Ford Begins Making New 1.5-Liter EcoBoost Engine

This month Ford Motor Co. will begin building the latest member of its EcoBoost family of turbocharged engines, a 1.5-liter gasoline powerplant, in Craiova, Romania, later this month.

The new engine will be publicly introduced next weekend when Ford unveils its redesigned Mondeo sedan at the Shanghai auto show. The engine also will be used in the 2014 Fusion midsize sedan that goes on sale in the U.S. later this year.

Ford has not disclosed power specs for the new engine. But it predicts few owners will be able to tell the difference, except in efficiency, between the new 1.5-liter powerplant and the company's existing 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-banger. The latter engine makes 178 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque.

Like other EcoBoost designs, it uses direct injection, turbocharging, twin cams and variable valve timing to improve fuel efficiency as much as 20% compared with previous-generation engines.

The 1.5-liter engine is the first in Ford's portfolio to use a computer-controlled clutch on the water pump to reduce engine warm-up time.

By year-end Ford expects to produce EcoBoost engines at a rate of 1.6 million units per year at six plants in Asia, Europe and North America. The new 1.5-liter engine joins 1.0-, 1.6-, 2.0- and 3.5-liter powerplants in the EcoBoost family.