Signup


Ford puts Escape SUV on a diet with innovative door material

When automakers shave extra pounds off their car designs, the difference can add significant mileage to their fuel economy figures - an attractive proposition in the car leasing marketplace.

Most designers achieve the weight savings by swapping lightweight aluminum for heavy steel, or wrapping car bodies with plastic skins instead of sheet metal, but Ford is taking a different approach with its Escape SUV.

Engineers at the company will cut weight in the car by replacing the "bolster" material inside each door with kenaf plant matter instead of oil-based materials. Grown in the tropics, kenaf is a cousin of cotton that looks like bamboo and is also used in cosmetics and paper.

Mixed half-and-half with polypropylene at a factory in Indiana, the recipe will slash door weight by 25 percent. The decision comes with an environmental bonus, as well, helping the automaker to offset 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin per year in North America.

"Kenaf and the other renewable materials in the Escape have made the vehicle more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient," said Laura Sinclair, an Escape materials engineer.

Related News
Register Now
Register Now

TOP SWAPS EMAIL SIGNUP

Our weekly email newsletter sends you the BEST deals on Swapalease. Join for FREE

Vehicle Search

Search for leases by make or state.

  

Twitter Feed

Twitter
@kikarhashabbos we would love to help you get into that vehicle. Please call us 866-792-7669 tomorrow between 9 - 8 EST
Posted about 85 days ago.

Find a Vehicle

Sell Vehicle

Learn

Follow Us

Follow us for up to the minute news and special offers.

TwitterOn Twitter
FacebookOn Facebook

U.S Patent No. 6,965,874.
© Copyright 1999-2012 Swapalease.
All Rights Reserved.

 bbb TRUSTe Certified Privacy  

About Swapalease

The leader in lease transfers and lease assumptions. Swapalease can help you exit your vehicle lease early by marketing your car lease to lease buyers seeking a short term lease assumption or lease transfer. Buyers can assume or takeover a lease that fits their payment budget as well as choose a lease term that meets their needs. Swapalease is the lease trade leader, the largest lease trader, and the pioneer in the lease transfer and lease assumption business. Swapalease is your best option for both entering and exiting automotive leases cost effectively.

Swapalease News & Events

Close

Time Magazine

Websites like Swaplease.com have helped facilitate such transactions. You pay to dump a lease, but the price can be thousands less than you would owe if you turned the lease in early to a dealer. Meanwhile, buyers can pick up some sweet rides for hundreds less than their normal cost, with short-term contracts and no down payment.

USA Today

Consumers aren't limited to what's being offered on the auto lots. They can buy a car, or take over someone else's lease on Web sites like Swapalease.com, a popular site that act as matchmakers between buyers and sellers.

Wall Street Journal

Terminating a Car Lease

The problem:

Getting out of a cal lease early
The Solution:

Find someone to take over your lease through service such as Swapalease.com. The site charges a fee to post a listing, and say finding someone is easiest for leases with 24 months or less left.

read more read more read more