Ford Promotes Use Of Ethanol In Ranger Pickups

Ford Motor Co. has begun a fuel coupon program to encourage the use of ethanol fuel in Chicago, Minneapolis, and St. Paul. Ford is pushing the use of ethanol in some of its 1999 Ford Ranger pickups. All Ford Ranger vehicles with 3.0-liter engines are flexible fuel vehicles (FFV) and can run on any combination of ethanol fuel or unleaded gasoline in the same tank. Buyers of Ranger 3.0-liter pickups in Chicago and the Twin Cities are being mailed a letter explaining the FFV feature, along with coupons to be used toward the purchase of ethanol fuel. Ethanol emits up to 30% less greenhouse emissions than gasoline on a life cycle basis, but fuel economy is reduced by about 27% because of the product's lower energy content.