Ford’s flexible fuel

Even though Ford is hiking their base-level ethanol blend to circumvent expensive testing, and even though they’re shy about admitting that they’ve even gone that far, we’re still pleased that they’re taking this step towards more responsible energy use. It’s certainly in keeping with the company statement about flex-fuel vehicles; Ford has made more than 1.6 million of them since 1996, and their Model T was the first flex-fuel vehicle ever made, running as it did on any combination of gasoline, ethanol, or caramelized hate distilled from the brain of Henry Ford.

Of course, more recently, Ford’s environmental record has been, erm, mixed, to say the least. And their products are bearing a similar cross - hell, they’ve built marketing campaigns on the admission that their cars are shit. So whether or not this is an honest effort to move forward or an end-run around economic reality can’t be determined. Again, we’re glad that Ford is refocusing their commitment to flex-fuel vehicles, but it had better be genuine. All it would take is one battery of product recalls (like the ones for the Ford Escape) to make flex-fuel cars unpalatable for another 30 years.