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Not dead yet! Ford Europe launches new S-Max and Galaxy hybrid


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Ford quietly slipped the new S-Max and Galaxy hybrid out without much fanfare this week. Most people had assumed S-Max and Galaxy's days are numbered in months if not weeks, but with this update, looks like Ford is going to "Edge" the S-Max and Galaxy around for another couple of years. 

 

The battery size is 1.1 kwh, which is smaller than the 1.4 kwh battery on Fusion/Mondeo hybrid. So there was some packaging compromise. Since S-Max and Edge are twins, maybe this opens the door for Edge hybrid? That would definitely help Edge stay relevant until 2024.

 

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2021/02/09/new-s-max-hybrid-helps-active-families-go-electric-and-continues.html

 

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  • New S-MAX Hybrid – the first electrified S-MAX sports activity vehicle – offers seven-seat practicality and full hybrid petrol-electric convenience to support active lifestyles
  • New offering reduces CO2 by more than 10 per cent compared to diesel, offers full S‑MAX flexibility and space, and pure-electric driving capability with no charging cables  
  • Ford also launches new Galaxy Hybrid people mover with full hybrid powertrain for first class refinement, diesel-rivalling fuel efficiency and pure-electric driving capability

COLOGNE, Germany, Feb. 9, 2021 – The new Ford S-MAX Hybrid sports activity vehicle offering seven seats alongside the refinement, efficiency and convenience of a full hybrid powertrain is now available to order for customers across Europe, Ford today announced.

Using innovative engineering to incorporate a fuel-efficient, petrol-electric powertrain into the sleek and versatile S-MAX body without compromising space, flexibility or the uniquely sporty driving experience, the new S‑MAX Hybrid reduces CO2 emissions by more than 10 per cent (WLTP) when compared with the equivalent EcoBlue diesel powertrain. 1

A combination of 2.5-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine, 1.1 kWh lithium-ion battery, electric motor and the latest generation of Ford’s power-split transmission enables an effortless driving and ownership experience that can help active families to reduce their CO2 emissions while enjoying more relaxing journeys. Electric power is intelligently deployed to support petrol engine fuel efficiency or deliver silent, pure-electric driving for short periods depending on the scenario.

Battery charge is automatically replenished by the petrol engine and by using regenerative charging technology when coasting or braking. With no need for owners to plug into an external power source, S-MAX Hybrid is designed to seamlessly fit into family life – always ready to deliver an electrified driving experience regardless of unpredictable schedules.

The stylish S-MAX Hybrid continues to blend sporty exterior styling with the practicality and flexibility of a people mover. Easily configurable seating and load space combinations deliver up to 2,200 litres of load capacity behind the first row of seats. 2 Towing capacity from 1,560 kg to 1,750 kg depending on variant can support leisure activities. 3

“S-MAX is the original sports activity vehicle, and now brings even more appeal for a new generation of customers with pure-electric driving capability for the first time,” said Roelant de Waard, general manager, Passenger Vehicles, Ford of Europe. “From a sporty, car-like driving experience to seats that fold flat at the push of a button, innovations that fit perfectly into family life have always been a big part of the S-MAX appeal. That makes the efficient and refined new hybrid powertrain a natural addition to the line-up.”

Ford is also offering for the first time a full hybrid variant of the Galaxy seven-seat people mover. The new Galaxy Hybrid utilises the same sophisticated petrol-electric powertrain as S‑MAX Hybrid for diesel-rivalling fuel efficiency and optimised driving refinement. 

Electric power without the cables

The new S-MAX Hybrid can continue to offer all the space and flexibility of existing S-MAX models in both five- and seven-seat variants by integrating its 60-cell lithium-ion battery within a crash absorbent, waterproof structure beneath the floor of the rear luggage space.

The 1.1 kWh battery pack uses a liquid cooling system that allows the battery cells to be packaged closely together for greater space efficiency. A specially designed twin-exit exhaust system is routed around the battery to help accommodate its low position for maximum practicality. The configuration enables S-MAX Hybrid to accept loads up to almost 1 metre tall and more than 1 metre wide between the rear wheel houses. Even with all seven seats in place there is 285 litres of luggage space available. 2

Electric power helps deliver the most refined S-MAX driving experience yet. Regenerative braking technology captures up to 90 per cent of the energy normally lost during braking to help charge the battery. Power is sent to an electric motor that can drive the front wheels on its own to pull away silently from a standstill. The motor can also deliver pure-electric driving for short periods, for ultimate refinement and zero-emission driving particularly in urban environments. The battery’s liquid cooling system eliminates the need for a cooling fan, helping further reduce noise levels inside the cabin.

