What impact does a new vehicle have on air quality over its life time? How much noise will it make when it passes people standing on the street? Ford of Europe engineers say they considered in detail these and a wide range of other ‘sustainability’ issues when developing the new Galaxy and S-Max minivan models which will be sold primarily in Europe.
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Using a new tool, called the Product Sustainability Index (PSI), the automaker is taking a leading role within the automotive industry by addressing the environmental, social and economic impact of its vehicles from the earliest stages of their development.
“Ford is committed to continue making mobility more sustainable. The scale of the challenge means that it’s not enough to introduce two or three new environmental products and leave it at that. We need fundamentally to reassess the way we do business, putting sustainability at the heart of everything we do. That requires nothing less than a complete and radical change of mindset – and not only for Ford but for the whole motor industry,” said Ford of Europe vice president, product development, Joe Bakaj.
“Our PSI demonstrates what we mean with change of mindset. It’s the innovative combination of a comprehensive range of sustainability criteria and their integration into our product development process right from the beginning, which makes Ford’s PSI exceptional,” he added.
Ford’s PSI tracks eight product attributes identified as key sustainability elements of a vehicle. These are: life cycle global warming potential (mainly carbon dioxide emissions), life cycle air quality potential (other air emissions), the use of sustainable materials (recycled and renewable materials), vehicle interior air quality (including TÜV allergy certification), exterior noise impact (drive-by noise), safety (for occupants and pedestrians), mobility capability (seat and luggage capacity relative to vehicle size) and life cycle ownership costs (full costs for the customer over the first three years).
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By GlobalDataThese metrics echo the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability and Ford’s holistic approach. In an external study, conducted by independent experts in the area of life cycle science and sustainability, Professor Dr Hunkeler (formerly of the Universities of Vanderbilt in Nashville, USA and Lausanne, Switzerland) and Professor Dr Kloepffer (University of Mainz, Germany), Ford’s PSI has been evaluated as a step which aims to provide a full sustainability assessment and as being compliant with ISO 14040, the international Life Cycle Assessment standard.
The PSI provides a basis for permanent evaluation and improved sustainability performance for new generations of vehicles. Consequently, both the S-Max and Galaxy show improved performance when compared to the previous Galaxy model in all three sustainability areas: environmental, social and economic performance.
For instance, more recycled and renewable materials have been used, life cycle air emissions have been significantly reduced and, at the same time, safety performance has been improved while life cycle cost of ownership has been reduced.
As another example, following the Focus and Focus C-Max, the new S-MAX and Galaxy models have also been awarded the TÜV Rhineland Group’s “Allergy-Tested Interior” seal of approval.
For a company to receive the award, TÜV experts must certify that the car’s interior materials were selected in order to reduce the risk of allergic reaction to the lowest possible level. Ford is the only manufacturer to offer vehicles that have received this TÜV certification and plans to get as many existing and future models as possible certified according to the stringent TÜV criteria.
“Sustainable development is one of the key issues facing society in the 21st century, ” said Ford of Europe vice president, governmental and environmental affairs, Wolfgang Schneider.
“Ford’s Product Sustainability Index (PSI) is a groundbreaking new approach of how the vision of sustainability can be made operational and it will help us to move further towards making mobility more sustainable. However, it is also clear that to appropriately address the enormous challenge that sustainable mobility implies, society will increasingly need integrated approaches in future where all stakeholders in the transport sector share in their contributions . We are all part of the problem, and we are all part of the solution,” he added.
