Ford Motor Company is revamping its 2013 Ford Fusion model to be as environmentally friendly as possible, utilizing natural materials that will hopefully provide a cheaper, more efficient and comfortable ride.
The 2013 Ford Fusion will be made of more sustainable materials, including soy beans, denim and plastic bottles, and more than 85 percent of the vehicle will be recyclable at the end of its life cycle.
“We are holistic in reducing our environmental footprint by utilizing post-industrial (blue jeans), post-consumer (battery cases) and sustainable materials technologies (soy foam),” says Carrie Majeske, Ford product sustainability manager.
Each Fusion uses denim material that is equal to a little more than two average-sized pairs of jeans as part of its noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) control. This sound-absorbing material will help eliminate road, wind and powertrain noise.
Fusion’s cloth seats go even further by using the equivalent of 38.9 recycled, 16-ounce plastic bottles. The foam in the seat cushions, seat backs and head restraints is made from soy-based material that averages about 31,250 soybeans. Ford first used this idea in its 2007 Mustang.
Ford is also making an effort to save post-consumer materials, like car battery casings, from ending up in landfills by using the plastic in fender splash shields and other underbody components.
Ford is attempting to continue to knock other fuel-efficient vehicles out of the running by anticipating up to 37 mpg highway.
The new model will also come equipped with driver assistance technology such as a lane-keeping system that gently vibrates the wheel when it senses the driver starting to veer into other lanes. The Fusion will have adaptive cruise control, that will sense when the driver is approaching another vehicle and auto-adjust the cruise control to slow down. The car can also assist in parallel parking.
The focus, though, remains on the sustainability of the vehicle.
“We are so dedicated to the cause of sustainability,” says Dr. Ellen Lee of the Plastics Research Group, F.M.C. “Our team works hard to see how vehicles can be more sustainable inside and out.”
Majeske adds: “We do whatever makes the most sense for each application and environmentally from a life-cycle perspective. These are the steps our customers can appreciate; they are cost-effective and they are better — in the long run — for our planet.”
For more information about the 2013 Ford Fusion, visit ford.com.
View photos from the Ford Fusion Meets Fusion event:
On August 15, Ford Motor Company hosted an exclusive preview event for the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion at the Sub-Zero/Wolf Showroom in Scottsdale. At the “Ford Fusion Meets Fusion” preview and cooking event, Chef Josh Hebert, owner of Posh Restaurant in Scottsdale, provided cooking demonstrations of Fusion-inspired creations featuring some of the sustainable ingredients found in Ford vehicles like soybeans, wheat, coconuts and dandelion greens.
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