Ford Fusion Hybrid certified at 41 mpg in city

[Onkel Neal]

The all-new Ford Fusion Hybrid is now officially America's most fuel efficient mid-size car with a certified 41 mpg rating in the city and 36 mpg on the highway, topping the Toyota Camry hybrid by 8 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway. "The new Ford Fusion Hybrid not only significantly exceeds the competition but also embodies Ford's 100 percent commitment to fuel efficiency leadership, quality, innovation and advanced technology," said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development. "The Ford team set the bar high -- to develop America's most fuel efficient mid-size sedan -- and that's what they delivered."
The 2010 Ford Fusion's final fuel economy certification was completed this week at Ford's testing laboratories in Allen Park, Mich., and the vehicle will carry an EPA label of 41 mpg for city driving and 36 mpg on the highway when it goes on sale this spring. The Fusion Hybrid, which beats even the much smaller Honda Civic hybrid by 1 mpg in city driving, can travel more than 700 miles on a single tank of gas.


http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20081223-901698.html?mod=wsjcrmain (http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20081223-901698.html?mod=wsjcrmain)

Sounds good, I know Zachstar will be among the first to buy one. :)

Neal

[Frame57]

Chock one up for Ford...My Idea of the perfect economical fuel efficient car would naturally be the Flintstone mobile...:D

[SteamWake]

Key words here are "in the city".

Its been my observation that most hybrids are suited for 'city' driving and aint worth a damn on the open highway.

[Torplexed]

My Civic Hybrid is consistently giving me 45 miles per gallon on the freeway even in the colder weather. I also like it because other than a small plate mounted on the back which says hybrid, it doesn't look any different then the standard gasoline Civic, unlike the Toyota 'Pius' which screams "look at me...I'm sssoooo green". ;)

[JALU3]

Have a Camry Hybrid, assembled here in the US. Only difference is smaller trunk/boot space. Been getting an average 31.8 MPG since purchasing, with per tank being as high as 35, as low as 30.8. However, better than the truck that I use to drive on a regular basis, which is only used now for what little hauling I need to do, which got about 16.1 MPG (Ford Ranger).

I was originally looking at the Ford Escape, but I didn't get it because of three reasons. Lower Gas Mileage, only 1st Gen Hybrid Transmission, and I couldn't lay out in the back with the rear seat folded down (and I am not that tall). I hope that Ford has began to make their own Hybrid Tranis' rather than purchasing them from Japan, as the dealer indicated.

Next vehicle, I'll take a good look at Ford again. And hopefully they will get my nod, unless Toyota shows that they can produce better again.

[LobsterBoy]

I probably won't think about a hybrid until they eclipse 50 or 60 mpg. My 10+ year old Chevy Cavalier gets 32 (and still has a hair less than 100k miles). I'll keep driving it until I can't anymore.

[I-25]

im driving a 83 Turbo diesel Jetta and am getting 50+ MPG :smug: fulls up with about 30 bucks last me all week and i put about 60 miles a day on it and as pretty darn fast for a diesel

[AVGWarhawk]

All the hoo-ha that the big three do not attempt to make more fuel efficient vehicles is mostly just that hoo-ha. They have attempted to make more fuel efficient vehicles with the base engines they use. Better induction and exhaust. Light weight materials. Two weeks ago I opened the hood of my wifes truck. I took a look at the intake. Traditionally, intakes were cast iron. Nice and heavy. Then they moved on to aluminum intakes. Very durable and half the weight of cast iron. My wifes truck has an intake that is plastic!:o I thought WTH! Plastic on a hot motor? No wait, plastic can take the heat not to mention cold air flowing through it that keeps it cool. Also, probably the 1/4 of the weight of aluminum. So hey, why not? OK, they dumped quite a bit of weight here with the intake. Items like this were engineered and tested to work well and produce a lighter vehicle thus giving better gas mileage. However, these base motors are at the end of the line for improvements for mileage/gallon gain. So, it is on to hybrids. I'm glad to see Ford is leading the way for the big three!

I-25 has a point with diesels, these engines can be very efficient. It is just very hard to get people to swing over and make a change. This includes hybrids. One day there will be no choice. It is a hybrid car or you are walking.

[XabbaRus]

38 MPG on the highway...Mine does 45 MPG on a long run but that is imperial gallons.

Surprised that city MPG is higher.

[Takeda Shingen]

Surprised that city MPG is higher.

I found that odd as well.

[Jimbuna]

38 MPG on the highway...Mine does 45 MPG on a long run but that is imperial gallons.

Surprised that city MPG is higher.

Definitely.....but I wouldn't be too concerned if petrol was just under $3 gallon here in the UK.

[Task Force]

38 MPG on the highway...Mine does 45 MPG on a long run but that is imperial gallons.

Surprised that city MPG is higher.
Definitely.....but I wouldn't be too concerned if petrol was just under $3 gallon here in the UK.
:huh: $3, its only $1.39-$1.41 here since the gas prices went down.:yep::huh:

Hybrids are nice, but myself, id prefer a larger car, with a V8. (muscle car, from the 60s-80s.) But 41 mpg city is realy good.

[SteamWake]

Surprised that city MPG is higher.

