In his keynote address at the 2010 New York Auto Show, Ford CEO Alan Mulally stressed his commitment to green technology, and also warned that the entire industry, and the country, is falling behind in the race to build new environmentally-friendly technologies.
“We are, literally, fighting for the soul of manufacturing in the United States, right now.” Mulally said today.
Mulally’s keynote address comes as Ford is not only prospering financially, but the automaker is also embarking on new tech initiatives. Despite mild criticism of the industry overall, Mulally certainly remains content with the current direction at Ford.
“We’re probably better positioned than ever before,” Mulally said. “If you want to be in the automobile business, it’s really cool to be Ford.”
Just this week, Ford made headlines by announcing its new partnership with Microsoft, a relationship that will produce new electric car charging systems to help make charging an EV more efficient and cheaper for the consumer.
“Electric vehicles will play an important role in the global effort to improve energy efficiency and address the issues of climate change and sustainability,” said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO in a statement regarding the new partnership. “But as the market for electric vehicles expands, it will have a significant impact on home energy consumption and demand across the nation’s energy grid.”
This new intelligent hybrid and electric-vehicle charging system is based on Microsoft Hohm, which balances load across the power grid. Microsoft is also developing a Window’s Phone 7 application that can monitor a vehicle’s recharging status remotely, enabling the driver to see how much time is needed for the vehicle to reach a full charge.
Ford will be utilizing this technology when the Ford Focus Electric Vehicle is introduced sometime next year. But until then, Ford is still rapidly developing its lineup of fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles. In addition to this upcoming EV, a plug-in hybrid and two all-new hybrid models will soon find their way into the Ford lineup. An electric variant of the recently introduced Transit Connect has also been confirmed to arrive later this year. What’s interesting is how the Ford has jumped out in front on just about everything they do these days. One Boston Toyota Dealer stated that Toyota better watch out for Ford. They seem to be making all the right moves.
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