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2020 Ford Explorer Didn't Need Aluminum To Shave Weight


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2 hours ago, rperez817 said:

In terms of benefits to customers of mass produced cars and trucks and to automakers' bottom line, that is correct.

silvrsvt posted a good article on Ford's use of a variety of steels with different microstructures on 2020 Escape. Like 2020 Explorer, new Escape uses a smart "mixed materials" strategy. http://fordauthority.com/2019/07/2020-ford-escape-uses-different-types-of-steel-and-boron/

If this is true then Ford either didn’t foresee the future or they really laid an egg. 

The aluminum body is what separates the Ford products from the lesser make by a mile. 

The other thing is the EcoBoost power. General Motors and Ram are 5 years minimum behind Ford in my opinion with Ram really resting on the interior of its trucks to gain market share. 

The oldest of the three (Ford) is still leaps and bounds ahead (again in my opinion) in the areas that are tough like power train and body structure. 

I don’t know of any airplanes that are made from steel anymore to save weight. 

If anything there is a threshold of vehicle size that makes aluminum a great and viable body material. 

The Ford and Lincoln aluminum full-size SUV’s are eating into GM’s dominance of the category. 

This is a “Trump” card pun fully intended. 

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1 hour ago, Stray Kat said:

If this is true then Ford either didn’t foresee the future or they really laid an egg. 

Probably both. Using an aluminum intensive body is the easy, low effort route to mass reduction. But it's expensive. Ford's profitability has been negatively affected by this strategy for F-Series and some other models. https://www.autoblog.com/2018/01/24/ford-profits-hurt-aluminum-costs/

Additionally, in the past 5 years alone, technological advancements with other materials such as steels, plastics, composites, etc. along with computer aided design and prototyping have been dramatic. Mixed materials strategy requires more engineering effort up front. But it's worth it. That's how Ford was able to achieve mass reduction targets for 2020 Explorer and Escape, yet at the same time keeping costs in line especially over the long term.

Edited by rperez817
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Knowing why Ford does and doesn't use aluminum is the key to understanding why only the heaviest of
Ford's vehicles use it

Aluminum was essential to Ford being able to build as many 4x4 Crew cab F150s as customers could order
and still meet CAFE, the difference in weight before/after aluminum, allowed it to load even more accessories
into the new truck (Moon Roof). Carrying that aluminum construction across the rest of F Series and including
Expedition/Navigator just increased scale of economy.

You'll notice that the new Explorer increased its wheelbase by almost seven inches without any weight penalty
Not only did that  change improve  space efficiency, it also changed the CAFE "footprint" of Explorer/Aviator
giving both more breathing space in regards to the minimum fuel economy required.

Edited by jpd80
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11 hours ago, jpd80 said:

You'll notice that the new Explorer increased its wheelbase by almost seven inches without any weight penalty
Not only did that  change improve  space efficiency, it also changed the CAFE "footprint" of Explorer/Aviator
giving both more breathing space in regards to the minimum fuel economy required.

I was under the impression that the overall vehicle size affected CAFE, not wheelbase-the new Explorer is roughly the same size as the old one-I think it might be 2 inches longer now?

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8 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

I was under the impression that the overall vehicle size affected CAFE, not wheelbase-the new Explorer is roughly the same size as the old one-I think it might be 2 inches longer now?

The "footprint" is in sq ft and defined as the Track x wheelbase, not body Length x body width.

 

 

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