Renewable Biofueled Vehicles

Technology Overview

Biofuels are alternative forms of gasoline and diesel made from renewable sources, usually plant materials. Ethanol, the most common biofuel alternative used with gasoline, is made from the fermentation of sugars, most commonly corn sugars (in the U.S. and Europe) or sugar cane (in Brazil). Biodiesel, a biofuel alternative to petroleum diesel, is made from the transesterification of vegetable oils, including soy, canola, palm and rapeseed, or from animal fat. Most biodiesel in the U.S. is made from soybeans. Biofuels are primarily used in blends with petroleum-based fuels. Gasoline is mixed with ethanol and diesel is mixed with biodiesel). In the U.S., most retail market gasoline already contains up to 10 percent ethanol (referred to as E10). E85, a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, is also available. For biodiesel, in the U.S. the most commonly blend is 5 percent or 20 percent biodiesel mixed with petroleum-based diesel (B5 and B20 respectively), while in Europe a 7 percent biodiesel blend (B7) is most commonly used.

Modern gasoline vehicles can run on gasoline blends up to 10 percent ethanol (E10) in the U.S. without any modifications. Vehicles require minimal modifications to run on gasoline blends above E10, such as hardening seals in the engine, which can be corroded by solvents in biofuels. Today vehicles in Brazil meeting different requirements operate on E25. Modern compression ignition engines, which are made to run on petroleum-based diesel, also require some modifications to run on biodiesel. For more information about biofuels, biofuel infrastructures, and challenges, please see the Fuels section. For more information on our approach to renewable fuel policy, please see the Renewable Fuels Policy section.

Benefits

Biofuels are an important component of our sustainability strategy for three reasons. First, biofuels can help to address economic, social and environmental sustainability, which includes helping us meet our CO₂ emission-reduction targets. Second, the use of biofuels requires relatively modest and affordable modifications to existing vehicle and fueling technology, which makes them a viable near-term option. Third, biofuels offer synergies with our other strategies. For example, the high octane rating of ethanol is a potential enabler for the introduction of higher compression-ratio engines and higher engine-boost technologies that improve the efficiency and torque of our future downsized engines.

Deployment

Ford has a long history of developing vehicles that run on renewable biofuels. Our founder, Henry Ford, was a strong proponent of biofuels, and we produced our first flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) approximately 100 years ago: The Ford Model T was capable of running on gasoline or ethanol.

Ford has taken a leadership position on biofuels. Since 1997, we have offered FFVs capable of running on gasoline or E85 ethanol (or E100 hydrous ethanol in Brazil). In the U.S., we met our commitment to double our FFV production from 2006 to 2010. To date, we have introduced more than 6.3 million FFVs globally. Ford FFV models are available in many European markets as well.

In Europe all of our new diesel vehicles can run on B7, a blend containing 7 percent biodiesel. We have worked with fuel standards organizations to allow the use of biodiesel blends of greater than B7 in our future products. In order for biodiesel to be a success, it is critical that the fuel be blended to meet stringent standards for quality and consistency. In the U.S., since 2012 our F-Series Super Duty® trucks with a 6.7L diesel engine are compatible with B20, and we expect the new Transit van with a 3.2L turbo diesel to be B20-compatible as well. In addition, the gasoline version of these vehicles will be flexible-fuel compatible with gasoline, E85 or any ethanol-gasoline blend between E0 and E85.