• Constructed from all-natural paper and water-based glue, 2.7kg honeycomb floorboard is both eco-friendly and strong enough to handle nearly 320kg of cargo

• Technology derived from honeybees – first introduced in household door manufacturing 50 years ago – is now used in automotive and furniture design, as well as packaging

ACCRA, Ghana, 25 October 2018 – Honeybees didn’t actually create the four-way parcel shelf for the all-new EcoSport cargo area, but they did lend their design to the recycled paper honeycomb material that gives the shelf its unusual strength.

“The hexagonal design of honeycomb is a testament to nature’s ingenuity,” says Mike Mazzella, Ford EcoSport assistant chief engineer. “Not only is it strong, it’s superlight. Customers can slide the shelf

into multiple different slots like an oven rack; even store it on the back of the seats. It helps make EcoSport super-flexible in everyday use.”

Honeycomb is one of several useful details that make the fun, capable and connected EcoSport an engineering and design powerhouse.

Genius of nature

Resin-reinforced honeycomb has a truly phenomenal strength-to-weight ratio, underscoring EcoSport’s capability to go small but live big. The shelf weighs a scant 2.7kg, yet it is rated to handle nearly 320kg across a 98cm by 65cm surface. In other words, this slip of a shelf can hold innumerable combinations of heavy items, like five bags of concrete mix (40kg each), four large bags of top soil (20kg each) and eight individual 5-litre canisters of water (at 5kg each).

For years, honeycomb has been used to create the strong structure under the skins employed in high-end sporting equipment like skis, as well as aerospace frames. To create the adjustable floorboard

for the all-new Ford EcoSport, a layer of hexagon-shaped cells made of 100 percent recycled paper and water-based glue is sandwiched between two layers of composite material. It’s able to hold more than 100 times its 2.7kg weight in cargo.

Configure it your way

The parcel shelf can hold any of four positions in the cargo area to best suit a driver’s needs:

• In the lowest position, it serves as a load floor for maximum storage
• In the middle position, it creates a secure storage area beneath the floorboard
• In the high position, the area underneath increases to create a cargo floor that lines up with the fold-flat second-row seats
• Removed and stored vertically against the back of the second-row seats

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 202,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its Products and Ford Motor Credit Company please visit www.corporate.ford.com