Vehicle Fuel Efficiency and CO₂ Emissions Progress and Performance

How is Ford doing in its quest to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? This section reviews our progress in reducing “use-phase” vehicle emissions – those that come from the vehicles while they are being driven, rather than during their manufacture or disposal. Life cycle analyses have found that 80 to 90 percent of vehicle-related GHGs are emitted during the use phase. Please see the Life Cycle Analysis section for more information on this topic. Emissions from our operations, logistics (i.e., the transportation of parts for our vehicles and of finished vehicles to dealerships), and from our supply chain are also important elements of our greenhouse gas emission impacts and reduction strategy. These topics are covered in the Greening Our Operations section (regarding our facilities) and the Supply Chain section (regarding logistics and suppliers).

Emissions during a vehicle’s use phase are obviously dependent on the vehicle’s fuel economy, which in turn depends on many characteristics of the vehicle itself (such as its weight, powertrain and aerodynamics). The bulk of this section focuses on our progress in improving vehicle fuel efficiency. This progress is largely the result of implementing the technologies described in our Sustainable Technologies and Alternative Fuels Plan.

Use-phase vehicle emissions are also dependent on the “well-to-wheels” greenhouse gas profile of the fuels used in the vehicles. Therefore, we also report on progress in developing lower carbon fuels, including electrification, biofuels, and gaseous fuels including compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane autogas).

Use-phase emissions also depend on consumer vehicle choices and driving behavior. If consumers choose more fuel-efficient vehicles, the emissions from their driving will be lower, other things being equal. In addition, use-phase emissions are influenced by how customers drive and maintain their vehicles. The amount and nature of consumer driving is an important factor in determining total motor vehicle GHG emissions, but it is often ignored. So, this section also discusses our efforts to help drivers improve the fuel efficiency of their driving behavior.

Our shorthand for these three factors influencing use-phase vehicle emissions is:

Vehicle + Fuel + Driver = GHG Emissions