Latest / Bloomberg Intelligence / Ford's Mielewski on Making Auto Parts Out of Agave Plant(Audio)

Transcript

Ford's Mielewski on Making Auto Parts Out of Agave Plant(Audio) · Bloomberg Intelligence

0:00
Speaker 1: This is taking stock on Bloomberg. I'm pim Fox my
0:03
Speaker 1: co host today Matt Miller. All right, ever here of
0:06
Speaker 1: tequila from your auto dealer. Well, in one case, that
0:10
Speaker 1: may be true. Ford Motor Company is partnering with Jose
0:14
Speaker 1: Quervo to explore the use of agave plants in order
0:18
Speaker 1: to use their fiber to make automobile parts, reduce the
0:23
Speaker 1: weight in a car. Find out more. We want to
0:25
Speaker 1: bring in Debbie Mollski, Senior tech leader of Materials Sustainability
0:30
Speaker 1: from Dearborn, Michigan. Debbie, thanks very much for being with us.
0:33
Speaker 1: Tell us about this partnership, and I understand you're not
0:38
Speaker 1: going to use the liquid tequila part of the agave
0:41
Speaker 1: in anything, right, So our intent is to make our
0:45
Speaker 1: plastic reinforce our plastics with sustainable materials instead of the
0:49
Speaker 1: petroleum based materials that we currently use. Um. Jose Quervo
0:54
Speaker 1: has access to about two to three tons of agave
0:59
Speaker 1: that they um juice every day. This huge quantity of
1:04
Speaker 1: a goat. A fiber is um dried, a portion of
1:08
Speaker 1: it's sent to us and we put it into plastic
1:11
Speaker 1: and we've been molding parts and we've been quite happy
1:13
Speaker 1: with the way the fiber looks, it's durability for various
1:17
Speaker 1: automotive components, so it's lighter weight and better for the planet.
1:21
Speaker 1: So when you say you put it into plastic um,
1:23
Speaker 1: how much of that material is then petroleum based or
1:27
Speaker 1: do you make a synthetic plastic I guess even though
1:31
Speaker 1: it's already a synthetic part out of the plant, So
1:35
Speaker 1: you are absolutely that's a great question. We are taking
1:39
Speaker 1: small steps because cars are expected to be extremely durable.
1:43
Speaker 1: We want to maintain all of our high standards, and
1:46
Speaker 1: so what we're doing here is we're replacing glass fiber
1:50
Speaker 1: fiberglass or TALC fillers that are both very dense, very heavy,
1:55
Speaker 1: with a natural fiber. So it's about level, so it's
1:59
Speaker 1: not insignificant. We make a part that performs just as well,
2:04
Speaker 1: but it's significantly lighter in weight, and we're also using
2:08
Speaker 1: a fiber that would otherwise be burned, releasing CO two
2:11
Speaker 1: into the environment. So we think there's enough reasons to
2:14
Speaker 1: do this and to take these steps. Specifically in Mexico,
2:18
Speaker 1: we're trying to develop a supply chain. We assemble vehicles
2:21
Speaker 1: in Mexico. Why not use what's locally available, just like
2:24
Speaker 1: people use local food. Now you put little cars together
2:29
Speaker 1: in Mexico, right, what kind of cars are you gonna use?
2:31
Speaker 1: What kind of cars is this material going to go on?
2:35
Speaker 1: That's a good question. We're building a brand new plant
2:37
Speaker 1: in Mexico, but currently at our her Mateo plant we
2:39
Speaker 1: build the Fusion, which is sort of a mid size
2:42
Speaker 1: UM sedan vehicle. UM, we don't really know yet, so
2:46
Speaker 1: we're looking at so many different parts. We're looking at
2:48
Speaker 1: storage bins, the heat and air conditioning ducks, We're looking
2:53
Speaker 1: at wiring harnesses. We're not sure where it's going to
2:56
Speaker 1: end up. But thus far, what we've been able to
2:58
Speaker 1: do is take the fiber, developed the processing and the
3:02
Speaker 1: formulations that will produce automotive parts that have very very
3:07
Speaker 1: good mechanical properties. If I was to get into a Mustang,
3:10
