- Adjustable
cargo floorboard in all-new Ford EcoSport, made of high-strength
100 percent recycled paper honeycomb, helps compact SUV customers –
committed to going small and living big – do more with less
-
Constructed from all-natural paper and water-based glue, six-pound
honeycomb floorboard is both eco-friendly and strong enough to handle
nearly 700 pounds of cargo
-
Technology derived from honeybees – first introduced in household door
manufacturing 50 years ago – is now used in automotive and furniture
design, as well as packaging
Company Website:
http://corporate.ford.com/
DEARBORN, Mich. -- (Business Wire)
Honeybees didn’t actually create the four-way parcel shelf for the
all-new EcoSport cargo area, but they did lend their design to the
recycled paper honeycomb material that gives the shelf its unusual
strength.
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Adjustable cargo floorboard in all-new Ford EcoSport, made of high-strength 100 percent recycled paper honeycomb, helps compact SUV customers do more with less (Photo: Business Wire)
“The hexagonal design of honeycomb is a testament to nature’s
ingenuity,” says Mike Mazzella, Ford EcoSport assistant chief engineer.
“Not only is it strong, it’s superlight. Customers can slide the shelf
into multiple different slots like an oven rack; even store it on the
back of the seats. It helps make EcoSport super-flexible in everyday
use.”
Honeycomb is one of several useful details that make the fun, capable
and connected EcoSport an engineering and design powerhouse – a highly
functional package in a vehicle just smaller than Ford Escape. The
adjustable floorboard will debut as an all-new feature when EcoSport
arrives early next year.
Genius of nature
Resin-reinforced honeycomb has a truly phenomenal strength-to-weight
ratio, underscoring EcoSport’s capability to go small but live big. The
shelf weighs a scant six pounds, yet it is rated to handle nearly 700
pounds across a 38.5-inch by 25.25-inch surface. In other words, this
slip of a shelf can hold innumerable combinations of heavy items, like
five bags of concrete mix (94 pounds each), four large bags of top soil
(40 pounds each) and eight individual gallons of water (just a little
more than eight pounds each).
For years, honeycomb has been used to create the strong structure under
the skins employed in high-end sporting equipment like skis, as well as
aerospace frames. To create the adjustable floorboard for the all-new
Ford EcoSport, a layer of hexagon-shaped cells made of 100 percent
recycled paper and water-based glue is sandwiched between two layers of
composite material. It’s able to hold more than 100 times its six pound
weight in cargo.
Configure it your way
The parcel shelf can hold any of four positions in the cargo area to
best suit a driver’s needs:
-
In the lowest position, it serves as a load floor for maximum storage
-
In the middle position, it creates a secure storage area beneath the
floorboard
-
In the high position, the area underneath increases to create a cargo
floor that lines up with the fold-flat second-row seats
-
Removed and stored vertically against the back of the second-row seats
About Ford Motor Company
Ford
Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company
based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 201,000 employees and 62 plants
worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing,
manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks
and SUVs, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. To expand its business
model, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities with
investments in electrification, autonomy and mobility. Ford provides
financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more
information regarding Ford and its products and services, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and
video, visit www.media.ford.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170220005561/en/
Contacts:
Ford Motor Company
Becky Sanch, 313.594.4410
bsanch@ford.com
Source: Ford Motor Company
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