- Ford’s EcoBoost™ engine technology, featuring turbocharging with direct injection, will migrate to the popular Ford Edge crossover
- The 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 will deliver class-leading power and torque for a four-cylinder engine and best-in-class fuel economy with improvements of at least 10 percent versus comparable V-6 engines
- The Ford Edge with EcoBoost will have a 2.0-liter I-4 engine with a single turbocharger as well as a host of clever control strategies to maximize horsepower, torque and fuel economy
- By 2013, 90 percent of Ford’s vehicles in North America will be available with EcoBoost, with I-4 engines making up 66 percent of the EcoBoost lineup
CHICAGO, Feb. 10, 2010 – Ford’s groundbreaking EcoBoost engine technology, which customers have embraced since its introduction a year ago, will soon be available on the Ford Edge. Powered by a 2.0-liter I-4 engine with direct fuel injection and a single turbocharger, the Ford Edge with EcoBoost will deliver the same performance feel as a current V-6 while delivering best-in-class fuel economy.
“Customers have embraced EcoBoost technology because of its ability to deliver power and performance with uncompromised fuel economy,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development. “We’re committed to delivering this technology to multiple vehicles so that more and more customers can take advantage of EcoBoost’s unique, no-compromise combination of power, performance and fuel economy. The EcoBoost strategy works in any gasoline engine, so it’s only natural to now add a four-cylinder EcoBoost engine to complement our EcoBoost V-6 lineup, which is delivering outstanding results and customer satisfaction.”
With Edge’s 2.0-liter EcoBoost, the fuel economy benefits will be at least 10 percent better than a comparable V-6 but with class-leading power and torque for an I-4.
Since being introduced in 2009 on four vehicles – the Ford Taurus SHO (standard) and Lincoln MKS full-size sedans and the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT crossovers – EcoBoost engines have been embraced by customers. The Ford Taurus SHO has a conquest rate of 45 percent, and since launch, in terms of volume, 48 percent of Lincoln MKT sales are with the EcoBoost option. Altogether, nearly 6,000 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles have been sold since introduction.
“EcoBoost technology is helping bring in a new customer to Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealer showrooms,” said Amy Marentic, Ford group marketing manager. “This customer is younger, more affluent, and more often trades in competitive products.”
The addition of an I-4 EcoBoost to Ford’s lineup is a strong answer to consumer demand for engines of this size, which began in 2008. Approximately one-third of Ford’s U.S. engine volume is I-4 as customers focus more on fuel economy and lower emissions. EcoBoost engines help deliver performance on both fronts, cutting CO2 emissions by up to 15 percent compared with larger-displacement engines with similar power.
Overall, the 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine is about 55 pounds lighter than a comparable normally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 also will benefit from a six-speed transmission specially calibrated to take advantage of the EcoBoost. The gearbox features a new torque converter for improved driving feel, silky smooth shifts and excellent fuel economy. Engineers also installed revised gear ratios for a balanced driving feel in all situations. The new ratios complement the revised torque converter.
First global EcoBoost solution
The 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 is the first engine in the EcoBoost lineup to go truly global. Already announced is the 2.0-liter EcoBoost in the S-MAX and Galaxy, two people-moving products on sale in Europe. In addition, the same engine will join the powertrain lineup for the 2011 Ford Falcon on sale in Australia. Later in the year, the second application for North America will be announced, demonstrating how this technology is quickly migrating around the world as customers look for the perfect balance of horsepower with fuel economy.
Building on proven strategies with new solutions
The 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine employs many of the basic principles of Ford’s original 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engines, starting with turbocharging and direct fuel injection. The turbocharger increases airflow in the engine to boost power and direct injection helps enable more efficient fuel burn for better fuel economy. Just like the first-generation EcoBoost engines, the EcoBoost I-4 will spool up quickly to maximum torque and maintain it across a broad range – estimated from 2,000 rpm to 5,500 rpm, according to preliminary Ford data.
The turbocharger recovers energy from the exhaust that otherwise would be wasted and puts it back in the engine to gain efficiency. Simply, the turbocharging system puts more air into the engine, creating more power. A compressor increases or boosts the pressure of the air entering the engine. An air-to-air intercooler reduces the air temperature before it enters the engine.
The 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine also adds Ti-VCT (Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing) technology to the recipe for success. This strategy, because of its efficiency, is incorporated into several normally aspirated (non-boosted) engine programs that debut this year, including the Ford Edge, Ford Mustang and Lincoln MKX.
A closer look at Ti-VCT technology
What it is: Ti-VCT technology creates precise, variable timing control of both the intake and exhaust camshafts, which control the valve opening and closing events. Each of the two camshafts is controlled independently. Ti-VCT uses the intake camshaft phasing to advance the intake valve opening and closing events and the exhaust camshaft phasing to retard the exhaust valve events from their base “engine off” positions.
