A good financial advisor will tell you that the best way to get out of debt isn't to borrow more, but to earn more. So, Ford is on the electric offensive to make sure it does exactly that, revealing three types of electric vehicles, all of them due to appear before 2012.
The key acronyms are BEV, HEV and PHEV; or Battery Electric Vehicle, Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. All aim to do the same thing: reduce emissions and consumption without being worse to drive.
An electric van will appear in 2011, as well as a full electric car (in the Chevy Volt's vein) and some next-gen hybrids by the following year, including a plug-in one. They'll all use the latest lithium-ion and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, and will all be global cars to reduce economies of scale.
In the meantime, the EcoBoost engine will provide the 2010 Ford Flex with 355bhp and 350lb.ft of torque from a 3.5-litre V6. The all-new Taurus saloon (also debuted in Detroit) will get the EcoBoost treatment too.
Those two models aren't relevant here in the UK, you might say, but EcoBoost signals a more widespread application of direct-injection petrol turbocharging from the globally-focussed Blue Oval, allowing more power yet greater efficiency.
Derrick Kuzak, Ford's VP of Global Product Development, said: "We're building on our near-term momentum with technologies such as EcoBoost, increased hybrid production and now electrification.
These are all actions that will make a difference, and doing it globally - leveraging platforms, organizations and talent - demonstrates the true power of the 'One Ford' approach."
Mark Nichol - 11 Jan 2009