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How Ford is using Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency

Filed under: Hybrid, Technology, Ford, Electric

Ford uses Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency – Click above to watch the video after the break

Yesterday we got word that Ford was tapping Google’s new Prediction API to provide location and routing services for its fleet of plug-in hybrids and full EVs. Today, Ford’s engineers are speaking at the Google I/O developers summit and they’ve released a video explaining how the system works and how they plan to implement it.

You can get the full details in our previous post, but the short-and-sweet version is this: Ford drivers can opt-in for the service, which tracks their daily driving routine, and, after building a database of destinations and waypoints, the system provides drivers with more efficient routing to optimize their powertrain, reduce range anxiety and decrease commute times. We’ve snagged a handful of slides from Ford’s presentation and you can check out the full video after the jump.

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How Ford is using Google’s Prediction API to increase efficiency originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2011 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Porsche to relocate U.S. headquarters to ex-Ford facility, plans to build track

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Rumormill

porsche logo

The North American headquarters for Porsche has been in an Atlanta suburb for years, but a report by the Atlanta Journal Constitution suggests that’s about to change. Unnamed sources claim that the German automaker is planning to announce that it will build a new headquarters on the site of the former Ford Taurus plant, just outside the Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport.

The old plant has since been leveled and the ground has been scrubbed of environmental hazards left from years of industrial use, so Porsche will need to start from scratch. That’s probably a good thing, since the German company reportedly plans to build a new offices where the plant was demolished and a new test track very similar to the automaker’s facility in Silverstone, England. Porsche’s lease at its current location ends in 2013, and it is likely to take several years to complete a new facility.

If true, the move would bring hundreds of new marketing and sales jobs to the region, though most positions are likely already filled at Porsche’s current suburban location. Porsche is expected to make the announcement on Thursday.

Porsche to relocate U.S. headquarters to ex-Ford facility, plans to build track originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2011 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford’s plan to make commutes more efficient, optimize EVs

Filed under: Hybrid, Technology, Ford, Electric

Android developers across the world have descended on San Francisco for this week’s Google I/O conference, and Ford is getting in on the action with its announcement to utilize Google’s new Prediction API to increase efficiency and decrease commute times.

The Prediction API has a range of location-based uses, but Ford’s plan involves tapping into your driving habits, gathering historical commute and errand data, and then optimize your route depending on traffic, weather and a host of other information.

Cutting down commute times and increasing fuel efficiency are at the top of the list, but it’s obvious Ford is primarily planning to use the tech for its future all-electric and plug-in hybrid-driving vehicles. By determining drive routes ahead of time, storing that information in the cloud and directing drivers to the most efficient roads, Ford can eliminate some of the range anxiety EV drivers have to contend with.

Tomorrow, a group of Ford researchers will be showing off concept version of the system at Google I/O, complete with a prototype use case that involves the driver opting in for the service (Ford is adamant that personal information security is of the utmost importance) and then utilizing the Google Prediction service to determine the most efficient route. The vehicle would ask the driver, “Good morning. Are you going to work?” and if the driver responds, “Yes,” the system will choose a route that’s optimized for the powertrain. This could also include EV-only zones, something that’s being experimented with throughout Europe.

We’ll have more on Ford’s implementation of the Predictive API tomorrow, but in the meantime, check out the press release after the jump for more.

Continue reading Ford’s plan to make commutes more efficient, optimize EVs

Ford’s plan to make commutes more efficient, optimize EVs originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 May 2011 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford testing 60 Focus ST models around the world

Filed under: Spy Photos, Performance, Hatchback, Ford

ford focus st mule

Ford Focus ST testing – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’re looking forward to getting our hands on the ST variant of the Ford Focus, and why not? We Americans have had no choice but to sit back and watch while our overseas comrades got to have all the fun behind the wheel of high-performance Focii, which made the hot hatchbacks the forbidden fruit we tend to crave.

Ford promises that the U.S. will finally have a chance at the next-generation ST, which should supply at least 246 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque courtesy an EcoBoost 2.0-liter mill. The only problem is that the high-pot Focus ST is still a year away, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see test mules traveling the highways and test tracks around the world.

Ford tells us they have 60 ST models testing everywhere from California to Germany’s Nürburgring. The testers may look like last-generation ST or more pedestrian current-gen Focus models, but the big wheels, low profile and double exhaust passes will show that the mules are anything but ordinary.

Matthias Tonn, who heads performance engineering at Ford of Europe, says that the testing is needed to make the next ST shine, adding that engineers are “fine-tuning, testing, and fine tuning again many of the small but critical details to make sure it is worthy of the ST badge.”

And just because the ST will be a performance hatch doesn’t mean Ford isn’t keenly focused on fuel economy as well. Tonn says the goal is to produce class-leading fuel economy even with a performance variant. Mixing fuel efficiency and performance is no easy task, but Ford is banking on a thrifty EcoBoost engine and fuel-saving technology like a finely tuned Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS) system to do the trick.

While the Focus ST is still a way away from production, Ford provided some “spy photos” of an ST mule during testing in Germany, which you can peruse in our high-res image gallery. Hit the jump to read over the Ford press release.

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Ford testing 60 Focus ST models around the world originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 May 2011 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford looks to weeds for interiors

Filed under: Etc., Ford

Ford dandelion research

Ford researches dandelions for plastics – Click above for high-res image gallery

If you are going to use a plant as a renewable resource to create sustainable materials suitable for automotive use, you may as well start with a weeds. After all, anyone who lives in states with plenty of lush, green grass knows how prevalent dandelions are in the summer months.

