darrelld Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/27/ford-offering-app-developers-50k-reward-better-fuel-economy/ Ford Motor Co., stung in recent months over complaints that some of its hybrids are achieving fuel economy well below the advertised miles-per-gallon, said today it is opening up its vehicle architecture to both hardware and software developers to help the company create vehicles with better mileage and to help consumers better manage their driving habits."We have found that there are so many factors impacting the fuel economy people get, especially with hybrids across the industry, that we want to be the company that gives drivers the best tools to manage their own personal fuel economy," said Ford head of global marketing James Farley. To that end, Ford is inviting app developers to access Ford's vehicle technology platforms to find ways to help drivers improve their fuel economy, and is offering cash awards of up to $50,000 to those that work.It is unusual for a car company to open up its engineering architectures and platforms to outsiders for fear of compromising intellectual property. Ford may be the first to open up both its hardware and software platforms to outsiders who want to pitch the company on new solutions to improve fuel economy. FoutsNC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoutsNC Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 That's really an amazing step for an automotive manufacturer. Up until this point they had always kept those types of things under lock and key. I am really looking forward to seeing this strategy in action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtshinn Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Is there a link to the SDK on this site? I'd like to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wab Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/27/ford-offering-app-developers-50k-reward-better-fuel-economy/ Ford Motor Co., stung in recent months over complaints that some of its hybrids are achieving fuel economy well below the advertised miles-per-gallon, said today it is opening up its vehicle architecture to both hardware and software developers to help the company create vehicles with better mileage and to help consumers better manage their driving habits. "We have found that there are so many factors impacting the fuel economy people get, especially with hybrids across the industry, that we want to be the company that gives drivers the best tools to manage their own personal fuel economy," said Ford head of global marketing James Farley. To that end, Ford is inviting app developers to access Ford's vehicle technology platforms to find ways to help drivers improve their fuel economy, and is offering cash awards of up to $50,000 to those that work. It is unusual for a car company to open up its engineering architectures and platforms to outsiders for fear of compromising intellectual property. Ford may be the first to open up both its hardware and software platforms to outsiders who want to pitch the company on new solutions to improve fuel economy. Looks like Ford has opened the door!http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/index.php?/topic/1430-ev-mode-in-non-plugin/Post #4 thru 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWBarrett Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 I was disappointed when I read the fine-print in the press release about what this really is.It's not about on-board software to get the car to get better mileage.It's about developing an app to show a customer's driving stats to them in a way that can help them improve their mileage.I thought we already had all that we needed along those lines, in the various left-side displays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfruth Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 An app to show a customer's driving stats to them in a way that can help them improve their mileage is needed especially your typical driver who seems to think putting gas in the tank and using the go pedal is about all their is to it - don't get me wrong it would be nice if the C-Max got 45 or 50 with little to no effort ... http://openxcplatform.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWBarrett Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 I don't know how many people in that category would bother to buy an interface and use an app. But looking at the docs, it does look more interesting than the press-release led me to believe. At least there's the possibility of doing things in real-time, although for an app to be accepted, it probably wouldn't be allowed to do anything distracting while driving, like displaying anything. It looks like somebody could at least use it to directly read the grille-shutter position, and settle that question once and for all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddley Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 I imagine Ford would want people to come up with something that has some of the features offered with this: Automatic App Is A Coach, Mechanic, And First-Responder All In One Anyway, it is smart for Ford to stage a contest to get people to noodle over the problem and submit working code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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