Our customer target for this powerful masculine sedan was a man with a family. He’s essentially a good guy, but a bit mischievous. He loves power and performance. But ultimately, he’s responsible. When he has his family on board, he values new safety technology as well as a powerful engine that runs on E-85 ethanol.
—Peter Horbury, executive director—Design, The Americas

They need a new spokes person that is not as ridiculous.

Damn you Ford! For years the only flex-fuel vehicles you and GM made where gas guzzling pickups and SUVs. Now you finally figure out that maybe people want to buy more than trucks and you offer a sedan, but not a fusion, or better yet, Focus, but this monstrocity!

Something that will get no better mileage than the damned SUV!

This is the reason why Detroit is falling apart!

They focus on size and power when Americans are finally realizing they can be happy with small, fuel efficient models.

Just look at diesel!

Ford and GM only put it in giant trucks, while Honda and Toyota will offer diesel in small cars by 2009. Toyota even promises a diesel hybrid!

These guys are so fucking behind the curve its no wonder there market share is slipping.

They just can't seem to see the future of automotive technology!

Hell! Even GM's Fuelcell boondoggle is an SUV!

In fairness, Toyota did come out with the Highlander hybrid and then used the V6 and not the 4 cyclinder they offer. This is just a show car. I think they get it and got it back in 1999 with PNGV, but slipped up when the margins for large SUVs were just too tempting.

OMFG!! This is soooo lame

PS: appropriately, the vehicle photo was taken near a junkyard where it hastily burned the last drop from its E85 tankful.

Toyota is bringing the Corolla hybrid out soon. Plus its bringing the Supra back ($30k) and a High end lexus($100k) model of the supra out. The just can't find enough space to build more of a product line.

This is a concept car. The only other Interceptor FMC builds is the Crown Vic cop car. This is a four-door gas hog sold all over the world to police departments that waste tax money on big sedans that spend most of their time in stop and go traffic or idling at a speed trap. They want the HP V8 to chase down bad guys even though just about the only time they use the power of the engine is hot-dogging runs to the donut shop. Speeders can't outrun the radio, after all.

They say they need to leave the engine running all the time to keep the radios and AC working, even though a gen set and a couple of extra batteries would do the job. Some departments 'hot sheet' the cars and don't shut them off except for during monthly shop checks. So anything that cuts down on fossil fuel use in this niche market is a good idea.

Congratulations Ford for seeing the light before GM, DCX, and all the Asian OEMs. People like to buy high performance vehicles. The success of the Mustang is proof of this. This phenomenon isn’t going away anytime soon and is apparently only getting “started” again after a 30-year hiatus.

Unfortunately, E85 will never be viable as a fuel for the masses, as long as oil companies, their distributors, and their jobbers are controlling the price of it. With the exception of the very few people out there that are truly environmentally conscientious, and the even fewer people that will pay more for fuel just so their money isn’t sent to the Middle East or Venezuela, E85 will never be justifiable for normal passenger cars or trucks. The fact is that it costs more money, sometimes significantly more money, to run a flexfuel vehicle on E85 as compared to gasoline and more E85 infrastructure won’t necessarily fix that.

If you live in an area where E85 is priced such that the additional 20 to 30% more fuel you need is offset by the lower fuel cost, I wouldn’t get too used to it if I were you. As soon as the oil companies buy-up our national capacity to produce Ethanol so they can make E10 (no more cancer-causing, power-robbing, MTBE thank you), E85 prices will start to rise due to supply and demand, and so will the costs for the stock to make it (food-grade or otherwise).

The only vehicles that are likely to use E85 exclusively will be the high performance vehicles that need the additional octane (up to 105 R+M/2). Where I live, 104 octane unleaded racing fuel is $5.50 per gallon, E85 is $3.50, and regular unleaded gasoline is $2.18. Engines with high static compression ratios (10:1+), turbocharged, or supercharged engines, can be tuned to have considerably increased power output on E85 compared to even 94 octane unleaded gasoline. Naturally-aspirated low compression engines see very little power improvement on E85 despite the additional 20 to 30% additional fuel used and most of those drivers don’t care about small power gains. If high performance vehicles must be part of our future (and they will be, whether we like it or not) then let them run on E85. After all, they do use a lot of fuel.

By the way, most flexfuel vehicles on the road today, especially from Ford, are passenger cars and small trucks, not big trucks and SUVs (http://e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php).

It looks cool.
It is obviously a fuel hog, so why not put a 3L diesel engine in it.
If you did, you might get 20mpg (US) and reasonable performance.
It would give it another slant as a show car.

While voicing frustration is fine, but NO R RATED EXPLICATIVES.
_This is a concept car, one that may, or may not make it to market. The point is to show off, and generate buzz. It is also for garnering responses from potential consumers, to which the company can respond to. If the public rejects it, they only used millions - not hundreds of million to billions - for a oneoff design.
_As for the seatbelt design, if it is convenient, inexpensive, and reliable I would like to see it in all vehicles.

There is a kit to convert port injected autos
to allow from E0 to E100 to be used.
It senses the fuel and lengthens the injection
pulse for more ethanol.

"Vidar-Abcesso Exp.Imp.Com.Ltda"
of Brazil.
[email protected]

This is pritty much a concept cop car.

Anyone who has been a cop or knows em personaly knows exactly why a cop car is generaly that size.

Also one of the ther maoney makers is musclecars for those who like to drive em and so ford will ensure they can make muscle cars after oil runs out.

Hey terry, obviously you have no idea about being a cop. Most hybrids would not stand up to the wear and tear of police work. I do agree that more could be done for police agencies to lessen their dependence on fossil fuels. And buy the way i don;t leave my cruiser running all the time, and I don;t eat donuts. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.