While Ford has recently confirmed that the 2013 Ford Escape won't be available with a hybrid power train; they're continuing to make strides in the reduction of their carbon footprint. The next-gen Escape lineup will get a complete make over, with sharper styling and more fuel-efficient engines, and even an additional 25 plastic drinking bottles.

Integrated into the carpet of each 2013 Ford Escape will be 25 20-oz plastic soda and water bottles. That might not seem like a lot in the scope of water-bottle consumption, but the Escape has been the second-best selling compact UV for most of the last ten years. Early sales projections add up to well over four-million water bottles that will get stopped on their journey to the landfill and re purposed as carpet.

Ford has even done rigorous testing to prove that this carpet isn't any less durable than traditional vehicle carpeting. At their headquarters in Dearborn, MI, materials engineers like Laura Sinclair put items through a simulated five-years of wear in just 15 minutes.

The secret to durable carpet? According to Sinclair, the more bottles in the carpet, the stronger it is. The construction of the carpet is different as well. She says that, "The polyester fibers created from pop bottles makes up a nonwoven carpet material, you have more fibers running on each other, that helps reduce wear."¹

This is just one of the many green-innovations from the American auto maker. Other eco-friendly materials include soy-based foam in the seats, recycled cotton and denim fibers for sound-deadening and carpet backing, even coconut-based plastics. And, while the hybrid has been dropped from the lineup, Ford has invested in highly fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines.

The all-new, thoughtfully designed 2013 Ford Escape will debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, with plans to arrive at dealerships such as Szott Ford, located at 8880 East Holly Rd. in Holly, MI, midsummer 2012. In the mean time, remember you can still check out the 2012 Ford Escape. Simply stop by our showroom during our regular business hours or contact us via our web site to schedule a test drive.

Source: ¹ http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=35466