In addition, the electric motor works alongside the petrol engine to deliver from 6.4 l/100 km fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions from 146-147 g/km WLTP, 4 making S-MAX Hybrid a compelling alternative to Ford’s EcoBlue diesel powertrains.

The 190 PS powertrain delivers 0‑100 km/h acceleration in 9.8 seconds. Smooth, linear acceleration complements S-MAX’s inherently sporty character and is supported by a redesigned motor-generator controller that seamlessly switches between pure-electric, hybrid and petrol power.

The full hybrid model’s Ford-developed power-split transmission also features a simulated gear-shift function to further heighten the sporty driving experience. The system automatically adjusts engine rpm as the vehicle’s speed changes for greater driver engagement.

Gear selection is controlled using a stylish and ergonomic rotary gear shift dial that features an additional mode for maximising engine braking when towing or descending steep slopes, for more comfortable driving and maximum energy recuperation. The advanced powertrain also enables towing capacity of up to 1,750 kg for the S-MAX Hybrid five-seat variant and 1,560 kg for the seven-seat variant. 3

Technology to take the stress out of driving

Intuitive features help drivers monitor and improve their fuel and energy efficiency using interfaces for the available 10-inch digital instrument display. Brake Coach encourages gradual braking to help return more energy to the battery, and EV Coach helps drivers understand when they are using electric or hybrid power.

Each S-MAX Hybrid occupant can enjoy connectivity on the move via the standard FordPass Connect modem that provides WiFi for up to 10 devices, 5 and allows drivers to plan faster, less stressful journeys with Live Traffic updates for the navigation system. 6

In addition, FordPass Connect enables remote features including Door Lock Unlock, Vehicle Status and Vehicle Locator via the FordPass mobile app, 7 as well as Ford’s sophisticated Local Hazard Information. The technology can inform drivers of a hazardous situation on the road ahead, even if the incident is not visible due to a bend in the road or other vehicles. 8

Making long journeys more comfortable for driver and front passenger, 18-way adjustable seats available for Trend and Titanium variants have the seal of approval from the leading spinal health organisation Aktion Gesunder Rücken e.V. (the Campaign for Healthier Backs). The S‑MAX Vignale Hybrid features heated and cooled, 10-way-adjustable, driver and front passenger seats with massage function.

All three second-row seats feature Isofix points for securely fitting child safety seats, and Easy Fold Seats for the second and third rows make it simple to maximise load space by individually folding them flat using a push-button control panel in the boot space. Available hands-free tailgate technology also makes it easy to access the boot space while carrying grocery bags, packages or toddlers.

Galaxy Hybrid offers first class travel

The new Ford Galaxy Hybrid is also now available to order, powered by the same 190 PS petrol-electric powertrain as the S-MAX Hybrid.

Offering first class travel for seven occupants as standard, the Galaxy Hybrid people mover is available as Trend, Titanium and V-Line variants that deliver fuel efficiency from 6.4-6.5 l/100 km, CO2 emissions from 148-149 g/km WLTP, and 0‑100 km/h acceleration in 10.0 seconds. 3

Like the S-MAX Hybrid, the spacious Galaxy Hybrid continues to offer the full practicality of the rest of the Galaxy line-up, including more than 1 metre of head room for first- and second-row passengers, 2,339 litres of cargo volume behind the first row of seats and 300 litres cargo volume with all seven seats in place. 2

“Our new S-MAX Hybrid and Galaxy Hybrid are just two of 17 electrified vehicles Ford is introducing for customers in Europe by the end of this year,” de Waard said. “We’re offering a range of electrified powertrains from mild hybrid to all-electric, meaning every customer can find the right model to suit their lifestyle.”

S-MAX Hybrid and Galaxy Hybrid and their lithium-ion battery packs are assembled at the company’s manufacturing facility in Valencia, Spain.

 

Edited by bzcat
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16 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Ford Europe has to move away from diesel passenger vehicles fast,

this is probably the lesser of two evils for now, Ford has dumped the

diesel Edge as well, so maybe a small window of opportunity for an

Edge hybrid, there's still another four years to go....

Depends on how badly Ford needs the CAFE credits will determine if their is an edge hybrid along with battery supply.


