Ford is about to dramatically expand its line-up of environmentally cars, a move which will be spearheaded by the arrival of the Mondeo Flexi Fuel Vehicle.

The Mondeo FFV joins the existing 1.8-litre Focus and C-Max FFV models, and can, like them, run on E85 Bio-ethanol or regular 95-octane unleaded in any combination.

The Mondeo FFV will use a tweaked version of the existing 145bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine, and, as with other FFV models, Ford is claiming that, when running on E85, the car's carbon emissions are reduced by around 85% in real terms, as the fuel is derived from non-fossil sources (in the case of Irish market E85, that means whey left over from cheese processing). E85 is around 20% cheaper than conventional unleaded fuel, but that is balanced by the fact that it's around 30% les thermally efficient, meaning you have to burn more of it over a given distance.

The Mondeo FFV will be available in LX or Zetec trim and it should, depending on what Brian Cowen announces in the December budget, be eligible for a 50% VRT rebate, worth around €3,000. That would mean that a 2.0-litre Mondeo FFV in Zetec trim would cost only a couple of hundred Euro more than a conventional 1.6-litre Zetec model.

“Here we have an offering that will appeal to both family motorists and corporate customers seeking to communicate their environmental credentials in the cars they operate, “ explains Eddie Murphy, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford Ireland. “It’s a new market segment for bio-fuel vehicles and one that we feel holds much promise. The business case for FFV is strong: in fact, with generous tax concessions and the ability to fill up on normal petrol where required, there is just no downside from the company’s perspective.”

And it's just the first in a rapidly-exanding portfolio of eco-friendly products from Ford. S-Max and Galaxy FFV models will arrive shortly after the Mondeo, and when the revised and facelifted Focus range arrives in the summer, it will include a new Econetic model which uses a lightly modified version of the existing 1.6-litre TDCI diesel to score an emissions figure of just 118g/km. Econetic versions of Mondeo, S-Max, Galaxy and Fiesta will follow.

Article courtesy of Drive Magazine.