What is your dealership up to? We want to know, because during this time of year, stories of goodwill and cheer are especially meaningful to hear. Also, if you work at a dealership, don’t forget to snag a Ford Social Dealer Badge here! Not a dealer? Grab a badge (or more than one!) that does suit you here, be it your love of Mustangs, racing, music, The Great Outdoors or choose from the many others, including one that represents the Ford you drive!

And now, here’s a look at the 2011 Salute to Dealers award-winners and their causes:

Ronnie Watkins, Ronnie Watkins Ford, Gadsden, Alabama
“I’ve supported Gadsden’s ESTEEM program from its beginning. ESTEEM rewards disadvantaged kids when they get good grades. We’re sponsoring trips to museums and amusement parks, we’re helping with their nutrition and health care, and we’re encouraging them to believe that they can achieve great things if they work hard.”

Keith Kocourek, Kocourek Ford, Wausau, Wisconsin
“My daughter accompanies me on Angel Flights. We once picked up three kids from Chicago’s inner city and flew them to a camp in Minnesota for kids who are critically ill, to give them a week of fun. We’ve flown breast milk from Minnesota to Ohio for premature babies. I have the flexibility and the resources, so I volunteer when I can.”

Paul Miller, Paul Miller Ford, Lexington, Kentucky
“We have a great city that provides countless opportunities for giving, and we’ve participated in everything from fundraising efforts for saving horses to saving lives at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. More than 40 charities in 58 years. As a Ford Dealer, we feel it’s important to be part of the fabric of our community.”

Don and Cheryl Brenengen, Brenengen Ford, Sparta, Wisconsin
“We were able to help get a Boys and Girls Club started by leading a fundraising effort and remodeling a vacated clinic building. Attendance has been about 80 youths a day and membership is over 500.”

Driver’s training has come a long way, baby! This week, Ford Motor Company Fund and the Governors Highway Safety Association will begin the ninth year of Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) in the U.S., a program that sets out to improve the skills of drivers. Although the U.S. arm of DSFL focuses on teens, China and other Asia Pacific markets have expanded in this, their fifth year, to include first-time drivers of all ages. While DSFL isn’t meant to replace traditional driver’s training, it is a great opportunity for teens to learn more about vehicle control.

The U.S. DSFL tour will hit 30 high schools in five states, where Ford will bring a transporter with specially equipped vehicles as well as pro drivers. Activities are geared toward improving skills and providing hands-on instruction in four key areas: driver distraction, speed/space management, vehicle handling and hazard recognition. DSFL provides free professional driver instruction, a Web-based curriculum, state grants and materials.

DSFL reached 35,000 teen drivers on the high school tour last year and the same number is expected to participate this year. Reducing the number of traffic fatalities and injuries remains the key mission for DSFL in the Ford global markets, where the program utilizes training to enhance the learning process and bridge the experience gap for new drivers. Many DSFL participants in Asia are first-time drivers, as the region’s emerging economies are driving a rapid rise in vehicle ownership. So far, 50,000 have participated in the program across Asia with another 12,000 expected in 2012.

Ford DSFL continues to provide interactive Web-based training called “The Academy” on www.drivingskillsforlife.com, and free materials upon request for students, educators, parents and community organizations.

But let’s get to the matter at hand: a plant in the all-new Escape! It’s called kenaf and is a tropical plant related to cotton and okra plants and looks a bit like bamboo. It’s part of the bolster material inside the doors and is combined with polypropylene in a 50-50 mixture; the plant replaces oil-based materials. The benefit? Beyond sounding cool when you talk about the sustainable materials in your Escape, using kenaf is anticipated to offset 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin per year in North America, and the material reduces the weight of the door bolsters by 25 percent.

Let’s repeat that – 25 percent. Why is it important enough to repeat? Weight savings translates to fuel savings.

Kenaf might also be lurking in everyday items you use, such as cosmetics, and also can be an alternative to wood in the production of paper. Survival tip: the upper leaves and shoots are edible.

Other materials featured in the Escape that are recycled and renewable and reduce impact on the environment include soy foam in the seats and head restraints; plastic bottles and other post-consumer and post-industrial materials in the carpeting; climate control gaskets made from recycled tires; and more than 10 pounds of scrap cotton from the making of denim jeans. The new Escape meets the USCAR Vehicle Recycling Partnership goal that 85 percent of the vehicle is recyclable.

It was the first use of the technology on a Ford sport utility vehicle, and you could call its usage in the United States downright groundbreaking. However, it has been utilized more commonly by European luxury vehicle manufacturers, and even more interesting is that the science behind acoustic mirrors can be traced back almost 100 years! A precursor to radar, it was used for “listening” for and detecting enemy aircraft along the coast of Great Britain during World War I.