I found that odd as well.

Most hybrids drop out the 'electric' part of the drive train above some speed switching to the combustion engine.

While driving on the highway you are constantly above that speed therefore running on the combustion engine only hence the increased fuel consumption.

[Onkel Neal]

Key words here are "in the city".

Its been my observation that most hybrids are suited for 'city' driving and aint worth a damn on the open highway.

Have you driven a hybrid?

[SteamWake]

Key words here are "in the city".

Its been my observation that most hybrids are suited for 'city' driving and aint worth a damn on the open highway.

Have you driven a hybrid?

Sort of I know people whom have one and driven theirs.

Probably the weirdest thing is that most everything cuts off when at a stop sign. Leaving you feeling like you turned the car off. Its dead quiet except for the radio. A curious sensation.

Another cool thing is the regerative braking. They sort of work like dynamic brakes on a diesel electric loco. The electric motors are set as generators and place load on the braking wheels putting current back into the batterys.

There actually pretty peppy from 0-30 mph after that their performance falls off. Over 45 it feels like your dragging a parachute can make it tough to merge onto the interstate. :|\\

[Jimbuna]

38 MPG on the highway...Mine does 45 MPG on a long run but that is imperial gallons.

Surprised that city MPG is higher.
Definitely.....but I wouldn't be too concerned if petrol was just under $3 gallon here in the UK.
:huh: $3, its only $1.39-$1.41 here since the gas prices went down.:yep::huh:

Hybrids are nice, but myself, id prefer a larger car, with a V8. (muscle car, from the 60s-80s.) But 41 mpg city is realy good.

I was basing the price on the evidence of what I saw in Texas Oct 08. :hmm:

[Task Force]

38 MPG on the highway...Mine does 45 MPG on a long run but that is imperial gallons.

Surprised that city MPG is higher.
Definitely.....but I wouldn't be too concerned if petrol was just under $3 gallon here in the UK.
:huh: $3, its only $1.39-$1.41 here since the gas prices went down.:yep::huh:

Hybrids are nice, but myself, id prefer a larger car, with a V8. (muscle car, from the 60s-80s.) But 41 mpg city is realy good.
I was basing the price on the evidence of what I saw in Texas Oct 08. :hmm:

Oah. Whats prices like over on your side of the Atlantic?:hmm:

[XabbaRus]

82.9 pence per litre here.

I'm not doing the conversion as I'm too lazy..;)

[SteamWake]

Fuel prices in the Southeast are hovering around $1.70 per gallon US

[Kapitan]

According to the stats the vaxhall corsa 1.3CDTi does 65mpg in mixed urban on on a run miles to gallon on a run its roumerd 97mpg!

[TheBrauerHour]

I bought my wife a Prius a little over a year ago. Plenty of power (would surprise a few of you) and a great smooth ride. Does great on the highway as well.

We use it for our weekend driving around town and my wife drives it to work. I drive the pickup truck.

Impressive numbers for that Fusion. EPA estimates were a bit optimistic compared to what Cart and Driver reported actually averaging (34MPG)

[UnderseaLcpl]

Hooray for Ford. Maybe they can turn a profit with this one, instead of stealing billions in taxpayer funds.

I won't be buying one, because for $25-30k, it should get at least 70mpg and give me a back massage while I drive.
I've got an 04' Kia Spectra with comparable gas mileage and it only cost me $4500 (used, 48k miles). Better yet, I can actually maintain most of the thing myself.
I've never done so much as an oil change on a hybrid, but I'll bet anything that they have a veritable Gordian knot of electronic and computerized crap to sort through.

The environment is very nice, but for around twenty thousand dollars I'd gladly set fire to a pile of tires and throw aerosol cans into it.

The real measure of this vehicle will be how many are ultimately sold and whether or not it and others like it can turn an acceptable profit for Ford. If the market isn't ready for it, it won't take, and the whole thing will just be a waste of resources and time. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of it.

[Frame57]

Our company vehicles used to be the Dodge caravan and we got a new on every 100K miles which we could put on the vehicles in 2.5 years. i had a total of three of these vehicles and they were very comfortable. The problem was the darn things were always in the shop being fixed. So we now have a much smaller vehicle called the Kia sportage. Not as cozy, but none of our fleet has been in the shop yet.

[Onkel Neal]

Key words here are "in the city".

Its been my observation that most hybrids are suited for 'city' driving and aint worth a damn on the open highway.

Have you driven a hybrid?

Sort of I know people whom have one and driven theirs.

Probably the weirdest thing is that most everything cuts off when at a stop sign. Leaving you feeling like you turned the car off. Its dead quiet except for the radio. A curious sensation.

Another cool thing is the regerative braking. They sort of work like dynamic brakes on a diesel electric loco. The electric motors are set as generators and place load on the braking wheels putting current back into the batterys.

There actually pretty peppy from 0-30 mph after that their performance falls off. Over 45 it feels like your dragging a parachute can make it tough to merge onto the interstate. :|\\

My buddy, who is a big green guy, went out and got a Prius to put his money where his mouth is. It is a very comfortable car and appears equally at home on the highway or in the city. I agree, regenerative braking is a great way to conserve energy. :yep: