Ford Makes Room for Sustainable Role

This summer Ford sent out 100 employees and executives to meet people, answer questions and spread the word about the company's plans for the future.

I was lucky enough to meet Sue Cischke, Ford Group Vice President, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering when she brought a 2010 Taurus to San Francisco for some test drives and took time to meet local bloggers. By their very nature – petroleum-fueled, oil-needing, tire-requiring -- cars seem like the opposite of a sustainable, green choice for transportation: a necessary evil in our car-centric worlds. It was fascinating, then, to learn that Ford has a senior executive level role dedicated to sustainability and to hear about their ongoing efforts to give cars, and the business of making cars, a lighter, brighter environmental footprint.

Tonic: Tell us about your role at Ford.

SC: I lead the Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering group. As Group Vice President, I’m involved in decision making at the highest levels of the company. What this means is that sustainability is an important part of our business strategy — it’s literally part of everything we do.

Tonic: What are some of Ford's sustainability efforts?

SC: We have short-term plans and long term plans that take us through 2050. We have a goal of reducing our vehicle CO emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

We are investing in technology and research on several fronts to get us there: alternative fuels, electric vehicles, double hybrids, new materials that can make cars lighter so they get better mileage, and getting better fuel economy through technology like the new Ecoboost, which gives the you improved gas mileage while still giving you great power.

The key to real change is scalability. For example, because the Ecoboost works on an internal combustion engine, it’s something we can implement now, across a great number of vehicles, generating a net reduction of CO2 that is much greater than just from the use of hybrid or electric vehicles.

That will transition as more vehicles that use alternative fuels are produced, but for right now making the internal combustion engine as efficient as possible is one of the best ways to reduce emissions, on a global scale.

Tonic: So how does someone who wants to get a new car figure out which car is the most responsible and sustainable choice for them?

SC: It depends on several things. First, what type of driving are you doing? If you’re in the city, doing a lot of stop and go, then a hybrid is probably a good choice. If you do a lot of highway driving, then you may get better gas mileage with an internal combustion engine.

As more electric vehicles are produced, obviously they will be more appealing to someone who lives near a charging station.

Something else to consider is how and where the car is made – what the practices are of the manufacturer are --  and what it’s made of. It's important to remember this is part of the whole picture, in addition to fuel efficiency.

At Ford we're always looking for ways to reduce the amount of water and electricity we use. The roof our Rouge Complex factory in Michigan has the world's second largest green roof!

We also are investing in renewable resources. So we now can make seat foam from soy beans instead of petrochemicals. Fabrics are made from bamboo or recycled soda bottles. The quality is still high, but the impact on the environment is greatly reduced.

Tonic: People need their cars, but what can they do in their day to day lives to be more sustainable drivers?

SC: You can learn to drive more efficiently! On the Ford Driving Skills for Life, we have a list of 10 things you can do to improve your fuel efficiency by almost 25 percent!

Also, many new cars, like the Ford Fusion, have smart gauges that give you extra-feedback so you can make adjustments in real time.  When you drive efficiently, there's a graphic of leaves that grow on a vine. When you’re less efficient, you loose leaves. I drive the Milan Hybrid, and I love seeing the leaves grow on the dashboard!

Tonic: What are your thoughts on how we can encourage children to start thinking about sustainability?

SC: I think they do it naturally. They're geared toward sustainability already. With the Driving Skills for Life program, we're talking to kids as early as possible about the whole package – not just safety, but responsibility. We can look to them for motivation, and we can encourage them make it second nature.

Photo courtesy of Ford.