"The company's Centennial offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on our many past accomplishments. But, it also challenges us to look ahead and create a vision of continuing success. Model U is an exploration of that future vision."
Centennial Kit
- Model U
"The company's Centennial offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on our many past accomplishments. But, it also
challenges us to look ahead and create a vision of continuing success. Model U is an exploration of that future vision."
Bill Ford
Chairman and CEO, Ford Motor Company
Building on the heritage started with the Model T, Ford's Model U concept begins Ford Motor Company's second century of
innovation.
Equipped with an array of upgradable technologies and a multi-function tailgate, Model U can stick
with you and adapt to your needs if your life changes.
Powered by the world's first supercharged hydrogen internal
combustion engine, equipped with a hybrid electric transmission and pioneering green materials and processes, Model U is a
vision for the future. It is Ford's model for change - exploring the benefits a vehicle provides to its users, the way it
is manufactured and how it impacts the world.
It is the Model T of the 21st century.
Inspired by how the Model
T revolutionized personal transportation in the last century, a team of Ford researchers and designers created Model U. It
is a clear expression of Ford Motor Company's strategy to pursue future automotive technologies without compromising today's
customer expectations for personal mobility. It is a car designed to be good to you and good for the world.
"When
Henry Ford built the Model T, it was affordable, offered the most advanced manufacturing and was built with the most advanced
materials," says Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, Ford Motor Company vice president of Research and Advanced Engineering. "In a similar
but entirely contemporary way, Model U starts a new cycle. Emissions, safety and fuel economy, also green materials and
processes, are all key questions facing the entire industry. We believe the Model U addresses them all."
A partnership
was struck among Ford's Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford's Brand Imaging Group (an internal design think tank), Bill
McDonough (architect of the new Rouge Center and co-founder, with Dr. Michael Braungart, of the product design firm MBDC), BP
and a host of technology suppliers.
"Model U is very different from most futuristic concept vehicles," says J Mays,
vice president of Design. "It tries to address the challenges of the future and proposes exciting, realistic solutions that
exceed current industry standards. Therefore, I hope it does justice to the name 'Model for Change.'"
Model U offers
SUV driving excitement that is affordable, but can grow with a customer's lifestyle and aspirations. It is designed for mass
production, but has nearly infinite capacity for being personalized and upgraded. It offers advanced technologies that respond
to customers' desires for convenience, entertainment and continuously improved safety. And it looks at how building a car, truck
or SUV can strengthen the environment.
"What I think is so exciting about Model U is that it opens the door to a whole new
way of looking at things, just like the Model T did," says McDonough. "The vision behind Model U is entirely positive. Instead of
focusing on minimizing environmental harm, which is what most approaches to sustainable mobility do, Model U starts to find ways
to be re-creational and regenerative - to have fun and create environmental benefits at the same time. That's a totally new vision
for the auto industry."
Key features:
- Reconfigurable Interior and Exterior - Model U can adapt to each
person's individuality. Its interior is modular, allowing for ongoing upgrades. The Model U has a series of slots in the floor,
door panels and instrument panel in which different components can be mounted, moved around or added later. The slots are
designed to provide power and access to the vehicle's electronic network. The exterior is highlighted by a power retractable
roof, rear window, tailgate and trunk, allowing the vehicle to go from closed to open.
- Hydrogen ICE plus Hybrid Electric
Powertrain - A 2.3-liter, four-cylinder supercharged, intercooled hydrogen internal combustion engine, coupled with a
hybrid electric transmission, propels Model U. It offers enhanced fuel economy - the equivalent of 45 miles per gallon and
about 300 miles of range - plus near-zero regulated emissions and a 99-percent reduction in carbon dioxide. The powertrain
also features Ford's advanced Modular Hybrid Transmission System, a way to simplify hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology
in manufacturing, while contributing to significant fuel economy improvements. This vehicle can meet PZEV emissions.
- Conversational Speech Interface - Model U showcases the most advanced conversational speech technology displayed
to date. It allows a person to speak naturally to operate on-board systems including entertainment, navigation, cellular
telephone and climate control.
