A good deal of talk about fuel efficiency of late has focused on alternative fuel engine technologies, and new fuel efficiency standards will require that auto manufacturers use innovative technology to increase fuel efficiency across their models. Ford has recently announced that sales of its F-150 EcoBoost trucks have surpassed 400,000 since the model’s roll-out in 2011.
The F-150 remains the best selling truck this year in the US, as it has for the past 30 years. Including the EcoBoost technology in such a high volume model makes waves – not just a splash – in the country’s fuel consumption. F-150 EcoBoost models sold thus far save over 45 million gallons of gasoline per year and many dollars at the pump for their owners. This is more than total gasoline savings from sales of Toyota and Tesla plug in-vehicles combined.
The F-150 EcoBoost model runs on Ford’s EcoBoost technology which the company uses “across many vehicle lines, from fiestas to trucks”, a spokesman explained to Breaking Energy. The technology uses a combination of direct injection and turbocharging to allow a V-6 engine to run with the power of a traditional V-8 engine, providing the consumer with “the best of both worlds, power and fuel economy.”
Of course, Ford, like most of the auto industry, still has a ways to go to meet the latest in CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards and the EcoBoost is one technology that will help them get there. “Ford is using the EcoBoost across most of their vehicles and in some lines it has already become the standard” another Ford spokesman said. This is not the only technology the company is developing. Recently, Ford announced that the F-150 2014 model will be available with a modification to allow for it to run on natural gas.
Ford says that the EcoBoost system allows for the “democratization of the technology.” Having an F-150 EcoBoost makes fuel-efficient technology available and affordable in the best-selling vehicle in America. It is important to consider the impacts of these smaller changes, happening at a higher volume, alongside plug-in vehicles and alternative fuel sources in the discussion of fuel efficiency.
