The Ford Model U was a
concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...
created by
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
. This vehicle was first introduced at the
2003 North American International Auto Show. Ford designed this vehicle to be a modern 21st century interpretation to the original
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...
.
Engine
The Model U used a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder supercharged,
intercooled
An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines.
Internal combustion engines
Most ...
hydrogen internal combustion
I4 engine which also used a
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
transmission
Transmission or transmit may refer to:
Science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual tra ...
.
With this type of engine and transmission, this engine lived up to
PZEV A partial zero-emission vehicle, in the United States, is an automobile that has zero evaporative emissions from its fuel system, has a 15-year (or at least 150,000-mile) warranty on its emission-control components, and meets SULEV tailpipe-emissio ...
standards.
Design
The Model U's exterior was
soy
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed.
Soy is a key source of f ...
-based
and the interior was highly automated. It had a power-retractable canvas roof and could go from an
SUV
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...
to a
pickup truck
A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...
with its automatic retractable behind. The interior featured a slot system to reduce clutter.
The car was ~95% recyclable and never meant for production.
References
Ford Model U Information @ ConceptCarz.comModel U Concept: A Model for Change
Detailed article on Ford site
Ford's Model U For Change: An exclusive EV World interview with Ford Model U project engineers
{{Ford Concept
Model U
A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French language, French and Italian language, Italian ult ...