- Improved Driver Visibility and Awareness through Active Safety - Model U features
pre-crash sensing, adaptive front headlights and an advanced night vision system to help the driver avoid accidents before
they occur.
- Green materials and processes - The Model U features advanced materials that have been designed for
the optimum health of the car's occupants. These were designed for their ecological effects and can go from cradle-to-cradle,
instead of staying in typical cradle-to-grave waste streams.
Reconfigurable Interior and Exterior Designs
Equipped with an array of advanced technologies,
Model U is one way of expressing Ford's vision for the future
 |
The Model U fits Ford's Outfitters
image with its flexible design that can adapt to meet any individual's needs and perform any type of function. Its design is
determined and confident, accentuated by a tough stance and pronounced wheel arches. With seating for up to four people, lots
of storage space and built-in flexibility, it provides sensible solutions in an innovative way.
"This project was
very exciting for us," says Laurens van den Acker, chief designer for the Model U. "To embody the spirit of the Model T, we had
to design an extremely ingenious car that could grow with your needs and meet an incredible packaging challenge. Model U doesn't
compromise interior space for the occupants or cargo despite the storage space needed for the hydrogen tanks and the hybrid
powertrain."
Exterior
The Model U's unique 3-box profile exterior has a tough modular look. Body panels
are visually separated through different finishes and are made of different materials. The body side has a glossy appearance; the
doors are matte and grooved for both design appearance and structural integrity. The body structure is aluminum; the front side
panels are built with a natural fiber-filled composite material.
Its flexibility makes it capable of performing rugged
jobs as well as driving to an evening out. It provides different driving experiences with one vehicle. Model U goes from
completely closed to completely open. When completely open, it looks like a pickup. The rear seats can be removed to provide
a longer loading floor.
The roof of the Model U is a power-retractable canvas soft top that opens rearward to offer a
nearly open-air motoring experience. The rear of the vehicle also can be opened with power controls. The rear window folds
into the deck lid and the deck lid then folds back and down into the floor so that it is hidden and safe from being damaged.
The Model U also features a power hood that opens from the windshield toward the front of the SUV. The hinges are hidden
in the front bumper.
Interior
The interior of the Model U is uncluttered and open, but allows for
flexibility through the use of the innovative slot system. It is shown as an affordable base vehicle that grows with a customer's
life and aspirations. The Model U ties back to the Model T roots in that it is classless and allows people to be aspire to
something more, yet it delivers for the people who can already afford more.
An important feature of Model U is the
'layering' of major design elements. This is done to visually and physically separate the materials from each other, a vital
aspect when designing for disassembly.
There are three basic layers that make up the interior:
- The
bottom surface is the base of the vehicle. It is painted a dark gray and helps to emphasize the glossier layer. Much of
the hydrogen fueling system, including its four tanks, is beneath this surface.
- The middle layer is the floor, which has
a semi-gloss appearance. Nicknamed 'the magic carpet' by the designers, it flows from the top of the instrument panel, down
the footwell over the hydrogen storage tanks and all the way to the tailgate. Through it run the main three slots.
- The
top layer is fabric and is used on all points of contact, including the seats, armrests, steering wheel and dash. The fabric
is an orange color that is fresh and modern, adding visual warmth to the Model U.
Model U comes with wireless capability.
The steering wheel is located in the first slot and is equipped with two controls. One operates voice controls and the other
is a scroll wheel that lets the driver control fan speed and volume of the entertainment system. These buttons are repeated on
the armrests in both the front and rear rows. The basic dash has analog dials, but they can be upgraded to digital.
The pedals are stationary, but the gear shifter is a wireless device that can be located between the seats or directed to
the driver.
The passenger side is an open space perfect for customization. An owner can choose to place a second screen
there or use the space for storage. Accessories, seats and storage bins could be left inside or moved in and out as needed.
Rear seats are located on slots and can be moved forward to offer more rear space or removed to create the pickup bed.
Rear-seat passengers will have small entertainment screens in front of them. Slots allow them to plug in DVD, computer or
game systems.
