• New production line for all-new Ford EcoBlue diesel engine expected to cut energy and water use by 50 per cent for each engine built at Ford’s Dagenham Engine Plant

• Annual savings could fill seven Olympic-size swimming pools, power 350,000 homes for a week.

• Ford targets 30 per cent greenhouse gas reduction per vehicle between 2010 and 2025 globally; achieved 30 per cent global water use reduction between 2009 and 2015

BRENTWOOD, Essex, Aug. 4, 2016 – The new Ford EcoBlue diesel engine production line at Dagenham Engine Plant will reduce water and energy consumption by over 50 per cent.

The new state-of-the-art production line is expected to reduce water and energy consumption per engine produced by more than 50 per cent compared with its predecessor.

Dagenham Engine Plant is Ford’s largest diesel engine production facility globally, and produced the first EcoBlue diesel engine in April this year. Water usage per engine will be among the lowest at any Ford manufacturing facility worldwide, delivering an anticipated annual saving of 17.5 million litres of water compared with 2011 – enough to fill seven Olympic-size swimming pools.

EcoBlue engine production capacity will initially be up to 350,000 units per year – one engine produced every 30sec. The second phase of engine production is scheduled to start in 2017, with the first installation in Ford cars planned for 2018. The added capacity of up to 150,000 units for this phase brings the total annual capacity for the all-new engine range to half a million units.

The all-new 2.0-litre Ford EcoBlue diesel engine debuts in the new Ford Transit and Transit Custom commercial vehicles, delivering an unrivalled package of fuel efficiency, performance and refinement. The engine’s clean-sheet design features friction-reducing innovations that contribute to a 13 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency.

The reduction in the volume of coolant pumped around the facility also helps to significantly reduce energy usage. Three smaller coolant systems require around 70 per cent less energy, and contribute to reducing energy use per engine from 188 kWh in 2011 to 92 kWh in 2016 – the energy saved is roughly enough to power an average house for a week.

A new LED lighting installation at Dagenham meets the latest Ford standards and will further help reduce energy consumption by almost 750,000 kWh per year – roughly enough to power 7,500 houses for a week.

Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) machining tools – which replace high volumes of coolant with fine mists of oil to cool, lubricate and clean during the metal working process – use 99.8 per cent less water than the machining tools they replace, and alone are expected to account for an annual water saving of almost 16 million litres.

“Ever since Henry Ford first introduced the moving assembly line Ford has been at the forefront of manufacturing innovation, and our new Dagenham facility is no exception,” said Linda Cash, vice president, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe. “Ford is using the latest technologies to ensure our all-new EcoBlue diesel engine production meets the highest standards for sustainability and makes a significant contribution to our global environmental targets.”

Ford is targeting a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) per vehicle produced between 2010 and 2025 globally, and looks to further reduce the amount of water used per vehicle, having achieved its goal of a 30 per cent reduction between 2009 and 2015.

The new Ford EcoBlue production line in Dagenham makes a significant contribution to achieving Ford’s global targets and is helping to shape future objectives through its example.

Further energy and resource saving initiatives at Ford’s Dagenham Diesel Centre include:

• Zero waste sent to landfill through innovations such as recovering oil and forming reusable metallic briquettes from grinding sludge
• New cold testing technology that allows completed engines to be tested without being started – saving 50,000 litres of diesel per year
• Advanced tooling, including computerised milling machines capable of reducing rejection rates for some components to almost zero

The Dagenham estate is also home to the Dagenham Diesel Centre, which produces small-capacity diesel engines, and is also where the new EcoBlue diesel engine was designed and engineered.

Ford EcoBlue diesel engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po2z9n6Vmgw

Time-lapse video of Ford Dagenham:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2i4HsjyCro