And so it’s not terribly surprising that researchers from Ford and The Ohio State University are working on new rubber and plastic compounds created from the milky white juice that seeps from the stem of the yellow-flowered weeds. The specific plant being used is the Russian dandelion, otherwise known as Taraxacum kok-saghyz to all you budding botanists out there.

Before any dandelions actually start showing up in our cars, Ford needs to ensure the rubber and plastic produced in this process is up to its quality standards. If that happens, such plastics could be used for floor mats, cupholders and interior trim pieces.

Another potential natural plastic resource is the guayule (apparently a shrub that grows naturally in southwestern U.S.). Click past the break to read the entire press release from Ford.

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Ford looks to weeds for interiors originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 May 2011 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson [w/video]

Filed under: Truck, Ford, Reviews

Wooing With Big Power, Questionable Bling

2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson

2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson – Click above for high-res image gallery

It was fun to own a truck for a while, but fuel prices and a global recession eventually caught up to the recreational truck owner. Sales of the Ford F-Series came in at 413,000 units in 2009, while 2010 improved to 528,000. Combined that adds up to roughly the same amount of trucks Ford sold in ’05 alone. Does the precipitous drop in truck sales mean that high-dollar pickups of the past are on the outs? Not even close.

The F-150 lineup now features Lariat, Platinum, King Ranch and particularly awesome Raptor variants, each with their own hefty price tag. The Raptor is an off-roading beast of epic proportions, while the Lariat, Platinum and King Ranch offer plush accommodations and equipment that are matched by great looks and supreme capability. And if none of those options appeal to the $50,000 truck buyer, Ford continues to offer the F-150 Harley-Davidson edition.

For 2011, Ford’s brand-borrowing super truck now boasts more power, new looks and an even fancier (for better or worse) cabin. We took the reins of a fully loaded Harley-Davidson-branded F-150 to see if this pricey pickup has the right mix of luxury and performance to bring back the low impact luxury truck owner. Continue reading…

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2011 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 May 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V6 offerings make up 50% of retail Ford F-150 sales in April

Filed under: Truck, Ford

ford f-150 ecoboost

2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost – Click above for high-res image gallery

Ford sold 45,435 F-150s in April, up 11 percent versus the top-selling truck’s April 2010 totals. That’s a solid month for truck sales with soaring fuel prices, but the finer sales details show that truck buyers are very mindful of prices at the pump.

Ford announced in its monthly sales totals release that V6-equipped F-150s accounted for 50 percent of retail sales, up considerably from the 40 percent mix in March. The 3.7-liter V6 offers truck buyers 305 horsepower and 23 miles per gallon on the highway, so it’s not surprising that some owners are opting for the smaller mill.

But the more popular V6 offering is the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, which boasts 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. Ford says 75 percent of those V6 sales are of the EcoBoost variety, which makes sense, given the fact that the boosted mill accounted for 36 percent of all F-150 sales in April. The EcoBoost F-150 gets up to 22 mpg on the highway, which is still as good as or better than the other pickup trucks on the market.

Gallery: 2011 Ford F-150: First Drive

2011 Ford F-150

V6 offerings make up 50% of retail Ford F-150 sales in April originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 May 2011 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford Focus adds on-board WiFi in Europe

Filed under: Europe, Technology, Ford, UK

Ford SYNC Mobile WiFi Hotspot

Ford SYNC Mobile WiFi Hotspot – Click above for high-res image gallery

You might figure that, with a name like Focus, Ford’s compact model would be all about eliminating distractions. But the new global Focus is jam-packed with technology, and the latest among them is a new in-car WiFi system.

The device works with SYNC and MyFord Touch to pick up the signal from a mobile internet dongle or smartphone and share it with as many as five additional devices in the car. This should come in handy for road trips and traveling salesmen, but we hope drivers will be able to stayed focused while behind the wheel.

One way or another, the system appears to be available – at least initially – only overseas in European markets, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for its introduction in the United Sates, as well. In the meantime you can follow the jump to scope out the full details in the press release from Ford’s British subsidiary.

Gallery: Ford SYNC Mobile WiFi Hotspot

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Ford Focus adds on-board WiFi in Europe originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 May 2011 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boss 302 crate engines now available from Ford Racing

Filed under: Aftermarket, Ford

Ford Mustang Boss 302 Crate Engine

Ford Mustang Boss 302 Crate Engine – Click above for high-res image gallery

Last year Ford made the Mustang’s 5.0L V8 available as a crate engine. Shortly thereafter, many of them found homes in some well-deserving cars. Now, Ford Racing is offering the Boss 302’s 5.0L V8 as a standalone purchase through its performance parts catalog, allowing anyone to put the 444 horsepower engine into their own project car.

The difference between the Mustang’s standard 5.0L V8 and the Boss 302 variant is more than just 32 horsepower. The Boss 302 features a new high-flowing intake manifold; CNC-machined cylinder heads; upgraded exhaust valves; forged pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft; a more aggressive camshaft and more. All of those upgrades cost a pretty penny, though. Ford Racing lists the Boss 302 V8 crate engine at $11,999.00, while the standard 5.0 will cost you just $6,999.00.

Follow the jump for a full list of features, or let us know what vehicle you’d drop a Boss 302 into via the comments below.

Gallery: Ford Mustang Boss 302 Crate Engine

[Source: Ford Racing]

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Boss 302 crate engines now available from Ford Racing originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 01 May 2011 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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