Ford shifts car and truck plants to LED lighting

More muscle, less energy: Ford has started its LED factory overhaul at the Dearborn, Mich. plant that makes the new 2015 F-150 pickup truck.

Lux Magazine reports: Auto makers are constantly searching for ways to reduce average emissions per vehicle. For Ford Motor Co., that quest has just hit the ceiling. 

No it hasn't maxed out its cars' engine and fuel efficiency.  Hopefully it will continue to make strides there.

Rather, Ford's latest advance comes in the energy that it spends on producing each vehicle.

The $147 billion car and truck manufacturer is replacing the conventional overhead lighting at 18 assembly plants around the globe with $25 million worth of LED fixtures, Ford said in a press release.

It anticipates cutting lighting energy consumption by 70 percent compared to the standard fluorescent and high-intensity discharge lamps, and expects annual savings of around $7 million. It also cited the 15-year life expectancy of the LED (light emitting diode) bulbs as a huge impovement in maintenance costs over the earlier lights, which it said 'require re-lamping in as little as two years.'

Ford - the world's sixth largest automaker and the second biggest in the U.S. behind General Motors – began the overhaul at its truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan in August. It says it's on target for a total of 25,000 fixtures at 17 other factories around the world including in the U.S., Canada and in Dagenham, England.

The company also expects safety and performance advantages from the LEDs, which it said reduces fire risks and provides brighter and more uniform light and also improves colour perception.

The LED project is part of an ongoing effort to reduce energy use per vehicle produced by 25 percent.

Here's a Ford video explaining the move: