Driver

Paradoxically, the "driver" portion of the GHG emissions equation holds the potential for substantial reductions at minimal cost, but it is often overlooked. We focus on the driver because, ultimately, drivers decide which vehicles and fuels they will purchase and how those vehicles will be driven.

Since 2000, Ford has offered an "eco-driving" program through its German dealerships, in partnership with the German Federation of Driving Instructor Associations and the German Road Safety Council. The program has documented the potential for up to a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy when drivers adopt conservation-minded driving and vehicle maintenance habits. During 2007, the program trained approximately 3,500 drivers.

During 2006, we built on this experience and rolled out a Web-based eco-driving program to all U.S. salaried employees. The eco-driving approach has also been incorporated into Driving Skills for Life, our teen driver education program. Eco-driving tips are available to the public via the Ford Web site. Nearly 2,500 people have taken the training, most of them following the program launch in 2006.

We believe that our customers are concerned about vehicle GHG emissions and ready to help reduce them. As a complement to eco-driving, we are offering customers an innovative tool called carbon offsetting, which neutralizes the CO2 emissions from one source by supporting projects that reduce emissions elsewhere by the same amount. Through our Greener Miles program, operated in partnership with TerraPass, Ford owners and customers can easily calculate the amount of GHGs created by driving their vehicle and learn more about climate change and how carbon offsetting works. They can then offset, or neutralize, a year of their driving by purchasing a TerraPass customized to their vehicle and driving patterns. The proceeds – ranging from about $30 to $80 – are used to fund clean renewable energy production (like that from wind farms), which reduces GHG emissions by displacing coal-fired electricity from the power grid.

Together with offsets purchased by Ford to cover the manufacture of its MY2007 and 2008 hybrid vehicles, more than 70,000 metric tons of GHG have been avoided.