To my knowledge there isn’t a glut of batteries looking for a product to put them in.  Hybrids with small batteries ease the transition as battery supply ramps up.  Nobody wants to be holding the keys to a $1billion+ investment and not have customers lined up.

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4 hours ago, slemke said:

Depends on how badly Ford needs the CAFE credits will determine if their is an edge hybrid along with battery supply.


To my knowledge there isn’t a glut of batteries looking for a product to put them in.  Hybrids with small batteries ease the transition as battery supply ramps  up.  Nobody wants to be holding the keys to a $1billion+ investment and not have customers lined up.

The tight supply on batteries for hybrids might be coming to an end soon, it was one of Farley's priorities 

but a hybrid option for  Edge /Nautilus seemed like a non starter due to no planned battery compartment.

I'd love to know how to Euros did it and if  that could be easily applied to Edge and Nautilus.

 

Edited by jpd80
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I'm from the UK and cannot recall seeing a brand new Galaxy or S-Max for a couple of years.Same goes for the Mondeo. The Edge was completely killed off here a year or so ago.

 

It's all about the Fiesta, Focus and Kuga.

 

Both these are great 7-seaters though, and the only such cars Ford sells here. They make much better use of their space that an SUV, but MPVs just seem to have fallen out of favor over the last decade.

 

There were rumors of a 7 seat Kuga (Escape) so I wonder if they'll bring that here to fill the gap once Galaxy and S-Max are culled.

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7 hours ago, jpd80 said:

The tight supply on batteries for hybrids might be coming to an end soon, it was one of Farley's priorities 

but a hybrid option for  Edge /Nautilus seemed like a non starter due to no planned battery compartment.

I'd love to know how to Euros did it and if  that could be easily applied to Edge and Nautilus.

 

Hopefully battery supply loosens up soon.  With so many players coming online to make BEVs, hybrids, solar storage, etc.  battery supplies could remain tight.  I haven’t followed the industry close enough to know how much capacity is coming online.

 

I would like to know where the battery is located on the new cmax also.  It said 60 cell in the press release, so it could be quite small.  No idea what regulations are in place for battery placement.

Edited by slemke
Forgot to mention battery location in cmax
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The edge is beyond irrelevant and should have been disposed of 3 years ago...however, ford seems to want to move away from entry level trash haulers into more lucrative $$$$ midsize suv's so there is that...they seem to have no direction and there ability to seriously compete with the level of competition around them is in serious doubt

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We do know that Ford I keeping Edge / Nautilus production going at OAC for the next three to four years,

so any adding of a hybrid would have needed to have been planned years ago to arrive now, Ford Europe

has just  surprised us by releasing hybrid versions of S-Max and Galaxy so there is hope I guess....

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3 hours ago, MKII said:

I don't know about the spare tire. Ford has only released the cargo area dimensions which are the same as the non Hybrid variants.

Reading the Ford release, there's a small compartment under the floor  behind the third row, they go in there.

The space saver wheel mounts on the underside rear of the vehicle., it's very clever as there's still room for rear diff.

Edited by jpd80
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On 2/14/2021 at 10:47 AM, MKII said:

The batteries are stored underneath the rear load floor with a twin exhaust routed around either side, so unlike the Mondeo Hybrid there’s no effect on cargo space

 

That would imply it is possible to put the battery in the same place on the Edge since they are very similar.

 

On 2/14/2021 at 2:03 AM, jpd80 said:

The tight supply on batteries for hybrids might be coming to an end soon, it was one of Farley's priorities 

but a hybrid option for  Edge /Nautilus seemed like a non starter due to no planned battery compartment.

I'd love to know how to Euros did it and if  that could be easily applied to Edge and Nautilus.

 

 

There should be some battery supply from Fusion hybrid. Unless course, Ford will use those battery on Fusion Evos. 

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VALENCIA, Spain, Jan. 16, 2020 – Ford today announced a €42 million investment in its Valencia manufacturing plant, Spain, to support the company’s electrification strategy with a state-of-the-art battery assembly facility in addition to new S-MAX Hybrid and Galaxy Hybrid models.

