ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997 TAG: 9703180051
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DEARBORN, MICH.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lightweight materials should keep its total weight at 2,000 pounds.
Ford Motor Co. said Monday it plans to begin testing by fall prototypes of an ultralight, high-mileage car in its effort to develop vehicles for the 21st century.
What Ford envisions is an aerodynamic family car that weighs just 2,000 pounds, gets nearly 70 miles per gallon of diesel fuel and produces only minute amounts of pollution.
Ford and the other Big Three automakers are focusing much of their ``supercar'' research on so-called hybrid propulsion systems, which combine two or more power sources to achieve greater fuel efficiency and less pollution than conventional cars.
Ford said its initial prototypes will combine an electric motor with an advanced, direct-injection diesel engine.
The electric motor serves as a supplemental power source during acceleration and uphill driving, which allows a smaller, 1.2-liter, four-cylinder combustion engine to be used. The electric motor also acts as a generator, transferring energy from braking to recharge the battery.
The midsize car, called P2000, will gain much of its improved efficiency through the use of lightweight materials.
It will feature an all-aluminum engine, an aluminum frame and other lightweight metals throughout, which are expected to cut its total weight to about 40 percent less than that of the 3,318-pound Ford Taurus.
The initial prototypes will be used to further develop and test the technology. Ford plans to have more refined prototypes by late 1998.
Ford does not expect to have production prototypes ready until around 2005.
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Ford says its P2000 prototype will beby CNBready soon. color.