% fuel savings is also achieved.The fuel savings also mean Ford’s fleet-wide average of greenhouse emissions is the lowest of any U.S. automaker at 434 grams of C02 per mile.
So there you have it, unadulterated fanboydom. Oh, and the 2010 Mustang GT is getting a new 412 horsepower 5.0 liter V8 engine with a supposed highway fuel rating of 25 MPG. Put that in your tailpipe and… don’t smoke it, ’cause that would be bad.
Source: Ford
Turn the page for the press release.
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About Christopher DeMorro
This is good news. I’ve always been a GM guy and part of the reason was that GM always seemed to have better fuel economy than Ford for comparable vehicles. Given GM’s recent woes, I’ll gladly switch to Ford.
This is good news. I’ve always been a GM guy and part of the reason was that GM always seemed to have better fuel economy than Ford for comparable vehicles. Given GM’s recent woes, I’ll gladly switch to Ford.
New engines for the Mustang are for the 2011 (not 2010, already on sale) which launches in the spring….
New engines for the Mustang are for the 2011 (not 2010, already on sale) which launches in the spring….
I bought my 2000 V8 F-150 over the Chevy Silverado because it was more fuel efficient at 15/20 MPG. I was really diappointed when Ford came out with the squarer F-150 in 2005 that had worse mileage. Ford picked a bad time to do this, because GM/Chevy improved their truck’s mileage and sales of the F-150 plummeted.
I will be really interested in the new 4.6L clean diesel engine Ford has talked about for the F-150. If this truck can achieve high 20s and they don’t charge a fat premium for it, I am in for an upgrade. Otherwise, I will continue to cruise my 2000 F-150, since it gets comparable mileage to the new trucks.
I bought my 2000 V8 F-150 over the Chevy Silverado because it was more fuel efficient at 15/20 MPG. I was really diappointed when Ford came out with the squarer F-150 in 2005 that had worse mileage. Ford picked a bad time to do this, because GM/Chevy improved their truck’s mileage and sales of the F-150 plummeted.
I will be really interested in the new 4.6L clean diesel engine Ford has talked about for the F-150. If this truck can achieve high 20s and they don’t charge a fat premium for it, I am in for an upgrade. Otherwise, I will continue to cruise my 2000 F-150, since it gets comparable mileage to the new trucks.