Well, well, it seems American drivers are now caught up in the electric car buzz. After Nissan announced a LEAF shortage in the U.S. , Ford reported electrified vehicle sales of 46,197 units through June -- more than 400% higher than the volumes of a year ago.
In order to remain competitive in the future, Ford will expand its electrification engineering team by nearly 50%, growing to 500 salaried employees, and invest an additional $50 million in electrified product development and testing centres in Dearborn, Michigan.
Enhancements to all-electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles will include:
In order to remain competitive in the future, Ford will expand its electrification engineering team by nearly 50%, growing to 500 salaried employees, and invest an additional $50 million in electrified product development and testing centres in Dearborn, Michigan.
Enhancements to all-electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles will include:
- Increasing the maximum pure electric speed from 100 km/h to 137 km/h;
- Optimizing the climate control system to minimize use of the air conditioning compressor and reduce the energy used in cold weather operation;
- Reducing engine warm-up times by up to 50% to enable electric-only driving and engine shutdown at stops sooner after cold starts;
- Reducing the electric fan speed as a function of coolant temperature to minimize the fan’s energy consumption;
- Optimizing the use of active grille shutters to reduce aerodynamic drag.
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| Photo: Ford |