With the cost of fuel hitting family budgets harder and harder, Ford of Europe has commenced production of its most fuel efficient (and lowest CO2 emissions) passenger car ever. The company’s new Fiesta ECOnetic Technology is powered by a 1.6-liter Duratorq TDCi diesel engine providing 205 Nm of torque that offers fuel economy figures of 3.3 l/100 km (71 mpg US / 86 mpg UK) with CO2 emissions of 87 g/km.
In addition to the diesel engine that features bespoke calibration and optimized gear ratios, the car’s fuel-sipping specs come courtesy of a variety of ECOnetic technologies. These include Auto-Start-Stop, which shuts down the engine when the vehicle is at idle, Smart Regenerative Charging, which feeds back energy captured when braking to the vehicle’s battery, Eco mode, which provides the driver with feedback about their driving style, and a gear shift indicator in the instrument cluster that signals the optimum time to change gear.
While the car’s engine is built in Britain, the new vehicle is now rolling off the production line at Ford’s Cologne Assembly plant in Germany, and will come in three- and five-door versions, with a variety of trim levels depending on the market. The company says half of all Ford cars sold in Europe will be ECOnetic Technology models by the end of the year, increasing to two-thirds in 2013.
North American motorists hoping ECOnetic Technology models will be showing up in showrooms across the pond seem to be out of luck with a 2009 article in Business Week saying Ford wouldn’t be able to sell enough of the vehicles at a cheap enough price, due to exchange rates. Additionally, upgrading its Mexico plant to produce diesel engines would cost more than US$350 million. The company doesn’t believe there is a sufficient market for diesel cars in North and South America to justify such an outlay.
But buyers in the U.K. should note that the car’s fuel economy and CO2 emission figures mean that it is exempt from road tax and avoids London’s Congestion Charge.
Source: Ford
I will be posting this on one or more of the blogs I edit under what's become a standard topic: The latest fuel-efficient car we can't buy in the United States.
a 1.4 diesel in a car that small should EASILY get 60MPG with JUST the diesel engine and auto stop.
your telling me they added an entire hybrid system and only managed to add 10mpg ??
I would like to explore the costs of shipping the engines from the Brit plant to Mexico for assembly there or for installing already assembled engines into the Fiesta. I would also like to explore the exchange rate argument. What would it add to the cost of the car and is it really a barrier to entry in the US market?
One of our vehicles is a 2003 Honda Insight and wondered why a diesel version was not available and what the diesel itself would add to the mileage.
I would very much like to buy a diesel vehicle that gets in the neighborhood of 70 mbelieveeleive many Americans are also of the same ilk.