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Ford Ramps Up Hybrid Transmission Capacity
Ford Motor Co. and its suppliers have spent $220 million to prepare to build an array of more fuel-efficient transmissions that includes the carmaker's new HF35 front-wheel-drive hybrid transaxle.
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Ford Motor Co. and its suppliers have spent $220 million to prepare to build an array of more fuel-efficient transmissions that includes the carmaker's new HF35 front-wheel-drive hybrid transaxle.
The company will use the HF35 in all five of the new hybrid models the company plans to introduce later this year. The lineup includes the Lincoln MKZ hybrid sedan and hybrid and plug-in variants of the C-Max MPV and Fusion sedan.
The new transmission is being built at Ford's updated Van Dyke Transmission plant in Sterling Heights, Mich. The third-generation "power-split" HF35 replaces an earlier hybrid transmission supplied by Toyota Motor Corp. The design integrates a motor/generator set and traction motor with a planetary gearset and final drive differential.
Ford says engineering the HF35 internally cut development cost 20%, largely because the transmission was designed to share components already used in other Ford transaxles. The resulting architecture uses 134 new parts and 43 borrowed components, according to the company.
Ford began developing the HF35 in 2009 under a $125 million program that was 50% funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
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