As Ford ramps up its e-powertrain
activities, E&Htravels to the car maker’s new electric vehicle development
headquarters in Michigan to catch up with its head of electrified powertrain
engineering, Kevin Layden.
The Power of Choice
As a company, Layden says that Ford is
seeing more interest in its small range of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which
realize 34km (21 miles) of pure electric driving and then an increased range
thanks to the IC Stirling-cycle engine. But the chief engineer adds that the
OEM’s range of seven e-powertrain-based offerings, from the small Focus
Electric to the Lincoln MKZ hybrid, offers the customer what the company calls
‘the power of choice’.
The
current Lincoln MKZ Hybrid is North America’s most fuel efficient premium sedan
and with the 2013 model expected to receive an EPA rating of 36 highway mpg and
41 city mpg it is safe to say that the MKZ will hold on to the crown.
“We’ve got the EcoBoost turbo gasoline
engines, we’ve got PFI engines, we’ve got CNG engines, we’ve got hybrids,
plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles, each with different levels of
acceptance around the country,” he says with enthusiasm and pride.
And the ‘power of choice’ mantra also
extends to the engineering teams realizing such products for the market. “They
know the battery suppliers,” adds Layden. “But they also know the people who
make the equipment that makes the batteries. And they know the people that
supply the silicon that makes the inverters. And they know the nanotechnology
of exactly what makes a good inverter, and where the losses are. They are all
out there looking for who is betting on what technology, and where we should be
in developing and placing our relationships. How do we make sure that we don’t
lock ourselves into a technology that then becomes obsolete or inferior? The
last thing you want to do is build a billion-dollar plant for nickel-metal when
lithium-ion becomes the key.”
It’s obvious while speaking with Layden
that he is very confident that the rest of Ford’s vast engineering and supply
activities will give him what he needs in the future in terms of stronger,
lighter-weight vehicles into which to put his advanced hybrid, plug-in hybrid
and battery electric technologies as the 54.5mpg (5.183 l/100km) federal
corporate average fuel economy requirement looms closer and closer.
Ford
EcoBoost engines are designed to deliver power and torque consistent with
larger engine displacement, naturally aspirated engines while also lowering
fuel consumption by 20% percent if not more. The company even goes as far as to
say its 1-liter engine is as good as any equivalent diesel
“If you look at the quality of low rolling
resistance tires that we have now, they are absolutely excellent – they are the
best tires you’re going to find for fuel economy. If you look at the
aerodynamic trim that we have on the vehicles, and how well we package them,
it’s just stunning. If you look at the IC engines we’re using and the
efficiencies they deliver, from the base engine to the Atkinson-cycle engine,
they’re brilliant. It’s not just a great battery or a great inverter or a great
motor. The whole team has to deliver.
“As to what we do next? How do we expand
the portfolio? My vision is that one day the hybrid is just going to be another
product. It already is that way around the world with our cars with EcoBoost
and diesel engines.”
For Layden, though, what really strikes him
about hybrid technology is its flexibility, enabling the use of gasoline,
diesel, LPG or CNG engines to be implemented. “When you put the hybrid on it,
you’re now recovering the heat that you would be wasting through the brakes, as
well as using the Ford PowerSplit technology, which is much more flexible than
many of our competitors, where we are able to move any engine into a better
operating condition at any given speed to deliver great fuel economy on two
fronts: recover the waste when you’re braking, and operate the engine most
efficiently.”
Both
the C-MAX Hybrid and Energi plug-in hybrid introduce powersplit technology,
allowing operation in electric mode at higher speeds than any other hybrid
Layden points out that Ford was among the
very first companies to tie smartphone apps technology and embedded modems to
the customer’s needs and wants for vehicle operation. As a result, Ford
customers can tell their EVs when to start charging as evening rates go down,
and can monitor state-of-charge and charging (or not charging) from their
phones.
On another technology front, Layden adds
that the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle is still under research within
Ford circles, particularly hydrogen storage and infrastructure. “We’ve already
got the battery, the inverter and the motor part of the equation, so, as the
hydrogen storage matures, the fuel cell matures, and hydrogen availability
matures, we are in a position to take advantage of that. I don’t see any
inhibitions. We will definitely be involved.”
