Ford News - 3,300 Americans try out for the Fiesta Movement, 140 cars now in the U.S.

3,300 Americans try out for the Fiesta Movement, 140 cars now in the U.S.

Filed under: Ford, Green Daily

Well, now we know what the competition is. Earlier this week, Ford stopped taking applications for the Fiesta Movement project, and we were one of the applicants. Turns out, there were 3,300 other people or groups who want one of the 100 Fiestas that Ford is giving away (for six months). 140 of these cars arrived in the U.S. today (they were put together in Cologne, Germany). The Fiesta doesn’t go on sale in America until early next year, but the car is currently the No. 2 selling car in Europe and is doing well in Asia, Ford says.

What’s interesting is that the Fiesta Movement vehicles are Euro-spec models that Ford needed special permission from the EPA for to let Americans drive. The German-language instrument panel bits were translated into English and the cars talk miles instead of kilometers. Ford will weed through the 3,300 applications to find the 100 Fiesta Movement agent by late spring. May we suggest they ease their load a little by setting our application aside and just looking for 99 more?

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading 3,300 Americans try out for the Fiesta Movement, 140 cars now in the U.S.

3,300 Americans try out for the Fiesta Movement, 140 cars now in the U.S. originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[tags]ford cars, ford news, ford models, ford[/tags]

Ford News - Magna International gets new Michigan HQ for electric vehicles, hybrids

Magna International gets new Michigan HQ for electric vehicles, hybrids

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Ford

Magna International’s contract manufacturing unit, Magna Steyr, used the Geneva Motor Show to unveiled its Mila EV concept (read more here) last month. The parent company’s strong work in the electric vehicle field helped Ford recently unveil its Focus EV mule - and it helps everyone. These concept vehicles have a new home of sorts, a place where Magna will centralize its work on electric and hybrid drive vehicles.

Magna recently announced plans to expand in Rochester Hills, Michigan (near Detroit) in order to keep working on the Ford electric vehicle program. The $20 million expansion will move people into a new company HQ next month, including 90 new employees over the next five years, and continues the work that Magna’s new acquisition BluWav is doing on electric drive systems. Magna officials also said that an announcement would be coming from Ford about the Focus EV’s li-ion batteries.

[Source: MLive]

Magna International gets new Michigan HQ for electric vehicles, hybrids originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[tags]ford cars, ford news, ford models, ford[/tags]

Ford News - AutoblogGreen tries out for the Fiesta Movement

AutoblogGreen tries out for the Fiesta Movement

Filed under: Etc., Ford, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

So, applications for Ford’s Fiesta Movement closed last night, and we got our entry in just under the buzzer. We’re nothing if not slackers waiting for a deadline. With a few Lego props (our models didn’t go into this much detail, though), a camera and iMovie, we thought we’d make some promises to Ford on how we’d treat their car should they give it to us for half a year as part of the Fiesta promotion. We think we covered everything: pirates vs. ninja, paparazzi, Yoda. Yup, that’s about it. Check out the video after the jump and then watch more videos in the competition over on YouTube.

Continue reading AutoblogGreen tries out for the Fiesta Movement

AutoblogGreen tries out for the Fiesta Movement originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: www.autobloggreen.com

[tags]ford cars, ford news, ford models, ford[/tags]

Ford News - Ford Fusion’s returning low mpg in cold weather test drives

Ford Fusion’s returning low mpg in cold weather test drives

Filed under: Hybrid, MPG, Ford

It’s no surprise that cold weather does a number on a hybrid’s fuel economy, but we now have a second major reviewer who’s having trouble getting the Ford Fusion hybrid to reach the hybrid’s EPA rating of 41 mpg city/36 highway result. USAToday reviewer Jim Healey likes the Fusion over the Prius, but when he tested the car for a week, he got an average of 27.2 mpg. Now, Ward’s auto reviewer Byron Pope managed just 33 mpg, but this was during a recent spell of cold weather. The folks over at CleanMPG forums aren’t exactly pleased with Pope’s performance, and it is true that personal driving style has a huge impact in fuel economy. When we tested the Fusion hybrid out in California two months ago, we managed 43 mpg. But, when we tested the Fusion’s sibling, the Mercury Milan, recently (and in the cold) we got 29.4 mpg. As they say, and is very worth repeating, your mileage may vary.

[Source: Ward's Auto via All Cars Electric]

Ford Fusion’s returning low mpg in cold weather test drives originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[tags]ford cars, ford news, ford models, ford[/tags]

Ford News - President Obama will visit SCE electric vehicle center Thursday

President Obama will visit SCE electric vehicle center Thursday

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Ford, Legislation and Policy

During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama swapped his Hemi for a hybrid and called for a million plug-in hybrids by 2015. This Thursday, the President is scheduled to visit the Southern California Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona to see the progress that SCE and Ford are making on their plug-in Escape hybrids and other clean vehicles.

SCE’s Electric Vehicle Technical Center does more than plug-in hybrid work, since is also tests pure EVs, hybrids and fuel cell propulsion systems as well as different battery packs and chargers. Overall, the SCE electric drive fleet has “logged more than 16 million tailpipe-emission-free miles.” Back in 2007, Ford handed over the keys to the first PHEV Escape prototype to SCE. In 2008, we got a quick test drive of the PHEV Escape during the New York Auto Show.

[Source: Detroit News]

President Obama will visit SCE electric vehicle center Thursday originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[tags]ford cars, ford news, ford models, ford[/tags]

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