How the tech has evolved in the case of the Escape is that it allowed engineers to make changes to the vehicle’s shape – notably the mirrors and A-pillar – while in the early clay model phase in order to test theories and validate expected results. The work was done in the Ford Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel in Germany. “We previously didn’t have this tool available,” said Peter Kleesattel, Interior Quietness Development Engineer. “Essentially we were able to optimize the shape earlier. In noise and vibration, the basic idea is you have noise sources outside the vehicle and you have the path.”

Preliminary data shows the new Escape will be among the leaders in interior quietness. In particular, the tuning work on the A-pillar helps ensure better noise performance in crosswind situations. Wind noise performance has been optimized through more than 160 hours of engineering. In a typical eight-hour block, more than 20 configurations can be tested, including glass, mirror sealing and door sealing.

“Previous technologies required more of a trial-and-error approach to finding the issue,” added Bill Gulker, Ford NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) Supervisor.

This kind of cold work includes putting the hotly popular EcoBoost® engine through the paces. “Customers buying the 2.0-liter I-4 EcoBoost will expect torque of a V-6 with the economy of a smaller, more efficient engine,” explained Dan Badger, Ford Powertrain Integration Supervisor. “Our testing helps ensure that they won’t see a noticeable difference in performance in even the coldest weather.” It also means Ford engines and transmissions are designed to withstand years of wear and a wide range of operating temperatures typical of freezing winter mornings and cook-an-egg-on-the-ground summer afternoons.

Want the scoop on secret testing? One is called “Deep Thermal Shock”; an engine is cooled to -22 degrees for fifteen minutes, then started and idled for one minute. It is then accelerated to horsepower peak speed for 14 minutes so the manifold heats to the point of glowing cherry red. The engine is then shut off and cooled back down to -22 degrees. This cycle is repeated for 100 to 200 hours.

And more secrets: “We test in Bemidji, Minnesota, or Yellowknife in the Canadian Northwest Territories, where it’s painfully cold. You take a glove off and in five seconds you can’t feel your fingers,” Dan explained. “Testing in extreme conditions helps the calibration team answer vital questions such as, ‘Are we getting the cold start times correct? Is the throttle body icing? Are we going through blizzards and seeing snow ingestion that we didn’t get in wind tunnel testing?’ We want protect customers in a worse-case scenario and deliver the best experience possible when they step on the accelerator pedal.”

Another example of advanced technology that is ready to take on the thermostat is the Focus Electric. Extreme temperatures can affect battery performance and reduce the range of electric vehicles. The range will not be impacted as much with a liquid-heated system compared to an air system. The Ford active liquid-cooling and heating system regulates the temperature of the lithium-ion battery packs, which are designed to operate under a range of ambient conditions. The battery is able to provide additional power and longer range, and is preconditioned after charging, in all cold temperatures. “A liquid-heated battery can accept a charge faster from the regenerative braking that recaptures kinetic energy and sends it back to the battery, essentially providing longer range for the customer in real world cold weather conditions,” said Sherif Marakby, Ford Director of Electrification Programs and Engineering. “Additionally, since acceleration in an electric vehicle comes from the power available in the battery, the customer will have more power available if the battery is warmer.”

“The 2.0L EcoBoost was previously tested in Europe when it was launched in the Mondeo. They had initial feedback and we made design changes to the throttle body,” Dan noted. “We had a lot of learning by the time we got to the Explorer and the Edge testing here. The One Ford philosophy really promotes continuous improvement. Our team here applied what was learned in Europe to our new products, then turned around and shared what we learned. And it keeps going.”

Why is this relevant to Ford? Because cloud computing is the next big thing for in-vehicle technology, and the Ford show display at the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit will give attendees a view from “the Cloud,” providing a sneak peek of what’s in store for Blue Oval vehicles.

The display will allow Ford to showcase future trends, such as Changing Population Demographics, Emerging Technologies and Living Green. There will also be a super cool 20-foot-tall elevator to take visitors up to “the Cloud” for a 360-degree film showcasing the future of Ford in-car technology. Visitors to the Ford display will also be able to drive with motorsports star Ken Block, take a ride in a Mustang on the dyno or use trivia to plan out their next great “Escape.” We like to call it “augmented reality.”

Other exciting news is that the Ford display will feature the first-ever Blue Oval Card, offering a more focused, personalized experience for visitors. By registering online to receive a Blue Oval Card for accessing relevant content throughout their time in the Ford display, visitors will be able to capture videos that play, share a photo with their Facebook friends and even submit an opinion that will be displayed on the LED screens that appear on the stand.

NAIAS will be open to the public Saturday, January 14 through Saturday, January 21, 2012. For more info, visit www.naias.com.

