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. Lifecycle analyses have found that 80 to 90 percent of vehicle-related GHGs are emitted during the use phase. 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.

But use-phase vehicle emissions are also dependent on the “well-to-wheels” greenhouse gas profile of the fuels used in the vehicles and how the vehicles are used and maintained by their drivers. Therefore, we also report on fuels-related GHG emissions, including electrification and biofuels, and 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.”

Downloads

Download Summary Report

Ford’s 2012/13 Sustainability Report is summarized in this 8-page downloadable document.

Visit our Downloads page for this report in full or as separate sections along with supplementary publications.