Coca-Cola and Ford Join Forces to Create a Green Car Interior

The PlantBottle Technology developed by Coca-Cola Company has been recently implemented into something else than soft-drinks packaging: the interior of a Ford Fusion Energi.

We might not get to see a better Coke anytime soon, but at least the company is concerned about the packaging and wants to make it eco-friendly. Sooner or later, such an alternative would’ve made its way to other fields,

One of the first things you’ll notice by watching the following images is that Ford and Coca-Cola wanted more than simply putting some green leaves on the car. The color accents found both on the car’s hood and seats suggest that Ford Fusion Energi is literally a green car.

Another aspect worth mentioning is that Ford decided to do the photo shoot in a place where grass and sunflowers abound. This is so much better than taking pictures of the car in a gray showroom. If anything, this is a hint at how friendly the Fusion Energi is to the surrounding environment.

PlantBottle Technology was introduced by Coca-Cola back in 2009, so it’s a bit of a surprise that it took car manufacturers so long to think of how they could use it in their vehicles.

This renewable materials is made from recyclable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and plants. Needless to say, this combination is much eco-friendly than the plastics made from oil.

Currently, the Ford Fusion Energi is the only car to sport seat cushions, seat backs, head restraints, door panel inserts and headliners made of PlantBottle, but the automaker is considering extending this to its entire line.

For lovers of numbers, such a change would be equivalent with the displacement of 4 million pounds of petroleum-derived materials. On top of that, Ford would be able to save the equivalent of 295,000 gallons of gasoline and 6,000 barrels of oil.

Now imagine what would happen if all car manufacturers in the world would decide to cooperate with Coca-Cola in order to make their car interiors greener. Electric vehicles would become even more appealing, but even regular cars would be seen with better eyes by ecologists.

Since the technology is not that new, I guess that implementing it at a large scale is not that expensive. Scott Vitters, general manager, PlantBottle packaging platform, The Coca-Cola Company, stated that the beverage manufacturer won’t stop here with this innovative technology: “This collaboration with Ford demonstrates that PlantBottle Technology can be applied anywhere PET plastic is traditionally used, but with a lighter footprint on the planet. We are pleased to share this technology with Ford, and look forward to continuing to expand the application of PlantBottle Technology.”

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