Ford has been busy over the summer announcing its intentions for future hybrid and EV developments. The automaker is buoyed by the current state of affairs in the American auto market. General Motors is beginning to catch up to Ford though it must prove profitability over the next few quarters. Chrysler keeps losing money and looks like an unlikely competitor to Ford in the green vehicle market. Ford’s announcement of 13 grant recipients under its University Research Program (URP) shows why the automaker is the current leader among the Big Three.
The URP is a collaborative R&D project between Ford and universities around the world. Ford issued millions in URP grants this month to 13 programs at 12 universities. These recipients included Wayne State University in Michigan, Aachen University in Germany and Tsinghua University in China. Ford currently works with 30 programs at 26 universities as part of past URP grants. The URP along with ongoing partnerships with MIT and Boeing provide Ford with valuable research tools. These investments have yielded new approaches to engine design, brake systems and emissions controls used in current vehicles.
Representatives from Ford set the table for future innovation with a presentation at the Plug-in 2010 Conference. The crux of this presentation was that up to 25% of Ford’s global fleet would be electrified by 2020. This electrification would be light on pure EVs with 70% of growth in the hybrid sector and 25% in the plug-in hybrid sector. Ford representatives noted that the C-Drive platform currently used in 12 fuel-efficient vehicles would be the key to fleet electrification. This platform along with the compatibility between plug-in and traditional hybrids could snowball into large-scale electrification in a short period.
The URP grants and the Plug-in 2010 presentation show that Ford has a long view on green vehicle development. Ford stated that its 2010 URP grants were issued to universities with research projects that could yield products in the short term. The most marketable products of university research still take years to develop, test and refine. Ford’s global fleet electrification sounds promising but hybrids will quickly become old news among eco-conscious drivers. The result of this long-term research may be risky considering short-term advancements made by Toyota, Honda and General Motors.
