+Ford Motor Company engineers have more than 25 patents pending on the control systems for the Auto Start-Stop on the upcoming 2013 Fusion. They model all of the electrical loads to make sure the battery will have enough power for a good restart if items like lights, heaters and defoggers are on before switching off the engine.
When the temperatures get steamy like they are here in Michigan this week they monitor, the cabin temperature, humidity and the outlet temperature of the A/C evaporator to help decide when to restart so that the cabin stays comfortable. #2013fordfusion
The 2013 Ford Fusion will have the most complete suite of driver assist systems in the mainstream midsize segment. Midsize sedans are the highest volume car segment in America so bringing this sort of the technology to the masses is a big deal.
The sensors and actuators that make all of this stuff work are also the building blocks for even more capable vehicles in the coming years. http://fordfusionstory.com/latest #2013fordfusion #driverassist #autonomousvehicles
GigaOM's +Kevin Fitchard takes a look at the driver assist technologies in the 2013 Ford Fusion and how they will be the building blocks for semi and fully autonomous vehicles later this decade. #ford #2013fordfusion #fordfusionstory
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Ford is ready for the autonomous car. Are drivers?
The auto industry has already developed all of the technology necessary to create truly autonomous vehicles. The reasons there aren’t driverless cars all over the road today is in part a cost issue, b…
Hybrids are no longer the only vehicles that can benefit from the ability to automatically switch off the engine when the car isn't moving.
When the 2013 +Ford Motor Company Fusion arrives later this year, the 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder will also be available with an auto start-stop system that switches off the engine when the car comes to a stop and seamlessly re-starts it when the driver releases the brake pedal. The 1.6-liter is expected to take the largest percentage of sales among the new Fusion's five powertrain options and the auto start-stop system will add just $295 to the bottom line.
Because of the EPA drive cycles that are used for calculating fuel economy estimates are set up, the benefits of auto start-stop aren't reflected on new car labels. But in the real world, the benefits can be significant.
By reducing engine idle time, drivers can save anywhere from 3.5-10% on fuel consumption especially if they spend a lot of time in stop and go traffic. At $4 a gallon, a driver that spends most of their time in city traffic could potentially save over $200 a year with auto start-stop and pay for the system in just 18 months.
CleanMPG Forums – 2013 Ford Fusion Adds Start/Stop for Just $295!
Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – April 1, 2012 2013 Ford Fusion equipped with the 1.6L EcoBoost will be rated at 37 mpgUS highway. When equipped with Start/Stop, future owners should experience full payback …
Two of the top engineers in the US auto industry will both be retiring on April 1. Ford announced this morning that group vice president for global product development Derrick Kuzak will be leaving after 34 years with the company. While CEO Alan Mulally has received much of the public credit for turning around Ford in the last five years, in the auto industry a plan is only as good as the products that roll off the assembly line.
Kuzak is a soft spoken engineer that doesn't have the flash of Bob Lutz but he certainly has the product development chops and understands where the investment needs to go create best in class vehicles. Having spent a number of years at Ford of Europe he was familiar with the products there and what the market was looking for and when Mulally brought him back to Dearborn to lead the ONE Ford effort, he knew exactly what to do. He assembled a great team and like Steve Jobs at Apple he saw what needed to be cut and what should go forward. Hopefully the team he assembled will continue to execute the plan in the coming years.
Just a couple of weeks earlier, General Motors announced that chief technical officer Tom Stephens is also leaving. Like Kuzak, Stephens wasn't typically the public facing voice of GM, but he spent his entire 43 year career in the engineering ranks at GM. After Lutz retired in 2009, Stephens succeeded him as vice chairman responsible for global product development before moving into the new role of CTO a year ago.
Both men helped lead their teams through tumultuous times in the industry and they will be missed. Let's hope their successors have the same kind of vision about where to go in the next decade.
Check out Kuzak talking about global product development and the new 2013 Ford Fusion in the video.
