Ford looks to be at the front of the pack for great-looking Frankfurt Motor Show concept cars with the release of first details on the stunning hybrid Evos.
A dramatic looking four-seat, four-door fastback, the Evos builds on the great styling momentum evident at Ford these days with vehicles like the Australian-developed Ranger ute, Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo.
“The Ford Evos Concept unites three key elements which are at the core of our One Ford global product strategy: outstanding design, smart technologies and fuel economy leadership,” explained Ford’s product development chief Derrick Kuzak.
Low and wide, the mid-size Ford Evos looks muscly with a long bonnet, large, curved windscreen and four gull-wing doors. It measures 4.5-metres in length, 1.97-metres in width, 1.36-metres in height and has a wheelbase of 2.74-metres.
Inside are lots of curves, a sporty red seat for the driver and individual touch-screens for the rear seat passengers.
The plug-in hybrid powertrain normally runs as pure electric and then switches to charge-sustaining hybrid drive using the petrol engine. This same technology will power Ford’s C-MAX Energi scheduled for launch next year and Ford says it will have a range of 800 kilometres.
Personalized technology is a big part of the Evos story as Ford’s Research and Innovation Laboratories extend connectivity under a ‘personal cloud’ of information. The objective is to seamlessly link the car, home and work environments so your car becomes a personal assistant.
The Ford Evos gathers a detailed understanding of the drivers’ preferences and driving habits, linking that with other information like work schedules, traffic conditions and weather.
Wirelessly linked, the Ford Evos could determine your time of departure, heat or cool the interior and have the same music or news program you were listening to at home already playing as you climb inside. Then when you pull onto the street it could automatically close your garage door and turn-off the lights in your house.
Other smart technologies include adaptive chassis technology which automatically adopts energy saving mode when appropriate and even a ‘do not disturb’ function for the connected smart phone when the car senses the driver is pressing on hard over twisty roads.
