2014 Ford Expedition El Limited on 2040-cars

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Ford invests $682 million in Edge-producing Canadian facility

Ford announced that it's investing $682 million in its Oakville assembly plant in Ontario, Canada, to make it a global manufacturing plant, which the automaker also says secures 2,800 jobs there. Including this injection of cash, Ford has invested over $2 billion in Canada in the last decade, starting with nearly $1 billion for Oakville in 2004, and over $570 million for its Essex Engine Plant in 2010.
The move to make Oakville a global manufacturer of Ford vehicles means, "If consumers suddenly shift their buying habits, we can seamlessly change our production mix without having to idle a plant," says Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of the Americas.
Ford says that the latest investment will help it meet North American demand for the Oakville-produced Edge crossover, which is on track this year to beat 2007's US sales record of 130,000 Edges. The Ford Flex and Lincoln MKX and MKT are also manufactured at the plant.

New Ford dedicated hybrid due in 2018, will it fare better than C-Max?

Everyone likes to go after the champ. When it comes to fuel economy, that means taking on the Prius, which is something that automakers not named Toyota have been trying to do for years. Just because no one has been able to beat the Prius for fuel economy numbers isn't stopping them from trying. Hyundai was just caught with a potential Prius-fighter and now we have news that Ford is joining the party. Well, is going to join again. The last time Ford said it was going to challenge the Prius, it didn't go quite as planned. The C-Max hybrid was heavily hyped as a Prius-beater and was originally rated at 47 miles per gallon. Of course, it later needed to be recalculated to just 40 mpg and sales tanked. So, it's back to the Blue Oval drawing board, according to Automotive News, which is reporting that Ford is readying a brand new gas-electric hybrid due in 2018 as a 2019 model year vehicle. A plug-in version is in the works, too, and the car will reportedly share a platform with the upcoming next-gen Focus and Escape models. About those C-Max sales. They have not been stellar for the C-Max hybrid, which started strong but suffered when the reality of the lower fuel economy was realized. So far in 2014 (through the end of July), Ford has sold 11,685 gas-electric models and another 4,759 plug-in Energi versions. The trend for the standard C-Max is downward (from 20,125 during the same time frame in 2013) and upward for the plug-in version (2,915 in the first seven months of 2013).

Recharge Wrap-up: California breaks ground on high-speed rail, Ford launches global mobility experiments

California has celebrated the groundbreaking of the country's first high-speed rail system. The ceremony took place in Fresno, in the San Joaquin Valley, situated along the line's initial route through California's Central Valley. The train will travel at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour, delivering passengers from San Francisco to LA in less than three hours when finished by 2029. California eventually plans to extend high-speed rail service north to Sacramento and south to San Diego, with a total of 24 stations. The project is expected to cost a total of $68 billion, but could potentially ease road and air traffic, as well as the pollution that comes with it. See the groundbreaking ceremony in the video below, and read more at Engadget or the California High-Speed Rail Authority website. Elon Musk (barely) commented on the Tesla Model 3 during his Reddit AMA. A commenter asked for any new information on the upcoming electric sedan, to which Musk merely replied, "It won't look like other cars." Unfortunately for Tesla fans, the lone comment was the only reference to the electric automaker Musk leads as CEO. The event was full of some really cool space talk, though. Musk also noted he gets an average of six hours of sleep per night, and that showering is the daily habit that impacts his life the most positively. Read the entire AMA at Reddit. Ford outlined its Smart Mobility Plan at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It includes 25 global mobility experiments designed to provide insights into the future of transportation needs around the world. "We see a world where vehicles talk to one another, drivers and vehicles communicate with the city infrastructure to relieve congestion, and people routinely share vehicles or multiple forms of transportation for their daily commute," says Ford President and CEO Mark Fields. The mobility experiments include carsharing programs in Michigan, London, Germany and India, a fast-charging infrastructure experiment, a shuttle service in New York and London and even a cycling focused data program in Palo Alto. Read more at Ford's website. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "Our priority is not in making marketing claims or being in a race for the first autonomous car on the road," Fields said. "Our priority is in making the first Ford autonomous vehicle accessible to the masses and truly enhancing customers' lives.