The new 2011 Ford Mustang V-6 has secured its place in the record books for being the most fuel-efficient Mustang ever. Apart from that, it also stands out as the first production car in history to deliver more than 300 horsepower and provide a mileage of 30 miles per gallon on the highway.
f 30 miles per gallon on the highway.
The EPA has certified the new Mustang this week with a 30 mpg highway and a 19 mpg city mileage. Models equipped with the 305 hp, 3.7-liter V-6 and six speed automatic transmission achieved 31 mpg on highway and 19 mpg on the streets. The standard six-speed manual transmission was not to be left far behind, having achieved an equally impressive 30 mpg on the highway and 19 mpg on the streets.
The Mustang uses a lightweight, all aluminum, 3.7-liter dual-overhead-cam (DOHC) engine that provides a perfect balance between power and economy. Also, the Mustang delivering top fuel economy despite having an automatic transmission system appears to deviate from conventional wisdom. Credit goes to the Ford engineers, who while devising the six-speed automatic transmission have made judicious use of calibrated gear ratios and shift programs to minimize fuel costs and maximise driving power.
Apart from the engine modifications, a slew of other changes have contributed to the car’s low fuel cost. For example, the inclusion of new Electric Power Assist Steering, aerodynamic changes and new chassis design all contribute to a betterfuel economy.
The new 2011 Mustang goes on sale this spring. Already, it has received more than 11,000 orders, half of which are for the fuel-efficient 3.7-liter V-6 engine.
VANOC, the organizing committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games, has placed a high priority on sustainability to make these the ‘greenest Olympic Games ever.’ Efforts to reduce the 2010 Games’ carbon footprint ranges from heating the Athletes’ Village with waste heat from municipal wastewater to using the heat produced by an ice rink’s refrigeration plant to heat an aquatics pool.
Vancouver is home to fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems and also the northern terminus of the Hydrogen Highway running up North America’s West Coast. Thus, the games are also being used as a venue to demonstrate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and technology.
A fleet of 20 fuel cell buses is being operated by BC Transit in Whistler, the site of many Olympic events. These fuel cell buses are built by New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg and operate on fuel cells provided by Ballard Power Systems, with hydrogen storage provided by Dynetek Industries in Calgary. The hybrid drive system came from ISE Corp. in San Diego, California. Each low floor bus can carry 60 people and has a top speed of about 55 mph. The buses are twice as efficient as diesel powered counterparts and have zero tailpipe emissions.
The much anticipated 2011 Ford Fiesta is full of pleasant surprises, not the least of which is best-in-class fuel economy. At its official North American unveiling at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford announced a projected highway fuel economy of 40 mpg and 30 mpg in the city cycle. For comparison, that’s 4 mpg better than the Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent, 5 mpg better than the Honda Fit, and 6 mpg better than the Nissan Versa. All these are competitive “B” Class subcompacts.
Ford last sold the feisty first-generation Fiesta here in 1980 after introducing it in 1978 as an economical solution to the 1970s oil woes. Unfortunately, Ford stopped importing the Fiesta when it launched its new ‘world car’ – the 1981 Ford Escort. After a 30 year hiatus the Ford Fiesta is finally back…and the 2011 model was worth the wait. The new sixth-generation model destined for North American buyers will be built at Ford’s Cuautitlán, Mexico assembly plant.
At the 2010 Chicago Auto Show today Ford revealed its 2011 Edge crossover. In addition to a facelift and some new interior technology, Ford’s next iteration of the popular Edge will get one green tweak that is beginning to spread across all of Ford’s lineup: an EcoBoost engine.
Ford only just started its rollout of EcoBoost engine technology last year on four vehicles—the Ford Taurus SHO, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT—but that was just the beginning. The company has set its sights on making EcoBoost available in 90% of its vehicles by 2013.
Hyundai was one of the most visible sponsors of Super Bowl XLIV tonight with a total of eight ads airing. 2010 marks Hyundai’s third consecutive year of advertising during the nation’s largest sporting event and second consecutive year sponsoring the Kickoff Show.
