2013 Escape Goes Green Thanks to New Ford Plant
But that “new Ford plant” isn’t one of the automaker’s world-class manufacturing facilities—it’s the tropical kenaf plant, which is being used to save weight, oil and gasoline in the redesigned 2013 Escape.
Related to cotton and okra, kenaf also can be found in cosmetics, and its fibers can be used to make paper and cardboard. In the Escape, Ford is relying on the plant to replace oil-based resins in the vehicle’s door bolsters, reducing their weight by about 25 percent. The lower curb weight for the Escape translates into higher EPA ratings for drivers, with the new Escape—when also boasting one of Ford’s 1.6-liter EcoBoost engines—expected to return a 5-mpg improvement over the 2012 model. In addition, using the kenaf plant will offset 300,000 lbs. of oil-based resins every year in North America.
And that’s just one example of how Ford’s sustainable manufacturing processes will deliver a cleaner, greener new Escape. Other efforts include using:
Soy foam in its seats and head restraints Plastic bottles and other post-consumer/post-industrial materials in the Escape’s carpeting Recycled tires for climate-control gaskets 10 lbs. of scrap cotton—in every Escape—as insulation materials Recycled plastics for powertrain shields Polished stainless steel as tailpipe trim instead of chromium plating, which is worse for the environmentThe 2013 Escape also introduces Ford’s industry-first application of microcellular technology for injection-molding its instrument panel, slicing more weight from the vehicle to help boost fuel efficiency.
“Kenaf and the other renewable materials in the Escape have made the vehicle more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient,” confirmed Laura Sinclair, materials engineer for Escape.