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.

Today, we present the figurative jelly bean game, but if this jar is full of Ford vehicles with EcoBoost® engines, you have to guess how many you think sold in 2011. Go ahead, take a moment; we’re again distracted by drooling, this time over a jar full of Ford vehicles.

The correct answer is 127,883 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles, making for record sales! And now Ford is aiming to more than triple the production capacity of EcoBoost-equipped Ford vehicles in 2012. This year, Ford will offer EcoBoost engines in 11 vehicles; in 2011, 7 had the engine. The EcoBoost has also contributed to accolades for Ford, such as the F-150 scoring the Motor Trend 2012 Truck of the Year® award.

Other big EcoBoost news has already included the 1.6-liter engine for the Escape and Fusion. “EcoBoost expansion and availability in high-volume nameplates such as the all-new Ford Escape and Fusion will take this affordable, fuel-saving technology to the heart of the market,” said Sue Cischke, Ford Group Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering.

Additionally, the full-size Taurus sedan becomes the first Ford vehicle to offer customers a choice between two EcoBoost engines: a 2.0-liter four-cylinder making an estimated 237 horsepower and giving customers up to EPA-estimated, class-leading 31 mpg, while the iconic Taurus SHO sport sedan features a 365-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 delivering an EPA-estimated 25 mpg highway. Plus, the Focus ST arrives this year as a high-performance – yet fuel-efficient – sport compact EcoBoost application, and there’s the EcoBoost-powered Police Interceptor.

The EcoBoost sounds like quite the multitasker, doesn’t it? But it’s ready, having already been tortured and subjected to cold-weather testing.

Here’s a fun tidbit: In 2010, all F-150 trucks sold featured a V8 engine. Just one year later, 56 percent of 2011 F-150 customers bought pickups with a fuel-saving V6, either the base 305-horsepower 3.7-liter or the 365-horsepower 3.5-liter EcoBoost. By the end of 2012, nine Ford models will deliver or are anticipated to deliver an EPA-certified 40 mpg highway or higher, with still more fuel-efficient vehicles on the way.

Sounds like the Blue Oval might just deserve a bear.

Obviously, F-Series owners love their trucks. But in addition to that, Motor Trend magazine named the F-150 2012 Truck of the Year®, the fourth time the F-150 has captured that honor. Motor Trend praised the variety of configurations, powertrain options, efficiency, value, advanced design and performance.

How do you continue to be best-selling truck year in and year out? With capability, durability and loads of available features. For example, look at the 2012 Ford F-150 powertrain lineup that delivers a mix of best-in-class fuel economy, horsepower, torque, and capability. Consider the powerful and fuel-efficient 3.5-liter EcoBoost™ engine, which now accounts for more than 40 percent of F-150 retail sales. In fact, more than 100,000 EcoBoost F-150 pickups sold in less than a year on the market. In fact, more than 100,000 EcoBoost F-150 pickups sold in less than a year on the market.

The 2012 Ford F-Series Super Duty® gives customers what they are looking for in terms heavy duty of power and capability, ensuring it stays at the head of the pack. The 2012 Ford F-Series Super Duty tow rating is 17,500 pounds with conventional bumper hitch and 24,500 pounds with fifth-wheel hitch. The Ford-designed and Ford-built 6.7-liter Power Stroke® V8 diesel engine delivers best-in-class fuel economy and power at 400 horsepower and 800 lbs-ft. of torque. The standard 6.2-liter V8 gas engine also has best-in-class fuel economy and produces a best-in-class 405 lb.-ft. of torque and 385 horsepower.

Are you an F-Series truck owner? Or have you owned one in the past 35 years? Maybe more than one? We want to know why you have helped the truck capture the number one spot on the top-selling truck in America list for 35 years in a row. Submit a story about you and your Ford truck at Your Stories. If you have a photo or video to share, we’d love to see that to!

And if you’re a Super Duty owner, we have a special website called We Own Work, where you can view videos that share stories of workers who use Super Duty trucks to accomplish work on real job sites across the U.S.

Visit ford.com for more information on the best-selling Ford F-150.

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.”