Two new assembly lines will enable the advanced lithium-ion batteries that help power all-new Kuga Plug-In Hybrid, all-new Kuga Hybrid, and new S-MAX Hybrid and Galaxy Hybrid to be produced alongside the vehicles for greater manufacturing efficiency and sustainability. Delivered through a €24 million investment, the new battery assembly facility will begin production in September this year. (this year meaning 2020)

 

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2020/01/16/Valencia.html#:~:text=Battery Assembly Operations-,Ford Invests €42 Million in Valencia for,Models and Battery Assembly Operations&text=VALENCIA%2C Spain%2C Jan.&text=Delivered through a €24,production in September this year.

Edited by MKII
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1 hour ago, jpd80 said:

Europe and ROW markets now look to be getting hybrid love as Ford begins the move away from diesels,

this is encouraging as it's the first step in prepping buyers for BEVs in a few years time.

The only petrol engine offered in the EU Mondeo is the 2.0l Hybrid,  only other choices are a whole wack of 2.0l diesels in different hp levels. And the Mondeo Hybrid takes a beating in all the reviews because of droning gutless engine, crappy CVT, and lousy cargo space in both sedan and wagon/estate variants. And Kuga PHEV started hot out of the gate, but the battery shit show slowed the love for Ford Hybrid product for now.

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6 hours ago, MKII said:

The only petrol engine offered in the EU Mondeo is the 2.0l Hybrid,  only other choices are a whole wack of 2.0l diesels in different hp levels. And the Mondeo Hybrid takes a beating in all the reviews because of droning gutless engine, crappy CVT, and lousy cargo space in both sedan and wagon/estate variants. And Kuga PHEV started hot out of the gate, but the battery shit show slowed the love for Ford Hybrid product for now.

To that I would say that Ford's newer hybrids use the 2.5 petrol engine which is a much better performer,

the Mondeo you mentioned is a leftover from a time when Ford's US  sales of PHEVs were much higher than the HEVs,

Ford prioritised things that suited the US market but ignored what customers wanted elsewhere.

 

 

My main beef with Kuga / Escape in Australia was the lack of hybrid version, RAV4 here has literally doubled sales 

thanks to its hybrid version while Ford Australia opted for 2.0 EB and PHEV which is expensive and not on buyers radars.

 

The way legislation is going in Europe, I can't see Ford holding out with diesel passenger vehicles for much longer,

they know it, the public knows it and I see this latest news as confirmation that Ford is moving to electrification but 

still slow as a glacier......

 

 

Edited by jpd80
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6 hours ago, jpd80 said:

To that I would say that Ford's newer hybrids use the 2.5 petrol engine which is a much better performer,

the Mondeo you mentioned is a leftover from a time when Ford's US  sales of PHEVs were much higher than the HEVs,

Ford prioritised things that suited the US market but ignored what customers wanted elsewhere.

 

 

My main beef with Kuga / Escape in Australia was the lack of hybrid version, RAV4 here has literally doubled sales 

thanks to its hybrid version while Ford Australia opted for 2.0 EB and PHEV which is expensive and not on buyers radars.

 

The way legislation is going in Europe, I can't see Ford holding out with diesel passenger vehicles for much longer,

they know it, the public knows it and I see this latest news as confirmation that Ford is moving to electrification but 

still slow as a glacier......

 

 

In fairness, NA was paying the bills and up until the VW fiasco, diesel was the popular choice in Europe, so Ford was giving them what they wanted.  I doubt Ford predicted how quickly the EU would turn on diesel and mandate BEV.

 

Ford will keep building diesel and petrol vehicles as long as there is demand or they are allowed to.  No need to rush into BEV when you are already loosing money or making very little and demand is still there for traditional ice vehicles.  Ford can always pull a GM and pull out of EU if the regulations get too strict.  More difficult for the Euro centric makes.

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5 hours ago, slemke said:

In fairness, NA was paying the bills and up until the VW fiasco, diesel was the popular choice in Europe, so Ford was giving them what they wanted.  I doubt Ford predicted how quickly the EU would turn on diesel and mandate BEV.

 

Ford will keep building diesel and petrol vehicles as long as there is demand or they are allowed to.  No need to rush into BEV when you are already loosing money or making very little and demand is still there for traditional ice vehicles.  Ford can always pull a GM and pull out of EU if the regulations get too strict.  More difficult for the Euro centric makes.

Ford has committed to spending $11 billion in Europe, they're not going anywhere.

One of the reasons that Ford Europe failed for the past decade was that Ford US under Mullally decided 

to globalise most of Europe's mainstay products like Kuga, Mondeo Escape and basically refreshed them,

new to the USA but already due for a complete makeover. By 2015 the designs were really struggling against

much fresher competition.

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