The three main slots end several inches behind the second row of seats to provide enough space for
attachments. Additional slots, located in the doors, can hold armrests, wireless switches or any other accessory.
Finally, small slots are located in the roof for placement of the rearview mirror, sun visors and microphones for the
speech system. These slots also are the design element of modular technology that is central to Model U's functionality.
The slot system allows the " U-ser " to take personal accessories to other vehicles, or dealers to very quickly update
the look of the car when it enters the used-car market.
Hydrogen Internal-Combustion Engine
Model U is powered by a supercharged 2.3-liter
internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen. The Model U also features a Modular Hybrid Transmission System.
 |
Model U is powered by internal combustion engine (ICE) that is optimized to run on hydrogen. The engine is supercharged
and intercooled for maximum efficiency, power and range. Its emission of all pollutants, including carbon dioxide, is nearly
zero, and the engine is up to 25 percent more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines. A hybrid-electric transmission system
further improves efficiency.
"We believe that hydrogen will be the automotive fuel of the future," says Dr. Schmidt.
"The hydrogen ICE can act as a stepping stone to hydrogen-fueled mass transportation that eventually will incorporate fuel cells."
The hydrogen ICE is a common-sense powerplant that uses existing, proven technologies to deliver the environmental benefits of
a hydrogen fuel cell - but at a fraction of the complexity and cost.
The hydrogen ICE is based on Ford's global 2.3-liter
I-4 engine used in the Ford Ranger, the European Ford Mondeo and a number of Mazda vehicles. The engine is optimized to burn hydrogen
with 12.2:1 high-compression pistons, fuel injectors designed to handle hydrogen gas, a coil-on-plug ignition system, an electronic
throttle and new engine management software.
Because hydrogen has a very wide combustion range (from 4 to 75 percent),
hydrogen-fueled engines are able to use a wider range of air/fuel mixtures than gasoline engines, and can be run in the fuel-efficient
"lean" regime without the complications of pre-ignition or "knock." Much like a diesel engine, the hydrogen ICE runs unthrottled while
under way, with air/fuel mixtures as lean as 86:1 during highway cruise, compared to the 14.7:1 of gasoline-powered vehicles. It
can reach an overall efficiency of 38 percent, which is approximately 25 percent better than a gasoline engine.
Because there
are no carbon atoms in the fuel, combustion of hydrogen produces no hydrocarbon or carbon-dioxide emissions. Even without
aftertreatment, oxides of nitrogen (NOX) are very low, and catalyst research may soon reduce tailpipe output of potentially smog-forming
emission to below ambient conditions in many cities.
Designing a gasoline engine to burn hydrogen fuel has typically resulted
in significantly lower power output - until now. Ford researchers have shown that with supercharging, the hydrogen ICE can deliver
the same power as its gasoline counterpart and still provide near-zero-emissions performance and high fuel economy. The centrifugal-type
supercharger provides nearly 15 pounds per square inch (psi) of boost on demand.
Also, Model U uses a novel dual-stage
intercooling process. After leaving the supercharger, the intake air passes through a conventional air-to-air intercooler, then
through an air conditioning-to-air intercooler for a further reduction in temperature. This patent-pending solution further improves
the performance of the engine.
Ford Modular Hybrid Transmission System
The hydrogen ICE is joined with
an advanced hybrid electric transmission technology called the Ford Modular Hybrid Transmission System (MHTS). The torque converter
from a conventional transmission is replaced with a high-voltage electric motor and two hydraulic clutches that permit the motor to
operate independently of, or in concert with, the engine.
The electric motor simultaneously fills the role of flywheel, starter,
alternator and hybrid traction motor.
The hybrid system is known as a "parallel" arrangement, which means that Model U can
operate on either the hydrogen ICE engine or electric motor, or both for extra power. A regenerative braking function reclaims energy
that would otherwise be lost as heat, storing it in the 300-volt, air-cooled battery pack for the next acceleration, passing
maneuver or hill climb.
....
Glossary
1999
2005
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3-20-2005
3-21-2005