FMC’s Driving Green Tech Event in Detroit, MI-

Ford Motor Company’s “Driving Green” media event kicked off last Sunday, January 9th, in Detroit, MI for the North American International Auto show (NAIAS) and we at GEN had the exciting opportunity to be part of all the action. After arriving to the hotel to drop off our belongings on Sunday evening, we were shuttled over to the Detroit Institute of Art for cocktails and dinner with 100 of our fellow bloggers from around the globe. After a brief speech from Mr. Ford, and a bit of perusing around the beautiful art displays, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Day two was much more eventful, as we were driven to COBO Hall for Ford’s exclusive press conference and the NAIAS preview event. Ford’s brand new gas-efficient cars with eco-boost technology, the 100 percent electric Focus four door compact car and Transit Connect commercial van, and plug-in hybrid models were unveiled at the conference. The company also highlighted their electrification strategy, in which it plans to offer a diverse collection of EVs and hybrid models in North America by 2012 and Europe by 2013. Video below was streamed live from our smartphone, so please pardon the poor quality. Better footage from our professional HD camera will be released shortly.

The NAIAS show was just as action packed as the press conference, if not moreso, with auto makers like Inizio raising the bar for electrified vehicles. This all-electric supercar boasts a top speed of 170 MPH and a whopping range of 250 miles per charge. Price tag is a little steep, around $139,000 to be exact, so Ford’s Transit Connect is probably more in-line with our budget… for now. Thanks to some great contacts we made at the show, a test drive of the Inizio is in the works. We also had a chance to chat with Chevy Volt Communications Manager, Robert Peterson, and will be posting the video as soon as possible. In the interview, he discusses what sets the “extended-range vehicle” apart from hybrid models available today. Test drive of the Volt will be coming soon as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t get an opportunity to test drive the electric Focus yet, but we will continue pestering Scott Monty with Ford’s Global Digital Communications team until he sends us over a model on the west coast to try out.

A couple interesting things to note about Ford’s sustainability efforts in auto manufacturing is their use of renewable and recycled materials in their upcoming models, from biodegradable plastic parts to post-consumer recycled seats. Batteries from EVs are even recycled or sold on the used auto parts market when possible. After all the madness of the media conference and auto exhibit, we ended with night with an especially fun and entertaining dinner at the Motor City Casino Hotel’s Iridescence Restaurant. Day three began with an early breakfast at the hotel, then a bus ride over to Ford’s River Rouge Factory and green roof tour. We were especially pleased to see the vast number of people who are employed by the company to help ensure the safety and quality of each automobile, rather than a lineup of robots which are traditionally used by other automakers. An interesting fact we learned: the Dearborn plant rolls out one Ford F-150 every minute! Despite the fact that large trucks like the F-150 don’t use gas sparingly, its good to see that Ford is continuing to develop better engines, like the eco-boost, which ensure the most “bang for your buck” in terms of fuel economy. And until America develops a better grid infrastructure and more efficient EV batteries, gas guzzlers are going to continue to prevail in the market. During the green roof tour we couldn’t see much because of the treacherous weather outside, but we learned that the 10.4-acre “living roof” garden actually helps to reduce the amount of storm water pollution flowing into the neighboring Rouge River. After the plant tour, we were bussed over to Ford’s test drive track a few miles away, but weren’t able to test drive any of the cars due to heavy snowfall outside. We did, however, get to hear from Ford’s Global VP of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, Sue Cischke, where she explained the basics of the company’s sustainability strategy and answered a few questions from fellow journalists. One thing that impressed me about Ford is their new strategy to reach the masses through social media. They explained that people just don’t trust large companies anymore, and with good reason. So rather than promoting their new vehicle lineup through slanted news corporations like Fox, Ford is letting the public decide for themselves through everyday bloggers like GEN. We really look forward to hearing what the other bloggers thought about the whole experience, and hopefully connecting with Ford again for their future green car technology exhibits and events. Thanks to Ford and the gang for taking such good care of us!

Ford Motor Company paid for our travel and accommodations at the 2-day Driving Green Technology event, however we were not compensated in any other manner for our time. Opinions posted in this article are our own.