2004 Ford Excursion Diesel Eddie Bauer 6.0l on 2040-cars

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Daily Driver: 2015 Ford Flex

The Ford Flex has been around. It's not T-Rex or even Model T old, but still; it's been hauling people and stuff since 2008 without a major redesign. That's quite a long time in the car world. Sales have been sliding the last couple of years, and the Flex is now considered a niche player in the crossover-centric US auto market. But that doesn't mean it's still not a pretty good vehicle for its purpose: If you need to haul people and stuff, there are few better choices. Some even think it's a guilty pleasure. I spent a winter afternoon tooling around suburban Detroit in a handsomely equipped Flex Limited. We're talking the 3.5-liter EcoBoosted V6 with 365 horsepower and all-wheel drive. Inside, there were big comfy seats, lots of leather, acres of storage space and even a built-in refrigerator. The drive ended up being surprisingly fun. If there's such a thing as a hot-rod minivan, this is it. I also got noticed. The Flex's boxy design has aged well. It's still polarizing, but there aren't many contemporary vehicles that look like a Flex. So if you've ever seen a Flex on the road, and thought: "Man, that thing is big. I wonder what it's like to drive that?" Now's your chance to find out.

Recharge Wrap-up: DriveNow in Brussels, DOE funds H2 projects

The DriveNow carsharing service – a joint venture between BMW and Sixt – has expanded to Brussels, Belgium. In addition, 20 percent of the entire DriveNow fleet is now made up of electric vehicles, and more than 150,000 of the service's 600,000-plus customers have had their first EV driving experience through DriveNow. Users in most of the 10 cities in which the program operates have access to the BMW i3, which have been part of the fleet since 2013. Read more from Green Car Congress. The US Department of Energy (DOE) is providing more than $13 million in funding for the advancement of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The DOE's Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability (FC-PAD) will help fund projects from General Motors, 3M, the United Technologies Research Center, and Vanderbilt University to reduce the use of platinum and increase the performance and durability of fuel cells. The DOE's Hydrogen Materials—Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC) is funding hydrogen storage projects by Argonne National Laboratory, Penn State, University of Hawaii, Manoa, and University of Missouri, St. Louis. Read more from the DOE. The Advanced Diesel-Electric Powertrain (ADEPT) program's 48-volt lead-carbon battery will help next-generation cars meet future emissions requirements. ADEPT, of which Ricardo, Ford, and the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) are partners, will present its results at the Cenex LCV2016 low-carbon vehicle conference at Millbrook on September 14 and 15. The "intelligent electrification" mild hybrid system will be showcased in a Ford Focus demonstration car. The system provides fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions benefits comparable to that of a full hybrid diesel powertrain, but at a lower cost. In addition to the lead-carbon battery (which is lithium-free and easily recyclable), the mild hybrid powertrain uses a Ford ECOnetic 1.5TDCi engine, advanced belt starter generator, and Turbine Integrated exhaust Gas Energy Recovery System (TIGERS). Read more in the press release below. Hybrid vehicle with 48V advanced lead carbon battery on path to meet future ultra-low emissions targets · ADEPT programme aims to demonstrate technology capable of providing near full-hybrid equivalent fuel economy at significantly lower cost · UltraBattery® advanced lead-carbon battery pack, provides a high power, high endurance, easily recyclable, lithium-free low-cost energy storage solution.

Ford highlights new F-650 and F-750 with full-size Tonka show truck [w/videos]

Who among us hasn't been tempted by the prospect of buying a big yellow truck and painting the name Tonka along the side? Well apparently there were some folks over at Ford who were just as tempted, only they actually had the means to make that childhood fantasy a reality in the form of the truck you see here. Revealed at the NTEA Work Truck Show this week in Indianapolis, this Tonka show truck stands nearly 10 feet tall. It's painted bright yellow, just like the one you played with in the sand box (and probably still would given the opportunity and maybe no one else looking) and has a blacked-out nose treatment and special graphics. As you can see, it's also equipped with a working dump bed, and has a truly staggering 33,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating, built to showcase the Blue Oval's new line of medium duty trucks. Of course "medium duty" is a relative term, and the new F-750 is clearly a heavier piece of machinery than the company's own Super Duty pickups, but they're lighter-duty than a proper big rig. The new 2016 Ford F-650 and F-750 are just as tough as the models they replace, but they're now quieter and more comfortable to use. In fact, Ford says its 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 diesel is now 25-percent quieter inside the cabin at highway speeds, 45-percent quieter at idle and 35-percent quieter standing outside in front of the grille. Ford notes that it's the only medium-duty truck manufacturer that makes its own engines and transmissions. That Power Stroke diesel comes with 270 horsepower and 675 pound-feet of torque as standard, but can be upgraded to 300 hp and 700 lb-ft or all the way up to 330 hp and 725 lb-ft. Commercial buyers will also be able to choose between Regular, Super and Crew Cab models with a straight-frame, dock-height or tractor-towing frames, meaning that whatever it is you've got to haul, chances are high that the new Ford F-650 and F-750 can be set up to get the job done.