Ford's Flexible Fuel Focus

Ford is pioneering the use of ethanol fuel in Britain by bringing a fleet of 40 Focus flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) to the country early next year. The move is part of the Somerset Biofuel Project currently being set up in Britain's Somerset County, a partnership that plans to produce ethanol in the county, make the fuel available at five local refueling stations, and operate ethanol-powered Fords to stimulate wider interest in the fuel. Wessex Grain, one of the companies that will operate a fleet of Ford FFVs, is planning an ethanol production plant that will produce over 34 million gallons of ethanol annually.

 

The latest iteration of Ford's Focus FFV is based on the company's European Ford Focus. Compared to the same gasoline-powered model, the Focus FFV offers an overall 70 percent reduction in CO2 emissions. Only three changes are needed to get the vehicles to run on ethanol and gasoline in any combination: new valves and valve seats made of specially hardened material for the 1.8-litre 16-valve gasoline engine; a new variable ignition map that automatically adapts to the ratio of ethanol and gasoline present in the fuel tank; and pre-heating capability for the cylinder block to cope with ethanol's cold-start characteristics. The new Ford Focus FFV and an FFV version of the Focus C-MAX minivan were also recently released in Sweden, where 80 percent of the Focus models sold in the country are FFVs.