Ford's fuel-frugal concept could become reality

By Russell Williamson

FORD will move a significant step closer to achieving the fuel consumption holy grail of 3-liters-per-100-kilometers when prototypes of its P2000 concept car hit the road around September.

Carmakers in Europe and the United States have been under increasing pressure from governments and environmental groups to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in family cars, with 3l/100km touted as a realistic target.

To achieve this, manufacturers have concentrated on reducing the weight of vehicles by using light metals such as aluminum and magnesium and developing more efficient hybrid drive systems.

For Ford, the P2000 represents the most far-reaching advances the company has made in both these areas, with the car possibly becoming a production reality as soon as 2005.

The P2000 is based on a slightly stretched midsized Mondeo platform but that is where the similarity ends.

By using substantial amounts of lightweight alloys in place of heavier iron and steel, the P2000 will tip the scales at just 950kg, compared to 1,450kg for a standard Mondeo.

Compared with Ford's Taurus, which is the top-selling passenger car in the U.S., the P2000 is about 40 percent lighter and uses almost nine times as much magnesium, twice as much aluminum and less than a quarter in weight of iron and steel.

The P2000 also uses less plastic, rubber and glass than the Taurus and incorporates small amounts of carbon fiber, titanium and the plastic substitute Lexan to help further reduce the vehicle weight.

Lightweight metals have long been one of the most promising solutions to reducing fuel consumption but cost has restricted their large-scale use.

To reduce costs and make cars like the P2000 a viable proposition, Ford has invested $A40 million in a pilot project to develop a magnesium mining and refining operation in Queensland, Australia.

Once the operation is in full production -- expected to be in 2004 -- Ford will source up to 45,000 tonnes of magnesium a year.

The vice president of purchasing for Ford Automotive Operations, Carlos Mazzorin, said the deal would provide Ford with a steady stream of high-quality, low-cost magnesium well into the 21st century.

"This will allow our engineering community to leapfrog the competition by moving away from designs that call for small amounts of magnesium and aluminum to designs that call for much larger amounts," he said.

In addition to the vastly reduced weight of the P2000, fuel savings result from an innovative Diata four-cylinder, 1200cc aluminum direct-injection diesel engine.

Diata is an acronym for direct injection, aluminum, through- bolt assembly, which describes the key characteristics of the engine.

In order to combat the high-wear and softness of aluminum -- particularly in a compression-ignition engine -- the Diata uses 16" bolts, which pass through the cylinder head, block and bedplate of the engine to improve rigidity and cast-iron cylinder liners.

To power the P2000, the Diata engine is being developed to work in conjunction with two hybrid drive systems.

Hybrid systems -- as opposed to solely electric or alternative fuel-drive units -- are the preferred power option because the range of the vehicle is not limited by the storage capacity of batteries and emissions can be reduced by using smaller capacity combustion engines.

The hybrid systems being developed for the P2000 aim to provide more power to the wheels over and above the 55kW output from the Diata engine, as well as further improve fuel consumption.

The first system -- dubbed Low Storage Requirement (LSR) -- uses a small high-energy battery and high-power starter- alternator.

This allows the engine to be easily started after being shut off during idle and deceleration. The LSR is also able to capture small amounts of braking energy to supplement the engine's power output.

The second system -- Post-Transmission Hybrid -- uses an electric-drive motor with substantially more battery storage than the LSR, to enable the car to run on a mix of engine and electric power, depending on the driving conditions.

The electric motor is also able to capture braking energy to charge up the battery.

The P2000 is just one of a number of vehicles being developed in the U.S. by the big three carmakers in conjunction with government authorities under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles program.