Little Green Machine: The Ford Reflex
The Ford Reflex sports a lot of technology, but it feels much more purposeful than the look-what-I-can-do gadgetry that oozes from every pore of the Mercedes S550. Everything on the Reflex is geared to making it as comfortable, environmental, and fun as possible; in effect Ford is saying we can have our cake and eat it too.
Most of the technology is of the ‘green’ variety. Solar panels sit above the energy-saving LED headlamps; in addition to recharging the hybrid drivetrain’s batteries they collect solar energy and store it to power the lamps at nighttime. Small solar-powered fans cool the car when parked, reducing the need to air-condition heavily when getting back inside. The aluminum tri-bar lower grille is actually strong enough to act as the bumper, adding to weight savings.
Inside the passenger compartment, the seats resemble hammocks much more than traditional leather-and-foam chairs found in current cars. The seats are made of a high-strength synthetic mesh designed to reduce weight and keep the driver and passengers cooler than having their backs pressed up against leather or cloth. The rear seat is a large curved ‘loveseat’, meant for either one adult or two small children - a barrier pops up to keep them separated. Every innovation has been geared towards reduction in weight and drain from auxiliary systems such as lighting or climate control.
Safety hasn’t been neglected either - there is a nanny-cam for the rear seat that allows parents to keep an eye on children without turning around and taking their eyes off the road. Seatbelts have been rethought too - there are inflatable airbags on the shoulder straps to reduce injury and bruising in the event of a crash.
The powertrain is a proposed 1.4L turbodiesel hybrid tied to a 6-speed paddle-shift automatic powering the front wheels plus a small electric motor to power the rear wheels in AWD mode. Ford claims 65mpg and a 6-second 0-60. To further mitigate environmental impact, the sound deadening is made from ground-up Nike shoes, and Ford is looking into finding ways to use recycled material for the body panels.
The concept as-is will probably never see the light of day, but some of the technology developed for it probably will. Consumers are notoriously penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to fuel; the constant pinch of filling up a gargantuan truck fuel tank at $3 a gallon hurts more than a one-time hit of more than $5,000 over the base models to buy a hybrid vehicle. Ford is looking to take on Toyota’s wildly successful hybrid system and is furiously researching their own to avoid the cost of licensing the technology and further eating into the profits of the struggling company. Ford is banking heavily on the return to ‘less is more’ thinking – given the grumbling of consumers at the pump and slumping sales of cash-cow SUVs, it might be a wise move.
After President Bush’s ‘addicted to oil’ statement, social pressure to be environmentally conscious is rapidly mounting. Expeditions have been replaced by Priuses as the new ‘it’ car in many urban and suburban environments. Regardless of actual benefit, if the perceived ‘environmentally conscious consumer’ label is properly attached to the vehicle, it gains a loyal following - as evidenced by the existence of the Lexus RX440h, which gets 3mpg highway (where many people do most of their driving) better than its gas-only counterpart.
Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive is the first commercially viable hybrid system out of the gate and is dominating the market. Can Ford do better? They’ve already licensed several of Toyota’s patents for the hybrid technology found in the Escape and Mariner hybrids, which isn’t helping their bottom line. Time will tell, but the Reflex is a step in the right direction.
