Ford Airstream Future Autos

___________

The Ford Airstream is a concept van that will not likely ever be mass produced . As with many concept vehicles its purpose is to experiment with many designs and features that may be further tested and developed for use in the future on production models . Concept vehicles also draws public interest at auto shows which in turn , draws notice to the manufacturers name and production line up .

_______

The Airstream was first unveiled to the public in 2007 . It is a futuristic crossover SUV , that has a retro touch to the exterior shape , but there is nothing retro inside ! It is a hybrid that is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and also can be plugged in for recharge when not being driven . On straight battery power its range is about 25 miles (40 km) . then the Hydrogen fuel cell generator kicks in to recharge the battery . This increases the range to over 300 miles (440 km) before the hydrogen fuel cell needs refuelling . The fuel economy of the Airstream 41 miles per US gallon (51 miles per imperial gallon) .

______________

The right side door opens upward and is power operated . The interior of the rear is like a luxurious lounge with sculptured fabric seating an carpeted floor . The front seats are sculptured pod style Captains Chairs with full swivel capability so the front occupants could face the rear occupants if desired . The instrument panel is flush mounted floating design with touch screen control . It uses a single gauge display to give the driver all the needed operating information .

It also has a dual screen instrument panel that is centrally mounted to allow the driver and passenger to view driver information . The rear contains a 360 degree screen to provide entertainment capability or to play games . The screen can display mood settings such as fire or lava etc and also has a live camera feed .

The Airstream is equipped with four point safety belts .

Double wishbone independent suspension is used in the front of the Airstream and multi link independent suspension is used in the rear .

The “Hyseries Drive” system used in the Airstream is currently being tested in a special Ford Edge SUV , for likely future production ! “Hyseries Drive” is the name given to this future Ford Hydrogen Hybrid system . The only thing that comes out the exhaust of these vehicles is , ‘clean’ water vapour .

___________________

_