xcel
05-26-2006, 11:27 PM
Mercury Mariner Hybrid leads the pack. (http://www.greencar.com/index.cfm?content=topstory)
Green Car Journal – June 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Green_Car_Of_The_Year.jpg
It would seem that Carroll Shelby, Mario Andretti, Jean-Michel Cousteau, and the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope would have little in common, given their backgrounds and fairly divergent perspectives. However, their interests converge when it comes to a desire to see vehicle choices that offer higher fuel efficiency and lower environmental impact. Their votes, along with those of other noted jurors including the leaders of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists, weighed in this year to help determine Green Car Journal’s first-ever “2006 Green Car of the Year.”
Presented at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, the award recognizes the one vehicle that’s determined to have made the most significant advancements toward greater environmental performance. By extension, it is also an acknowledgement of the environmental leadership of its manufacturer.
This year’s Green Car of the Year award, determined by a simple majority vote of this jury, is the 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid.
The Mariner Hybrid shows how elegant engineering can be effectively applied toward a troublesome challenge: how to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of one of the most popular vehicle platforms in automotive history, the sport utility vehicle. From the perspective of Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln-Mercury division, the answer was simple. Technology developed for the Ford Escape Hybrid would be seamlessly integrated into a more premium SUV package in the division’s Mercury Mariner sistership. The importance of this was not lost on jurors who recognized that the process is continuing with a Tribute SUV hybrid variant from Mazda, also a Ford brand, and in all likelihood other similar platforms in the Ford family.
Many appreciate the Mariner’s approach since it takes an efficient 133 horsepower, 2.3-liter aluminum block four-cylinder engine and increases its performance to V-6 levels with an integrated 94 hp AC electric traction motor. Its operation is elegant, with the electric motor providing propulsion at times, the internal combustion engine providing power at others, with both propelling the Mariner during periods of high power demand. The combination brings electronically-controlled four-wheel drive with near-zero PZEV (partial zero emission vehicle) emissions levels and an EPA estimated 33 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway.
The Mariner is distinguished from the Escape hybrid in subtle but important ways that reinforce its more premium positioning. Among these touches are color-keyed side cladding, bumpers, and door handles, plus a satin aluminum waterfall grille with refractor headlamps. Matching satin-finished horizontal bars and surrounds are found at the taillamps. Unique 16-inch alloy wheels and subtle road-and-leaf badges further distinguish the hybrid variant. An air vent at the driver’s side rear quarter window directs cool air to the 250 D-size nickel-metal-hydride cells integrated beneath the rear cargo floor area. This battery pack helps power the electric motor and start the internal combustion engine, while a separate 12-volt lead-acid battery powers conventional accessories.
Behind the wheel, a driver hardly notices this high-tech SUV’s transitions from electric to internal combustion power, although it’s hard to ignore the silence of an efficient powertrain that completely shuts down at stops under most circumstances. The small idiosyncrasies that do exist, like this silence and the negative torque that’s felt when the electric motor becomes an electrical generator during coasting and braking, are simply pleasant reminders that technology is making the drive a more efficient and environmentally positive experience.
Mercury’s Mariner Hybrid presents an excellent example of how automakers can create vehicles that are sophisticated, functional, and appealing on many levels...while keeping an eye on enhanced environmental performance. It is a fitting winner of Green Car Journal’s inaugural Green Car of the Year award.
Green Car Journal – June 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Green_Car_Of_The_Year.jpg
It would seem that Carroll Shelby, Mario Andretti, Jean-Michel Cousteau, and the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope would have little in common, given their backgrounds and fairly divergent perspectives. However, their interests converge when it comes to a desire to see vehicle choices that offer higher fuel efficiency and lower environmental impact. Their votes, along with those of other noted jurors including the leaders of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists, weighed in this year to help determine Green Car Journal’s first-ever “2006 Green Car of the Year.”
Presented at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, the award recognizes the one vehicle that’s determined to have made the most significant advancements toward greater environmental performance. By extension, it is also an acknowledgement of the environmental leadership of its manufacturer.
This year’s Green Car of the Year award, determined by a simple majority vote of this jury, is the 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid.
The Mariner Hybrid shows how elegant engineering can be effectively applied toward a troublesome challenge: how to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of one of the most popular vehicle platforms in automotive history, the sport utility vehicle. From the perspective of Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln-Mercury division, the answer was simple. Technology developed for the Ford Escape Hybrid would be seamlessly integrated into a more premium SUV package in the division’s Mercury Mariner sistership. The importance of this was not lost on jurors who recognized that the process is continuing with a Tribute SUV hybrid variant from Mazda, also a Ford brand, and in all likelihood other similar platforms in the Ford family.
Many appreciate the Mariner’s approach since it takes an efficient 133 horsepower, 2.3-liter aluminum block four-cylinder engine and increases its performance to V-6 levels with an integrated 94 hp AC electric traction motor. Its operation is elegant, with the electric motor providing propulsion at times, the internal combustion engine providing power at others, with both propelling the Mariner during periods of high power demand. The combination brings electronically-controlled four-wheel drive with near-zero PZEV (partial zero emission vehicle) emissions levels and an EPA estimated 33 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway.
The Mariner is distinguished from the Escape hybrid in subtle but important ways that reinforce its more premium positioning. Among these touches are color-keyed side cladding, bumpers, and door handles, plus a satin aluminum waterfall grille with refractor headlamps. Matching satin-finished horizontal bars and surrounds are found at the taillamps. Unique 16-inch alloy wheels and subtle road-and-leaf badges further distinguish the hybrid variant. An air vent at the driver’s side rear quarter window directs cool air to the 250 D-size nickel-metal-hydride cells integrated beneath the rear cargo floor area. This battery pack helps power the electric motor and start the internal combustion engine, while a separate 12-volt lead-acid battery powers conventional accessories.
Behind the wheel, a driver hardly notices this high-tech SUV’s transitions from electric to internal combustion power, although it’s hard to ignore the silence of an efficient powertrain that completely shuts down at stops under most circumstances. The small idiosyncrasies that do exist, like this silence and the negative torque that’s felt when the electric motor becomes an electrical generator during coasting and braking, are simply pleasant reminders that technology is making the drive a more efficient and environmentally positive experience.
Mercury’s Mariner Hybrid presents an excellent example of how automakers can create vehicles that are sophisticated, functional, and appealing on many levels...while keeping an eye on enhanced environmental performance. It is a fitting winner of Green Car Journal’s inaugural Green Car of the Year award.