Ford "Smart Gauge" collects green leaves for good behavior w/VIDEO
by AutoblogGreen Staff on Oct 29th 2008 at 8:01AM 
You drive like crap and you know it. Stop the burnouts, late braking and 100-mph freeway sprint and you just might make a tank of gas last longer than a day. Sure, automakers like Ford could spend a few million on lectures to teach car buyers a thing or two about better driving. But if you didn't get it in Driver's Ed, you're not likely to get it now. Instead, Ford's new Smart Gauge will teach better driving through rewards. Do a better job controlling your right foot, and Smart Guage adds a green leaf to a display next to the speedo. The better you do, the more leaves you get. Nancy Gioia, Ford's director of hybrid-vehicle programs, tells The Wall Street Journal, "You don't have to count the leaves. But if you're in a forest of leaves, you'll know you're doing well."
You can also grow your Virtual Dash Tree™ for a chance to defeat the boss monster on the final level and, if successful, Smart Gauge will reward drivers with Fordelicious Fruit™, which you can trade for Microsoft Points that can be used to pay for your Sync subscription. No. Not really.
Ford is expected to announce the Smart Gauge today and it will initially be available on the hybrid versions of 2010 Mercury Milans and Ford Fusions.
[Source: The Wall Street Journal]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GoodCheer 9:30AM (10/29/2008)
Rather than putting a live-action video game into the dashboard, wouldn't it be easier to just put in smaller engines?
Reply
Frylock350 9:55AM (10/29/2008)
Sure if you want to watch your sales disappear when your vehicle can't keep up with the competitions, literally.
Wise Golden 1:42PM (10/29/2008)
I think it's a cool idea. Good on Ford. Makes me feel better about the several thousand shares I bought at $3.
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Gwido 6:12PM (10/31/2008)
There's an interesting tidbit about the 2010 Fusion hybrid in the article:
[..]Thanks to other advances, the Fusion and Milan hybrids will be able to operate longer at higher speeds in electric mode -- up to 47 mph in pure electric mode, or about twice as fast as some competitors, according to the Dearborn, Mich., auto maker. Ford says the driving range on a single tank of gas on city streets is expected to be more than 700 miles.[...]
If this is true, 700 miles on a 17.5 gallons tank means the Fusion hybrid would get 40 mpg in the city, which is on par with the Honda Civic hybrid 2009 EPA estimate and better than the Toyota Camry hybrid.
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chip.brinckerhoff 11:09PM (10/29/2009)
Idiot tree huggers.
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chip.brinckerhoff 11:11PM (10/29/2009)
Idiot tree huggers.
Reply