DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. will charge a premium of around $700 for its much-touted EcoBoost engine system when it goes on sale in 2009.

A 3.5-liter V-6 with EcoBoost will arrive next year on the Lincoln MKS sedan and Ford Flex crossover.

The V-6 with EcoBoost is slated for the Ford F-150 in 2010, and the pickup application will produce "significantly more" than 340 hp and 340 pounds-feet of torque, said Brett Hinds, Ford's advanced engine design manager. That tops the 300-hp rating of the largest engine -- a 5.4- liter V-8 -- in the current F-150.

EcoBoost technology combines turbocharging and gasoline direct injection. A V-6 with EcoBoost gets as much as 20 percent better fuel economy than a conventional V-8, Ford says. It also improves performance and will enable the company to replace V-8s with V-6s and V-6s with four-cylinder engines.

The fuel savings will enable buyers to recoup the premium paid for EcoBoost technology within two years, Hinds said. When going from a V-8 to a V-6 with EcoBoost, Ford estimates annual savings at $339 when driving 15,000 miles per year with gasoline costing $3.25 a gallon.

"The consumer is actually going to be paying himself back on his investment," Hinds said. "Within right around two years, you'll actually break even on your initial purchase premium."

Ford also said that four-cylinder engines with EcoBoost will debut in 2010 in North America and Europe.

The company didn't disclose vehicles to be equipped with the four cylinder. Six-cylinder engines with EcoBoost will have twin turbochargers, while the four-cylinder engines will have a single turbocharger.