Ford Motor Company is going back to its roots (soybeans specifically) and is now further investing in more eco-friendly materials and products for automobile parts - interior components front to back, seat cushions and fabrics, underbody and impact shields, headliners, trunk liners, etc.
Here are current biobased products already in their cars:
- Soy-based polyurethane foams on the seat cushions and seat backs, now in production on the Ford Mustang, Expedition, F-150, Focus, Escape, Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner and Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln MKS. Soy-foam headliner on the 2010 Escape and Mariner.
- 100% post-industrial recycled yarns in seat fabrics for the 2008 Ford Escape. 85% post-industrial yarns and 15 percent solution died yarns for the 2010 Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids.
- The 2010 Ford Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKZ utilize seat fabrics made from 100% post-consumer recycled yarns from plastic pop bottles.
- Underbody systems, such as aerodynamic shields, splash shields, and radiator air deflector shields, made from post-consumer recycled resins such as detergent bottles, tires and battery casings for 2008 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products. For the 2009 model year, all North American products will use the recycled resin.
- Engineered (and recycled) ebony wood on Lincoln products. For 2010, the Lincoln MKZ will also offer interior leathers tanned with a more earth-friendly, chromium-free process.
On the horizon are corn-based, compostable and natural-fiber filled plastics as a potential substitute for glass fibers; polylactic acid (PLA) plastic; soy protein fillers in rubber for items such as door seals, floor mats, gaskets and splash shields; experimentation with nanotechnology, including nano-filler materials in metal and plastic composites to reduce weight while increasing strength.
For more information on Ford's soybean history check out this excerpt from my 2007 story on greener automobiles:
GREEN CAR SPROUTS IN '41What's old... is new again
AUGUST 13, 1941 - The first plastic-bodied car mostly made from agriculture-based raw materials was unveiled in Dearborn, Michigan, US, by Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.
Dubbed the Soybean Car, it weighed 1,000 lbs less than the average steel car and was said to be Ford's dream of combining the transportation and agriculture industries, as well as trying to reduce costs caused by the shortage of metal at that time.
"The plastic, which was invented by chemist Robert Allen Boyer, was made out of a formulation of soybeans, wheat, cotton, hides, plus a few imported, now hard-to-get ingredients such as cork, rubber, tung oil and ramie - formerly used to wrap Egyptian mummies," reported Time magazine in its August 1941 article.
At that time, Ford was also developing soybean fiber for use in auto upholstery, according to a September 1941 article by ICIS Chemical Business predecessor Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter. "Considerable progress has been made in the development of the fiber which is spun from pure protein extracted from soybean oil," Donald Ramseyer, plant superintendent of Ford's soybean enterprises said in the article.
The Soybean Car did not make it into commercial production, with the outbreak of World War II, according to the Benson Ford Research Center. The project was reportedly abandoned as the company's energy was diverted toward war, and later on, war recovery efforts.
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