Hyundai’s Super Bowl blitz was highlighted by two in-game ads. The first, titled “Paint,” an aggressive campaign supporting the 2011 Sonata. The spot featured the all-new sedan, which boasts 200 horsepower(1) while maintaining best-in-class fuel economy of 35 miles-per-gallon highway. The 2011 Sonata will reach dealerships this month.
Green Police focused on ‘protecting and conserving the Earth’ are now a part of modern life, or at least that’s what a series of tongue-in-cheek public service announcements by Audi would have us believe. The end game? These teasers running on YouTube (www.youtube.com/greenpolice) are leading up to the Audi Green Police Super Bowl ad that spotlights Green Car Journal’s 2010 Green Car of the Year winner, the clean diesel Audi TDI.
The YouTube videos include one focused on ‘napkin abuse,’ which warns against taking more than a single napkin per sandwich – or burrito, or pizza slice, or fish taco – because this leads to more than a billion pounds of napkins in landfills. And those power strips in your home or office? According to these white-shirted, green-focused officials they’re nothing less than ‘Mother Nature haters’ that facilitate CO2 emissions and harm the environment.
They’re pure fiction, of course. But that seems to have escaped many viewers who have commented on what an issue it is to be told how to live their lives by the Green Police. Score one for Audi, because that buzz will set the stage for the Audi Super Bowl ad that follows. » Read more: Green Police Audi Super Bowl Ad Touts Green Car of the Year
Going ‘green’ isn’t just about hybrids, alternative fuels, or the exotic technology du jour. It’s about meeting the needs of the market in stylish and creative ways. Chevrolet’s coming 2011 Cruze compact sedan is an excellent example of how to get the job done with a model that appeals to mass-market sensibilities at an approachable price point.
Coming to American highways next fall, The Ohio-built Chevy Cruze is expected to offer rarefied fuel economy numbers – for conventional gasoline models – of up to 40 mpg on the highway. That’s better than the subcompact Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit and just a single mpg shy of the ever-so tiny two passenger smart fortwo. But with the Cruze, you get five-passenger seating and so much more than the fortwo, at an expected cost of just over fifteen grand.
While only half of the AutoblogGreen readership said they’d invest in Tesla Motors when (if?) the company gets its IPO organized, technically, most of you technically already have. As Wired put it, “Are you a U.S. citizen? If so, congratulations – you’re officially an investor in Tesla Motors.” The reason for this is that earlier this week, Tesla announced that U.S. Department of Energy secretary Steven Chu signed the $465 million loan arrangement from June. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that:
We are honored that the US government selected Tesla to be among the first companies to participate in this visionary program. This loan will allow us to further accelerate the production of affordable, fuel-efficient electric vehicles.
It’s like something you’d dream up when you’re eight years old and sitting around wondering what if. Buck Rogers stuff. What if cars could just draw their power from the floor? James Bond stuff.
Apparently, there is something afoot that would make the electric vehicle even more attractive from a convenience standpoint. Plugless power.
Is it real? Don’t know. Is it a real good idea? Yes. In our harried lives, we prize convenience. If the vehicle of the next age not only does not exact sacrifice from its user, but actually makes its user’s life easier, well then, that vehicle has every chance of succeeding. Never stop at a gas station, as discussed here, but wait…order now and you won’t ever need to plug in your car to recharge.
It’s taken far too long, but an all-new Ford Focus has arrived and we’ve just seen it in the metal here at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. Complete with a new platform, new engine, some shapely sheetmetal and a host of tech, this new Focus that we’ll finally be sharing with Europe and the rest of the world promises to set a new bar for the small car C-segment.
The Focus will initially be available in the U.S. in both four- and five-door hatchback body styles, with a three-door hatch and coupe likely in the works as well. A new 2.0-liter direct-injected four-cylinder engine producing 155 horsepower and 145 lb-ft of torque will be the only engine at launch, but buyers will have a choice between a six-speed manual transmission and Ford’s new six-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Ford also confirmed during its press conference this morning that a Focus Electric is due to arrive in 2012, with a hybrid version arriving the next year – both of which will be built in Michigan.
Real world fuel mileage stats, not the EPA estimates. Track, Research and Compare your cars fuel mileage with others in an easy to use web application. Update fillups via website, mobile website and text message!