Meet the one-of-one 2013 Ford Shelby GT500, which was built in 2007 and was one of the first Shelby GT500s to sport the new 2010 body. The 2013 GT500 is the most powerful production V-8 in the world, with a 5.8-liter engine that makes 650 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque! This prototype was run for 24 hours at top speeds of 150 mph at Sebring to ensure all systems function properly for customers who plan to replicate the activity.

The car will be auctioned at the 41st Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction Saturday, January 21, 2012, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The sale will raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). On the auction stage will be Ford President of The Americas, Mark Fields, and members of SVT. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel.

“I raced on the Sebring International racetrack for many years, but my ambition was always to build my own car,” Carroll Shelby said. “It was exciting to be back to collaborate on this GT500 durability car with the SVT guys. I’m really proud to have my name on this car. They took my dreams of what a car should be and made it a reality.”

A full roll cage, six-point harness seatbelts and Recaro racing seats are among the car’s other attributes. Neat bonus: Each member of the SVT engineering team who worked on the 2013 Shelby GT500 signed the underside of the trunk lid.

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.

What do we mean by coaching? The MyFord Mobile app and the Electric join forces to make your driving experience more efficient. What do we mean by social networking? The MyFord Mobile website will have leaderboards and networking within the community forum, where you can share your driving experience, answer questions drivers may have and provide helpful tips to others. And what do we mean by fun? As with a video game, you can earn achievements based on how far you drive and how much CO2 you save by not using gas. The leaderboards will help you track your driving results against other Focus Electric drivers.

There are also “surprise achievements” embedded in the app based on your activities (a concept similar to “Easter eggs” in a video game, scoring you extra points).

MyFord Mobile was announced in early 2011 as a social platform to revolutionize the electric vehicle driving experience. Read more about the app by clicking here. In November, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) named the app winner of the software and mobile app category. Additionally, CES awarded MyFord Mobile the “Best of Innovation” recognition, a first for an OEM. Ford will showcase the beta version and new social networking components of the MyFord Mobile app with the new Focus Electric for the first time, live at the 2012 International CES, January 10-13, 2012, in Las Vegas. Click here to see all of our stories relating to the 2012 International CES.

The Focus Electric will be available through dealers in the first half of this year.

Lane Keeping System (or LKS) is, simply put, designed to help you stay inside the lines, and we know that’s of much importance not only when coloring, but while driving! LKS is set up to alert and assist if your vehicle drifts out of the lane. It recognizes the problem via a windshield-mounted digital camera that detects lane markers and the vehicle’s position on the road. Three levels of assistance help in real time: Lane Keeping Alert, Lane Keeping Aid and Driver Alert.

Once vehicle speed is above 40 mph and lane markers are clearly visible on the road, an icon that looks like a car between two lanes lights up green in the instrument cluster to indicate the system has been enabled. LKS takes advantage of the electric power-assisted steering (EPAS) used in the new Fusion to provide a vibrating alert to you before gently steering the car back into the lane if you don’t respond.

When the system detects the vehicle is approaching the edge of the lane without a turn signal activated, the lane marker in the icon turns yellow and the steering wheel vibrates to simulate driving over rumble strips. If you don’t respond and continue to drift, the lane icon turns red and EPAS will nudge the steering and the vehicle back toward the center of the lane. If the vehicle continues to drift, the vibration is added again along with the nudge. You can overcome assistance and vibration at any time by turning the steering wheel, accelerating or braking.

Michael Kane, Ford Development Engineer, explained that LKS “keeps track of behavior over a longer period while driving. If a driver is tired, this can often be detected by the car constantly drifting back and forth across the road.” You can monitor whether the system is detecting behavior consistent with drowsy driving with an alert gauge in the instrument cluster that features a steaming cup of coffee. In other words, consider taking a break. If you don’t take one and the system detects a driving pattern consistent with being tired, an audible chime and a visual alert will suggest you stop and rest. If the same conditions persist and you don’t stop, a second, more assertive warning will be issued. As soon as you stop and shut off the engine or opens the door, the monitor resets its information.

Michael added, “We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring the accuracy of the lane detection and the smoothness of the assist.” The LKS  technology will also be available on the Explorer in 2012, and Ford intends to offer LKS on more of its vehicles over the next several years.