Ford has tested EcoBoost to 500,000 miles

Ford has a lot riding on the upcoming EcoBoost twin-turbocharged and direct-injected V6 motor - so much so, in fact, that the automaker announced today that testing engines have endured the equivalent of 500,000 miles of bench testing. Ford’s goal is not only longevity but also reliability, an end result that the automaker expects to see based on what will amount to 1 million miles of testing before the engines are released to the public.

Ford’s Dynamometer Laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan, has been the site for tests designed to push engines to their limits. Ford said in a statement that the testing has also left the laboratory to the test track, where another 500,000 miles will be added to the motors before production.

Ford says the on-road testing will be in Lincoln MKS and Ford Flex vehicles at the automaker’s Romeo, Michigan, proving grounds as well as high-altitude testing in Denver and extreme weather tests at Volvo’s Arizona Proving Grounds and Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida. Leftlane recently had the opportunity to learn a bit more about Ford’s EcoBoost and other fuel-saving projects at the automaker’s Dearborn Development Center.

EcoBoost will make its debut on the 2010 Lincoln MKS and Ford Flex before the technology - essentially parallel twin turbocharging and high-presure direct injection - is spread across the rest of Ford’s lineup.