FORD ECOBOOST™ ENGINE RECEIVES POPULAR MECHANICS BREAKTHROUGH AWARD

Popular Mechanics’ “Breakthrough Awards” recognize products and celebrate innovations poised to change the world, and the passionate, smart creators behind them; Ford EcoBoost™ is one of only 10 products honored in 2009.
The new EcoBoost™ engine is the first in a wave of EcoBoost engines coming as part of Ford’s strategy to bring affordable fuel efficiency improvements to millions.
By 2013, more than 90 percent of Ford’s North American lineup will be available with EcoBoost technology.

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 – Ford Motor Company’s fuel efficient EcoBoost™ engine will be honored Thursday evening with a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award at a ceremony at the Hearst Tower in New York City. The Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards, now in their fifth year, recognize products and celebrate innovations poised to change the world, and the passionate, smart creators behind them. Ford is the only automaker this year to receive a Breakthrough Award.

“From flying cars to robots to wind turbines for homes, the innovations honored by the 2009 POPULAR MECHANICS Breakthrough Awards not only capture the imagination, they hold the potential to improve and even save lives,” said James B. Meigs, editor-in-chief, POPULAR MECHANICS. “We are pleased to honor this year’s diverse list of visionaries, Dean Kamen among them, and applaud their efforts to address such concerns as climate change, pollution, energy shortages and medical care in the developing world.”

EcoBoost, which uses turbocharging and direct gasoline injection to boost engine output, reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency by as much as 20 percent marks a major milestone in the Ford strategy to deliver technologically advanced, high-output, smaller-displacement powertrains.

The Ford powertrain management strategy uses hundreds of thousands of lines of computer code and related parameters that are adjusted to optimize the engine and transmission operation. It’s these processes that largely make up the more than 125 EcoBoost patent contributions and makes Ford’s use of direct injection and turbocharging of its engines like no other automaker in the world.