In 2006, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors all promised to double annual FFV production to 2 million vehicles by 2010. Ford has announced that by the end of 2010, they will fulfill that promise.
In a letter that was addressed to Members of Congress on June 28, 2006, the automobile manufacturers stated:
When we met with leaders in Washington last month, we were encouraged to find deep, bipartisan determination to address the far reaching impact of our nation’s growing dependence on foreign oil. As we reiterated last month, we believe renewable fuels can play an important role in addressing this national problem. The good news is that ethanol and other biofuels are well known to our country and to the U.S. auto industry. For decades, farmers in the heartland have been turning corn into fuel, and, likewise, we at DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors have been building flexible vehicles that run on ethanol.
Today, there are more than 5 million flexible fuel vehicles on the road, and the three domestic automotive companies will add an additional million cars and trucks this year alone. If all of these vehicles were running on E85, they would displace more than 3.5 billion gallons of gasoline a year, or a full year of gas consumption in a state such as Missouri or Tennessee.
But we are prepared to do more. We are proud to announce that we will double our production of vehicles that are capable of running on renewable fuels by 2010. That’s more than two million E85 and biodiesel capable vehicles a year by the end of the decade – the single largest commitment to renewable fuels in our nation’s history.
Ford’s announcement was made today by Sue Cischke, Ford’s group vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, at the 2010 BIO International Convention in Chicago. “Flexible-fuel vehicles are a great alternative for our customers because they provide owners with the option to choose between using E85 and gasoline when filling up a car,” Cischke said. “Ethanol and other biofuels also help reduce the county’s dependence on imported oil.”
Ford along with DaimlerChrysler and General Motors plans to expand its fleet of flexible-fuel vehicles to 50 percent of vehicle production by 2012.
Ford currently offers 11 FFV models within the U.S.