2020 Review of the Year – In Case You Missed It Part 2

Here’s the second part of our look back over the past year – you can see part one here.

July

With many people turning to cycling and scootering as an alternative to public transport, this was an ideal time for some advice from our Share The Road campaign, including a new booklet with helpful information on building respect and understanding between road users. First launched in 2018, the initiative has expanded to offer advice on emerging forms of transport – like with Spin, our e-scooter company.




We announced two new additions to our range of Active models, with the introduction of the Tourneo Connect Active and Transit Connect Active. Designed to cope with the everyday as well as weekend adventures, both versions offer a raised ride height and extra traction on low-grip surfaces as well as SUV-inspired design inside and out.





We took electric performance to a new level when we demonstrated the Mustang Mach-E 1400, a one-off vehicle based on our pure electric Mustang Mach-E^1/2 with over 1,400 PS. It has seven electric motors, an ultra-high-performance battery and race-ready aerodynamics, the Mustang Mach-E 1400 proves what electric performance is capable of – especially in the hands of motorsports champion and professional fun-haver Vaughn Gittin Jr.

August

We launched our initiative to improve road safety using technology to connect cars and road-side sensors. The Data-Driven Road Safety Tool gathers information from connected vehicles, smart road sensors and data supplied by local authorities to predict accident locations and possible causes. We joined forces with partners like Oxfordshire County Council and Loughborough University’s Transport Safety Research Centre in the study, and the study has been backed by the UK government’s innovation fund to develop a tool that could benefit road users around the world.


Team Fordzilla used gamescom 2020 to announce the winner of its P1 project, which combined the talents of our design teams with gamers from all over the world to design the ultimate virtual racing car. Almost 250,000 votes on Twitter decided that the vision of Arturo Ariño, a Ford exterior designer, was the winner. We also announced that the P1 would appear in a well-known racing franchise and a full-scale model would be built later in the year.

September

This month we demonstrated how setting up your new car can be as easy as picking up your phone, with the Remote Vehicle Setup feature. Introduced on the all-new electric Mustang Mach-E, Remote Vehicle Setup allows you to tailor a number of features to your preferences even before you take delivery, such as regular destinations in the navigation, interior ambient lighting, climate control settings and even the Mustang Mach-E’s drive modes – Active, Whisper or Untamed.




We put you in the driving seat by giving you the chance to experience our Puma ST in a series of interactive films. Starring stuntwoman and precision driver Lucy Jayne Murray as well as our first performance SUV in Europe, viewers get to direct their own car chase by choosing the next chapter, with a unique soundtrack by Stereocalypse.




Not as fast but equally capable is our new 5.0-tonne Transit which made its debut. By adding tougher components we increased the load capacity,³ and with a choice of body styles, cab sizes, wheelbases and overall lengths – as well as a network of 160 Qualified Vehicle Modifiers – to choose from, the Transit 5.0-tonne is ready to tackle almost any job.

October

With families all over Europe looking at staycation as an alternative to travelling abroad, we announced our partnership with komoot, the outdoor experience experts. Together we created a series of close-to-home weekend adventures, enabling users of the website or app to plan a cycle ride, run, hike or even a mountain climb close to home.




We revealed the fastest Mustang ever to reach Europe – the Mach 1 – and celebrated the event by creating a world-first interactive online experience. Users of the dedicated Mustang Mach 1 app could choose the colour of their Mach 1 before directing it in a short film to share on social media. The start of the show is the sportiest Mustang ever offered in Europe, with a high-performance engine^2/4 alongside aerodynamic and suspension upgrades.

November

Another big step in our electric revolution was the announcement of the E-Transit – the first pure electric version of the world’s best-selling van. Designed to meet the demands of low- and zero-emission cities across the globe, the E-Transit has as much cargo space as a diesel Transit but can cover up to and estimated 350 km (WLTP) on a single charge^2/4/5 with zero emissions and much-reduced noise pollution in urban environments. E-Transit can be used to power and recharge tools on-site, while the FordPass Connect app⁶ offers a range of digital services such as cabin pre-heat and charging assistance.




There was more clever technology on show as we demonstrated our new driver assistance systems⁷ on our Kuga SUV. Changing lanes on higher-speed roads and turning across traffic at a junction can be stressful manoeuvres at the best of times, but Kuga is the first Ford to benefit from two new systems designed to help. One system uses radar to scan the road behind for vehicles, and should you start to change lanes when a collision might happen, the system automatically warns you and can help steer you back into lane. Another system uses radar and a camera to check the road ahead when turning across traffic, and can apply the brakes to prevent or mitigate a collision.

December

Three-time Olympic medallist Gema Hassen-Bey received an early Christmas gift when we presented her with a Ford Ranger Raptor, the first vehicle of its kind to be adapted for a wheelchair user. Gema competed at five consecutive Olympic games and carried the torch at the 2004 Athens Games, and is am ambassador for our Adapta programme as well as a journalist and motivational speaker. She’s also aiming to be the first woman in a wheelchair to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.


This month also saw the stunning results of the Fordzilla P1 project, with a full-scale version of the virtual race car unveiled to the world. Built from scratch in just seven weeks, the P1 was created by Ford designers Arturo Ariño and Robert Engelmann, with almost 250,000 Twitter users voting on the final design choices. The full-size P1 will hopefully get to tour events in 2021 so gamers can get to see it in the flesh before trying the digital version in a well-known racing game later in the year.




We rounded off the year with a very special Christmas jumper – this time designed to help cyclists and scooter rides safe in the dark winter months. The ‘Safe Distance’ Christmas Jumper was created as a part of our Share The Road campaign, and adds to the usual Christmas baubles with special projectors mounted inside that illuminate a 1.5 metre safe zone around the user in the shape of a Christmas tree, allowing other road users to see just how much space they should leave when overtaking.



1 Mustang Mach-E rear-wheel drive in extended range battery configuration delivers up to 610 km WLTP pure-electric driving range. Actual vehicle range varies with conditions such as external elements, driving behaviours, vehicle maintenance, and lithium-ion battery age and state of health.

2 The declared fuel/energy consumptions, CO2 emissions and electric range are determined according to the technical requirements and specifications of the European Regulations (EC) 715/2007 and (EU) 2017/1151 as last amended. Light Duty Vehicle type-approved using the World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) will have fuel/energy consumption and CO2 emission information for New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) and WLTP. WLTP will fully replace the NEDC latest by the end of the year 2020. The applied standard test procedures enable comparison between different vehicle types and different manufacturers. During NEDC phase-out, WLTP fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are being correlated back to NEDC. There will be some variance to the previous fuel economy and emissions as some elements of the tests have altered, so the same car might have different fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

3 Cargo and load capacity limited by weight and weight distribution.

4 Officially homologated fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions figures will be published closer to on-sale date.

5 Targeted range and charge time based on manufacturer tested values and calculation according to the WLTP drive cycle. Actual range varies with conditions such as external elements, driving behaviours, vehicle maintenance, lithium-ion battery age and state of health.

6 Features may require activation.

7 Driver-assist features are supplemental to and do not replace the driver’s attention, judgment and need to control the vehicle. It does not replace safe driving. See Owner’s Manual for details and limitations.

See our 2020 review part 1 here.

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