Ford hybrids' gauges highlight fuel-efficient driving
— -- They aren't the kind of leaves you have to rake, though.
Ford plans to announce Wednesday that the Zen-like instrument panels in its 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan gasoline-electric hybrid-power midsize sedans will include electronic display screens on which images of green leaves multiply when drivers are motoring in fuel-efficient fashion.
When drivers slide behind the wheel, the screens show grass, clouds and sky. The leaf images pop up in a corner of one of the screens when the engine starts.
The cars are due to be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show next month and to go on sale next year. They're billed as ecological cockpit electronics.
The goal was "to create an emotional connection and 'wow' factor," says Sonya Nematollahi, Ford's engineering supervisor for driver information.
Toyota's Prius, the best-selling hybrid, already has video depictions of its "hybrid synergy drive" in animated action on a center screen, plus other interactive gas-saving features. The Honda Insight hybrid being introduced next year will have features aimed at coaxing drivers to improve gas mileage.
Most hybrids, in fact, have visual feedback to help drivers get the best mileage. But Ford's outdoorsy icons are a first, and go beyond the usual lines showing energy flowing to or from the engine or the battery pack.
"There is an appetite for this kind of thing, to make the vehicle more engaging and more entertaining while driving more ecologically and efficiently," says Stewart Reed, chair of transportation design at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif.
Such displays ideally give drivers more information without distracting them, he says.
Ford says it's tried to avoid annoying the driver. The speedometer remains in the middle, its traditional place. The display screens to the left and right allow drivers to choose how much information they want. The basic setting is called "inform." It displays basic gauges.
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