Ford NZ rallies to the eco cause with a thriftier version of its small crossover.

MOTORSPORT mojo is rubbing off on to the smallest crossover Ford sells here – though in a far milder form than the brand is set to express in the World Rally Championship.

The new hot word in 2022 for the compact five-door Puma, both in WRC and also on our local roads, is ‘hybrid.’

Admittedly, adoption of that convention is the only commonality between the electric-assisted Puma road cars the national distributor is placing on sale in front-drive formats and the far more fiery, like-named all-wheel-drive mud and gravel weapon the make’s M-Sport motorsport partner recently revealed.

 Created to meet a new electrification formula created by the world motorsport body, the FIA, for a competition kicking off in January, the latter will deliver a a sizzling start to the Puma hybrid story.

In rally form, it matches a 1.6-litre petrol engine with a 100kW hybrid system for an optimal 372kW power.

That’s almost four times the cited output for the Puma Hybrid road car that Ford New Zealand is going to put into the showroom during 2022 some time between March and June for an undisclosed price.

While knock-out kapow might not be a forte from the road model, which is essentially the same as the Puma models Ford released over a year ago - except that it marries the original’s three-cylinder petrol 1.0-litre with a 48V system - class-impressing emissions and economy might be.

With the Hybrid road car, an 11kW electric motor and an integrated starter/generator are core additionals to the 92kW/170Nm powerplant.

The ISG replaces the alternator and, as well as recovering some energy during braking and providing torque fill for better throttle response and acceleration, it allows the car to coast with the engine off.

Cylinder deactivation is also carried over from current version of the non-hybrid Ecoboost engine and can cut three cylinders down to two in just 14 milliseconds under light loads.

The engine also picks up a larger turbo but, as the system can add only 50Nm, nobody should expect dramatically improved acceleration.

However, Ford assures the electric urge will be felt, saying the lithium ion battery pack the Hybrid also takes – at cost of some boot capacity – will provide torque assistance during normal driving and acceleration, as well as running the vehicle’s electrical ancillaries.

There’s no driver interaction. Instead, the set-up is self-regulating and continuously monitors how the vehicle is being used to determine when and how intensively to charge the battery for optimal benefit, and when to utilise the stored battery charge.

Ford talks of a fuel efficiency improvement of up to nine percent, citing economy of 5.4 litres per 100km, and says CO2 drops to 112 grams per kilometre measured on the WLTP scale.

The make has suggested the incoming models might become additional choices alongside the current cars, though a spokesman nothing has been fully decided yet.

Just to remind, the standard car has held a full recommended retail of $33,990, though it was put into issue for $29,990 plus on roads as a launch special. The ST-Line has been posted at $37,990 plus on-roads. The (the blue car) adds adaptive cruise control, sports suspension, seats and body kit, hands-free tailgate, paddle shifters and other gear besides. It will go for $37,990 plus ORCs.

As said, in mild-hybrid guise, the boot isn’t quite as capacious, overseas data suggesting the outright space from 456 to 401 litres with the rear seats in place.