Photo: CarPix
As you’re well aware, Ford and M-Sport presented the hybrid Puma Rally1 WRC prototype in July 2021 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The rally car features a 1.5-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder mill and a pokey electric motor connected to a lithium-ion battery that can be charged from a plug.
Sébastien Loeb, the most successful WRC driver in history, has recently driven the car in Spain to further develop the 2022 challenger. The hybrid era yields the biggest powertrain advancement in the World Rally Championship, and Ford needs the constructors’ title to fulfill its ambitious electrified strategy. More specifically, the automaker intends to switch exclusively to all-electric vehicles in the European Union by the year 2030.
Back in the real world, the Ford Motor Company is testing a Puma ST at the world’s most grueling racetrack. The yellow sticker on the rear window of the Nurburgring prototype references hybrid assistance, but don’t believe for a second that it’s the same powertrain as the Puma Rally1. The road-going model still features the 1.5-liter EcoBoost three-pot of the outgoing model, most probably with mild-hybrid assistance due to CO2 regulations.
Lest we forget, a fleet-wide target of 95 grams per kilometer is currently in effect. If the automaker exceeds the aforementioned target, a penalty of 95 euros is applied per g/km of exceedance multiplied by the number of cars the automaker sells in that respective calendar year in the European Union.
In other words, every gram counts nowadays. The Puma ST for the 2021 model year emits 155 grams per kilometer, which isn’t good enough for a three-cylinder engine that bears the EcoBoost moniker. The greenest Puma on sale today is the 1.5-liter EcoBlue turbo diesel that belts out 119 g/km.
Rated at 200 metric horsepower and 320 Nm (236 pound-feet) of torque from 2,500 revs, the force-fed lump in the Puma ST helps the subcompact crossover accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in 6.7 seconds.
Back in the real world, the Ford Motor Company is testing a Puma ST at the world’s most grueling racetrack. The yellow sticker on the rear window of the Nurburgring prototype references hybrid assistance, but don’t believe for a second that it’s the same powertrain as the Puma Rally1. The road-going model still features the 1.5-liter EcoBoost three-pot of the outgoing model, most probably with mild-hybrid assistance due to CO2 regulations.
Lest we forget, a fleet-wide target of 95 grams per kilometer is currently in effect. If the automaker exceeds the aforementioned target, a penalty of 95 euros is applied per g/km of exceedance multiplied by the number of cars the automaker sells in that respective calendar year in the European Union.
In other words, every gram counts nowadays. The Puma ST for the 2021 model year emits 155 grams per kilometer, which isn’t good enough for a three-cylinder engine that bears the EcoBoost moniker. The greenest Puma on sale today is the 1.5-liter EcoBlue turbo diesel that belts out 119 g/km.
Rated at 200 metric horsepower and 320 Nm (236 pound-feet) of torque from 2,500 revs, the force-fed lump in the Puma ST helps the subcompact crossover accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in 6.7 seconds.
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