Wait, there’s yet another ground-breaker: It will be the first electrified vehicle to offer faster charging with 240-volt outlets, which can be installed in customer homes. The battery can be recharged in just more than three hours using a 240-volt charging station, about half the charging time of the 2012 Nissan Leaf.

The Focus Electric will be powered by an advanced lithium-ion (li-ion) battery system with an advanced active liquid cooling and heating system to precondition and regulate the temperature in its larger, more complex battery system.

Science geeks, dig this: The active liquid system heats or chills a coolant before pumping it through the battery cooling system. This loop regulates temperature throughout the system against external conditions. On hot days, chilled liquid absorbs heat from the batteries, dispersing it through a radiator before pumping it through the chiller again. On cold days, heated liquid warms the batteries, gradually bringing the system’s temperature to a level that allows it to efficiently accept charge energy and provide enough discharge power for expected vehicle performance.

The durability and longevity of batteries – which Ford has been developing and testing since the 1980s – is essential as the company expands its electrification plan. To date, among the nearly 43 million battery cells Ford has tested or seen put to work in customer vehicles, only five issues have been documented.

And about those Ford electrification and fuel-efficiency plans: Nearly one-third of the vehicle lines will feature a model with 40 mpg or more in 2012. The rollout of electrified vehicles began in December 2010 with the 2011 Ford Transit Connect Electric – a small commercial van built in collaboration with Azure Dynamics. The other 40-mpg vehicles include the Focus SE, Fiesta, C-MAX Hybrid and Energi and three vehicles yet to be announced. The C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi a Ford next-generation powersplit hybrid technology in combination with a lighter, smaller lithium-ion battery system. Both models provide maximum fuel efficiency by pairing the high-voltage lithium-ion battery and electric traction motor with a high-efficiency Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine. This technology enables the gasoline engine to run less than the previous generation.

(Fun fact: When the C-MAX Hybrid launches, Ford becomes North America’s largest maker of hybrid transmissions.)

And further helping the efficiency of the Focus Electric will be a unique version of the MyFord Touch® driver-connect system especially for electric vehicles as well as a smartphone app called MyFord® Mobile that helps plug-in owners control their vehicles remotely.

No one is revealing any of those details, but we know what did successfully come out of the powwow was an agreement to support an international standardized approach to charging EVs. In short, EVs from those seven automakers can share fast charging stations.

This commonality will reduce build complexity for manufacturers as well as accelerate the installation of common systems. But the best part is, it’ll make owning an EV even easier.

The automakers will use HomePlug Green Phy as the communication protocol, and without getting too technical here, we’ll simply say that the success of Level 1 and Level 2 (220v charging in the U.S.) was used as the poster child for how standardization will increase adoption of EVs.

Without standardization, EV owners had no idea whether the charge port they had pulled up to was compatible with their vehicle.

Ford and Scotts Miracle-Gro Company are working together to look into whether coconut fiber can be used to reinforce plastic parts in order to reduce the use of petroleum. It would also make the parts lighter and more natural-looking. You see, the coconut coir – the natural fiber from the husk – is waste from Scotts’ soil and grass seed products. With Scotts Miracle-Gro using more than 70 million pounds of coir each year in consumer products, the question became, What can be done with the leftover coir material?

Researchers at Ford will take the coconut coir and combine it with plastic to provide additional reinforcement to parts; the material could be used in door and seat trim, center console substrates and maybe even on underbody and exterior trim. Naturally (pun intended!), it will have to pass Ford durability testing. Coconut coir is very difficult to burn, so Ford is looking into its properties as a natural flame-retardant.

Also making headlines is more on the plan Ford has to launch the C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in five-passenger hybrids next year in North America. The C-MAX Hybrid will feature the first hybrid transmission and lithium-ion battery system Ford has built in-house, enabling it to deliver a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy as compared to the outgoing Escape Hybrid.

The C-MAX Energi aims for 500-plus miles of driving range using the battery and engine, more than any other plug-in or extended-range vehicle. Read the story, “More Ford C-MAX Hybrid Details Revealed!” for newer information about the Ford C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid.

Ford developed the new generation of hybrid electric vehicles via its extensive experience with first-generation hybrids, including the Escape Hybrid, the world’s first SUV hybrid. “Using our platform approach to hybridization, developing two choices for customers in the heart of the market with the dedicated, front-wheel-drive Ford C-MAX was our strategy to extend the benefits of hybrid technology to even more customers,” said Derrick Kuzak, Group Vice President, Global Product Development. Ford takes very seriously the fact that today, fuel economy is 2.5 times more important to American customers than environmental concerns when it comes to buying a vehicle.

So, to recap: the largest-ever EcoBoost engine lineup, the C-MAX Hybrid to make crazy-good fuel economy and Ford delivering electrified vehicles that are both attainable and meeting real people’s needs. That’s news you can use!