Ford to get $5.9 bn US aid to roll out fuel-efficient cars

[OhioChick]

Source: Bloomberg

24 Jun 2009, 0000 hrs IST, Bloomberg

MICHIGAN: Ford Motor, the only US automaker not receiving emergency federal loans, will get $5.9 billion in government financing to accelerate production of fuel-efficient cars.

Ford will be among the first recipients of the loans in a $25 billion Energy Department program to promote production of the vehicles with improved fuel economy, the agency said on Tuesday in a statement. Nissan Motor will get $1.6 billion, and Tesla Motors received approval for $465 million.

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu was scheduled to visit Ford’s hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, to make the announcement in front of the automaker’s chief executive officer, Alan Mulally, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat. The energy loans are separate from bailouts given to General Motors and Chrysler.

Congress created the technology development loans in the 2007 energy bill to help automakers boost fuel economy in their vehicle fleet by about 40%, to 35 miles (56 kilometers) per gallon by 2020.


Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/International-Business/Ford-to-get-59-bn-US-aid/articleshow/4694199.cms

[swilton]

1. 35 MPG IS NOT FUEL EFFICIENT

MY PRIUS ALREADY GETS 48 MPG - BY 2020 WHEN THE US HAS 35 MPG 'FUEL EFFICIENT' CARS, TOYOTA WILL HAVE SOLVED THE PUZZLE OF SOLAR POWERED CARS :crazy:

[mascarax]

2. Agree - pretty damn sad goal

Frankly, it is very typical of U.S. companies - aiming low and behind the competition. (Because if the suits achieve it, then they'll get bigger bonuses for Meeting Their Goals.)

[mbperrin]

3. My 2007 Town and Country gets 38 mpg on the highway.

Right now. And it's a sizable vehicle.

[midnight armadillo]

5. Maybe coasting. Or downhill.

The aerodynamics of that vehicle, and its ancient-tech V6, are not going to return 38 mpg while cruising on the highway. I suspect you're not calculating your mpg's correctly.

[mbperrin]

7. Suspect what you like. I can drive to Houston from Odessa, more than

600 miles and have a quarter tank left.

Perhaps you don't know how to drive efficiently, watch your tire inflation, synthetic oil and a host of other issues.

Hmm?

[midnight armadillo]

16. So you ARE GOING DOWNHILL.

Odessa: 2900 ft elevation. Houston: 43 ft elevation, according to Wikipedia. :think: So what's your mpg going the other way, Hmmm?

[NickB79]

8. Are you hypermiling?

Because 38 mpg in a minivan is doable, but only if you follow a strict set of rules on the road.

[mbperrin]

11. That's right, and at age 57, I'm able to follow some rules on the road.

Not so much in 1966, the year I got my license :)

[dipsydoodle]

9. Some of the European Ford engines

already do more to the gallon than you get out of your Prius. It's just that there seems to be an aversion to using small diesel engines in the USA. :shrug:

[jmowreader]

15. That's because Americans don't see gray

You say "diesel" to the average American and he immediately envisions an unmaintained 1970s-era big rig blowing stinky black smoke twenty feet in the air every time the driver steps on the fuel pedal. He doesn't think of nice tight little diesels like Volkswagen's TDI--a fantastic engine that even Click and Clack, who are both anti-diesel and anti-Volkswagen, think is a marvelous thing.

[dipsydoodle]

17. By coincidence I got an email this morning

with product info on the BMW 316d series saloon which goes into proction week 36 / September.

BMW's new 316d 2.0 / 116hp engine has been measured at 62.8 mpg combined - that's for an Imperial gallon which at
c. 0.8 I make 50.24 to one of your little ones.

Whether or not they will market them in the USA is anyone's guess. You have not for example got the 2.0 CRD Jeep Patriot which I drive. That's a VW engine and I get c. 43 to the Imp. gallon just general driving.

BTW - that new BMW engine must comply with Euro 5 standards which as far as I'm aware meet your emmision regs.

[TommyO]

10. Your 48 MPG is offset by other Toyotas that get 18 MPG

What part of average fuel economy are you missing?

[dysfunctional press]

14. or even 12mpg toyota suv's/trucks

[dysfunctional press]

13. that's average for the entire fleet- including trucks.

nt

[CLANG]

4. 35mpg by 2020? Hell, the world ENDS in 2012!!!

[Skink]

6. George Bush could actually have been a great president if he had done this.

with the lock step congress he had it could have happened.

[Romulox]

12. We're giving 1.6B to Nissan to build cars in Japan. Hooray! nt