The Ford Model U was a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

created by

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

. This vehicle was first introduced at the 2003 North American International Auto Show. This concept is one of a kind with its automatic features and recyclability. Ford wanted this vehicle to be a modern 21st century interpretation to the original Ford Model T.

Engine

The Model U uses a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder supercharged,

intercooled An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines Most ...

hydrogen internal combustion I4 engine which also uses a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

transmission. With this type of engine and transmission, this engine lived up to

PZEV A partial zero-emission vehicle, in the United States, is an automobile that has zero evaporative emissions from its fuel system, has a 15-year (or at least 150,000-mile) warranty on its emission-control components, and meets SULEV tailpipe-emissio ...

standards.

Design

The Model U's exterior is

soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and ...

-based and the interior is highly automated. It has a power-retractable canvas roof and can go from an

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

to a pickup truck with its automatic retractable behind. The interior features a slot system to reduce clutter.

References

Ford Model U Information @ ConceptCarz.comModel U Concept: A Model for Change
Detailed article on Ford site
Ford's Model U For Change: An exclusive EV World interview with Ford Model U project engineers
{{Ford Concept

Model U A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...