Speaker 1: I know that there's something made from soy that I
3:14
Speaker 1: could find in a Mustang. Yes, so that was done
3:17
Speaker 1: with our Sustainable material group as well. UM. We started
3:21
Speaker 1: using soy oil instead of petroleum oil in seats way
3:25
Speaker 1: back in two thousand. It was the two thousand eight
3:28
Speaker 1: Mustang and now every single vehicle Ford makes in North
3:32
Speaker 1: America incorporates soy in the seat. Cushions, backs, and head rests.
3:37
Speaker 1: So we have eight farm materials that we currently put
3:40
Speaker 1: in our cars. They performed their durable and we're doing
3:44
Speaker 1: a significant benefit for our environment. So I wonder about
3:48
Speaker 1: you know, cost is always a question when you're producing cars.
3:51
Speaker 1: We have a great story on the Bloomberg about how
3:52
Speaker 1: it costs one and a half billion dollars to retrofit
3:55
Speaker 1: plants um to build the aluminum f one fifty. Are
3:58
Speaker 1: you able to lower costs with some of these sustainable
4:02
Speaker 1: processes processes as well and make Mark Fields a happy man?
4:07
Speaker 1: We hope in the long run that that's the case.
4:09
Speaker 1: Oil prices have been low lately, but really in this
4:13
Speaker 1: particular case with Jose Quiver, we're talking about a waste
4:17
Speaker 1: product and so we're replacing things like fiberglass. But these
4:21
Speaker 1: are made in huge, huge volume. So when we initiate
4:26
Speaker 1: putting this into one vehicle program, it's very difficult to
4:29
Speaker 1: get cost neutral. But that's our that's what we're shooting
4:32
Speaker 1: for right now. It's cost neutral, But I'll tell you
4:34
Speaker 1: if petroleum goes up in price, it will be an advantage.
4:38
Speaker 1: Test I think it's an advantage just to be able
4:41
Speaker 1: to improve our environmental footprint and also have material choices available.
4:48
Speaker 1: Mark Fields is the chief executive of the Ford Motor Company.
4:52
Speaker 1: That that'd be final point to you here. The weight
4:55
Speaker 1: of automobiles, whether it is the F one clocking in
4:58
Speaker 1: it anywhere from five of to six thousand pounds, or
5:01
Speaker 1: as I said earlier, the Mustang maybe topping out at
5:04
Speaker 1: thirty eight hundred. What's the trend? Tell us? So where
5:07
Speaker 1: you've been saving the weight and how that translates into efficiency. Well,
5:11
Speaker 1: you know, the the F one fifty was all aluminum body,
5:15
Speaker 1: and that reduced our weight by a significant amount, improved
5:19
Speaker 1: the fuel efficiency of that vehicle. Where I'm coming from
5:22
Speaker 1: my work on plastic materials um when I started there
5:26
Speaker 1: were only a couple hundred pounds of plastic on a
5:28
Speaker 1: typical vehicle. We're up to four hundred pounds of plastic
5:32
Speaker 1: and more substitutions of metal. Was plastic anticipated for the future.
5:38
Speaker 1: So I think I'm in the right area when we're
5:40
Speaker 1: going to make those you know, increase the amount of
5:42
Speaker 1: plastic to reduce weight, Let's make those plastics greeners better
5:46
Speaker 1: for the environment from here on out. Have you been
5:49
Speaker 1: able to sample some of the jose Quervo Tequilo while
5:53
Speaker 1: you're using the byproduct, you know that's on my intensive list.
5:57
Speaker 1: It hasn't happened so far, but I certainly intend to
6:00
Speaker 1: example their product. They are a leader in their area.
6:03
Speaker 1: Thanks very much for joining us. Debbie Molesky is the
6:07
Speaker 1: senior tech leader of Materials Sustainability for the Ford Motor Company.
6:12
Speaker 1: And I just like the image that Matt Miller driving
6:15
Speaker 1: around in his F one fifty Ford drinking tequila. Well
6:18
Speaker 1: but sitting on soy. You've got what they call a vegan.
6:21
Speaker 1: But thanks very much. This is taking stock on Bloomberg