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A car that can keep tabs on the occupant’s health could pave the way for all sorts of possibilities, and Ford’s advances in this area include a car seat developed to monitor the driver’s heartbeat. Unobtrusive sensors in the backrest of the seat can detect the electrical impulses of the heart through most forms of clothing such that data can be analysed by an on-board computer or by medical experts at a remote location, and there are now moves to develop things further to the point of providing the driver with real-time health information that could prevent an accident and save a life in the event of an imminent heart attack.

The news of Ford engineers’ latest achievement in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University in Germany comes just days after an announcement regarding the progress the auto manufacturer has made in the area of cars that can “talk” to each… Using technology such as Wi-Fi or dedicated short-range communications, it’s widely felt that cars which can communicate with each other and the environment will prove particularly useful when visibility is poor or when the driver’s view of the road ahead (or of a car about to shoot a red light) is obscured for whatever reason, and that they are sure to help reduce the incidence of collisions on the road.

At a much more advanced stage of development is Ford’s family of electrified cars. Following the launch of the Transit Connect Electric small commercial van in 2010, the Focus Electric is due to come onto the market in late 2011 and the plans are for five of Ford’s electrified vehicles to be introduced in the USA by 2012 and in Europe by 2013. Among the forthcoming attractions will be the lithium-ion battery and plug-in C-MAX hybrids.

And one of the stand-outs at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit was the Vertrek concept car, which many see as the thinking that Ford wishes to introduce to the SUV market. Stylish design, lots of luggage space and a 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine equipped with Ford’s Auto Start-Stop technology that could prove to be best in its class when it comes to fuel economy.