How it helps: The ability to vary the overlap between the intake and exhaust valves helps eliminate compromises in the two processes: fresh charge induction and exhaust gas discharge. The result is greater efficiency through reduced gas exchange pumping work, which leads to better fuel economy – approximately a 3 to 4 percent improvement from this strategy alone compared with non-VCT engines. Another benefit of Ti-VCT technology is a broadened torque curve. Because the Ti-VCT strategy allows the intake valve to be advanced, instant power is delivered when the customer demands it at low speeds. At high speeds, the intake cam is retarded and higher airflows are available, which results in approximately a 10 percent power improvement over non-VCT engines.
Re-engineering the combustion system
The combustion system has been completely redesigned and re-engineered to take advantage of the EcoBoost system’s increased performance. The high-pressure fuel pump operates up to 2,200 psi – more than 50 times the norm seen in a conventional I-4 engine. The high-pressure pump is a cam-driven mechanical pump with a single piston and an electronic valve that controls how much fuel is routed into the fuel rail to the injectors.
As demands on the turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine are increased, the control system responds to maintain optimal combustion, timing and injection duration.
On each stroke, six individual jets on each fuel injector spray fuel directly into the combustion chamber, mixing with the incoming air. By bringing the fuel injector right into the combustion chamber, there’s no delay from the time the fuel is injected to when it’s used by the engine.
The fuel injectors are located on the side of the combustion chamber. When the fuel is injected into the cylinder, it evaporates and cools the air that’s been inducted into the cylinder.
“Another benefit of our direct-injection method is that it cools the air right where you’re going to burn it,” said Olaf Kunde, powertrain systems manager. “This action both improves the breathing of the engine and minimizes knocking.”
The improved charge cooling allows the direct-injected turbocharged engine to run a higher compression ratio than was possible on port fuel-injected boosted engines. That higher compression ratio equates to improved fuel economy across the operating range of the engine.
The direct injection of fuel into the cylinder also helps provide a well-mixed air-fuel charge, increasing engine efficiency. Direct injection provides several benefits in terms of fuel burn and lower emissions.
“Because the fuel is directly introduced into the combustion chamber, you don’t get fuel wetting the combustion wall like with port fuel injection, you don’t saturate the ports and you don’t get droplets that might recombine and add to saturation,” said Kunde. “By injecting fuel directly into the combustion chamber and under high pressure, the fuel can be directed to exactly where we want it to be for a given combustion cycle.”
The spray pattern for the fuel was optimized after extensive computer modeling work, with the angle of how the fuel is sprayed key to the process.
“The better combustion process is a big advantage of direct injection,” said Kunde. “In a port fuel system, at key off it’s possible to have fuel on the walls of the intake port, which migrates to the top of the valve and puddles. So when you key on, you get that emissions spike. Direct injection is much cleaner from that standpoint. This same feature also greatly reduces the evaporative emissions from the vehicle.”
Turbo lag virtually eliminated
The turbocharger operation paired with the direct-injection system helps to virtually eliminate turbo lag. The turbocharger spins at up to 200,000 rpm and is designed for a life cycle of 150,000 miles or 10 years.
“Our testing is far, far more harsh than could be achieved in the real world,” said Kunde. “In an extreme situation, a customer might be able to hit peak power for about 10 seconds – probably not even that much. We test at peak power for hundreds of hours to ensure we can reach our durability and reliability goals.”
The turbocharger is about the size of a grapefruit, helping to provide a big performance advantage to customers. Kunde describes the torque response in terms of linear acceleration – power whenever the customer wants it.
“You get peak torque across a very wide engine speed range,” he said. “It’s available when you pull away from a stoplight or pass someone on a secondary road at a comparatively low speed. You don’t need to wind up the engine to get performance out of it. It’s there all the time.”
Turbocharger “whoosh” is mitigated by electronically controlled anti-surge valves that proactively relieve the boost in the intake, which can range up to 13 psi. Careful software calibrations manage the pressures in the intake manifold.
“We control the boost to make sure that customers don’t recognize when the boost is building,” said Kunde. “As the turbocharger spools up, the electronic control system takes over. Our active wastegate control, along with the throttle, controls the boost and torque levels very precisely, and the customer perceives a continuous delivery of torque.”
Extensive durability tests ensure the 2.0-liter EcoBoost I-4 will excel in all conditions. Start-up tests, with a wide variety of fuels, were made in conditions ranging from minus 40 degrees to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
“The direct-injection fuel system allows us some real opportunities in terms of optimizing cold start for both emissions and robustness,” said Kunde. “We have multiple injections for each combustion event, and we can essentially tune where those injections should take place to deliver the strongest start possible with the lowest emissions, which is great news for customers.”
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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 198,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.