Quantifying Our Environmental Impacts

The first step in improving the life cycle performance of our products is to understand the environmental aspects of our products and the potential environmental impacts associated with them¹. Much of our work to understand the environmental impacts of our products has focused on understanding their life cycle carbon- dioxide (CO₂) emissions but we are also working to understand the life cycle water impacts of our products and the different fuels they use.

Assessing Life Cycle Vehicle CO₂ Emissions

Estimates of vehicles’ total life cycle CO₂ emissions vary depending upon the specifics of the vehicle analyzed and the vehicle’s powertrain and fuel type. For example, based on assessments of the Ford Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo, we found significant differences in life cycle CO₂ emissions among the three vehicle models and between different engine and fuel types within a vehicle model. In all cases the “vehicle use” phase produces the largest portion of life cycle CO₂ emissions (for example, 77 percent of the total for the Focus diesel, 73 percent for the Focus diesel ECOnetic version, and 83 percent for the Mondeo gasoline). Vehicles with better fuel economy do reduce the use phase’s contribution to life cycle CO₂ emissions; however, the use phase remains the dominant phase for most environmental impacts. See the table below for comparisons of life cycle CO₂ emissions across these four vehicles.

Lifecycle CO₂ Emissions Comparison across Vehicle Models, Engines and Fuel Types

Assessing the Life Cycle Emissions of Electrified Vehicles

Assessing vehicle life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is becoming a more complicated task as we add alternative fuels and powertrains to our vehicle lineup. For conventional gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles, most of the energy is consumed, and most of the life cycle CO₂ emissions are released when the vehicles are driven, rather than when they are manufactured, maintained or recycled at end of life. As vehicle fuel efficiency improves and lower-carbon fuels are made available, the relative contribution of CO₂ emissions from the in-use phase will decrease. For plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), most of the life cycle CO₂ emissions are released during the production of the electricity or the hydrogen that provides the energy for the vehicle. A systems perspective that considers the full impacts of both the vehicle technology and fuel technology is thus required when considering the CO₂ emissions and energy use associated with alternative vehicle technologies. BEVs and FCVs are capable of achieving very low CO₂ emissions, particularly when powered by low-CO₂ electricity or low-CO₂ hydrogen. For all of our products, the emissions associated with the generation and delivery of their fuel has an impact on their life cycle emissions.

To better understand the impacts of different powertrain choices on life cycle CO₂ emissions, we compared the relative impacts and benefits of different propulsion technologies for a Focus-sized vehicle on a life cycle basis. We learned that for a battery electric vehicle (BEV) Focus, the carbon footprint of the electricity source used to charge the electric vehicle is the critical factor in determining whether or not the BEV has superior life cycle CO₂ emissions compared with a conventional Focus. In our study, we assumed the Focus BEV used electricity from sources below 400 g of life cycle CO₂/kWh – such as the electricity currently used in California, Norway and Switzerland. Based on this study, we found that the most cost-efficient, low-CO₂ vehicles for customers are the Focus variants powered by the EcoBoost® engine or advanced diesel engines. If lower carbon electricity sources are used to charge the Focus BEV, however, the electric vehicle has lower life cycle CO₂ emissions than a Focus with EcoBoost or advanced diesel engines. For hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) the range of life cycle CO₂ emissions is similar to advanced diesel and CNG vehicles on the lower end and advanced gasoline vehicles at the upper end, depending on driving conditions. The life cycle CO₂ emissions of PHEVs, like BEVs, are significantly impacted by the carbon footprint of the electricity.

Understanding the Life Cycle Water Footprint of Our Vehicles

As part of our continuing focus on reducing water use and the development of our global water strategy, we are also using life cycle analysis to understand the water footprint of our vehicles. Our global water strategy, released in 2014, continues our focus on understanding and reducing our water-related impacts within our own facilities, and includes our supply chain. We are currently estimating fresh water withdrawal and consumption for the life cycle of a model year 2012 Ford Focus. Water withdrawal is water removed from the ground or diverted from a water source, while water consumption is water that is consumed and not available for further use. In this analysis, we are accounting for both direct and indirect water use throughout the life cycle including impacts from the vehicle itself (e.g., vehicle manufacturing and vehicle use) and impacts from the fuel used in the vehicle (e.g., production of fuel). We plan to share more details on the results of this analysis in future updates.