A green drive with Ford’s Flex-Fuel Focus

The speedometer needle seemed content pointing steadily at 90 kph. But then our 7-car convoy of Ford Focuses (Foci?) started being overtaken by a barrage of vehicles that ranged from European sports sedans to owner-type jeeps to full-packed buses. Almost on cue — and not wanting to become mobile chicanes — the lead Ford Focus accelerated rapidly yet smoothly to an indicated 120 kph, which was the speed most of the other vehicles traversing the Bulacan-to-Pampanga stretch of the speed-controlled North Luzon Tollway were doing.

No big deal, right? Normally, this really won’t be a big deal. Except this time we were driving cars that were running on gasoline laced with ethanol. Yup, we were driving from Manila to Pampanga and back at the behest of Ford to try out the E20-capable Focus and see how it performs with a diet of Shell E10 gasoline, with which we all loaded up from empty tanks at the Shell EDSA-Gil Puyat station.

Now for those who don’t understand this E10/E20 mumbo-jumbo, E10 means gasoline that’s mixed in a 90:10 ratio of gasoline to ethanol. This is the only ethanol-added gasoline that’s currently available locally. The locally available Ford Focus, however, is designed to take up to a 20 percent mix of ethanol, hence its E20-capable tag. (Long-term use of ethanol can corrode fuel lines in cars not designed for the fuel.)

So how does an E10/E20-capable car running on ethanol drive? Exactly like a normal purely gasoline fed car would drive. The E10-fed Focus models we drove (1.8 4-door and 2.0 5-door models) performed exactly like their pure gasoline-fed counterparts — and we have all had extensive behind-the-wheel experience with these Fords since their launch. And this is exactly what Ford wanted to demonstrate: that their cars will run perfectly fine on either E10 or pure gasoline. No hard starts, no hiccups, no degradation of performance whatsoever.

"Following the successful launch of the Ford Focus Flex-Fuel vehicles, it is only fitting that we invite you to a ride-and-drive activity that will allow you to be among the first to experience the car that reaffirms Ford’s leadership in automotive innovation and serious environmental advocacy," Luie Dy Buncio, Ford Group Philippines Vice President for Sales and Marketing, told members of the press.

Ethanol, the main component of Ford’s alternative fuel strategy, has one of the highest octane ratings, increasing the energy efficiency of an engine. Made from organic sources, ethanol lessens harmful emissions, making it environment-friendly.

Dy Buncio added that Ford has always been committed in doing its share to ensure a cleaner and greener environment, which drives the company to develop safer, cleaner and more energy efficient vehicles. Forming part of this commitment is the introduction of flex-fuel vehicles.

This is in support of the Philippine government’s bio-fuels program, which aims to promote a cleaner environment, reduce dependence on imported fuel, and spur agricultural development in the regions.

In December 2005, Ford announced its investment of P1 billion to build a Flex-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) engine plant at its Sta. Rosa, Laguna plant. The site will manufacture E20-capable vehicles for domestic and export markets, and is the first in the ASEAN region. This reiterates Ford Philippines’ positioning as the ASEAN Center of Excellence in Flex Fuel Technology.