2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Ford has finally entered the market with a hybrid built for your geography and economics teachers or for people above 60 years who have lost their zest for life. With an exterior that looks like the Honda Clarity but just not that good and interiors that would put you to sleep at the drop of a hat, not because its comfy, its because its that dull and boring.

Leaving the styling out, Ford might have something very interesting for you here; under the hood you have a 156-horsepower, 2.5-liter, Atkinson cycle gasoline engine combined with a 106-horsepower AC electric motor. Both these power plants are mated to the gear set that transmits the combined torque to an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (eCVT) and on to the front wheels.

One might say, all the specs are pretty decent, but I said interesting.  Do not ask me how they pulled it off, but all this technology comes in at a price tag of $27K. That’s right, just $27K, if you add all the optional features, it works up to $32,435. Wait; it gets better, Ford has recorded mileages of 41 miles per gallon in town, 36 on the highway, and 39 in combined driving. Now that I’ve opened most of the presents, let’s dig deeper to check for more surprises, staring with the engine.

The eCVT is very bland, it has no sport mode or eco mode or paddle shifts unlike the Honda insights and the Toyota Prius’s. what it does have is the standard of automatic transmissions PRNDL configuration that has been used over the last ten years or so. But the  Fusion’s power train, still is pretty flexible; as a matter of fact, with the SmartGauge instrument, the driver is given huge influence over the delivery of power using only the accelerator pedal.

The Fusion can function on three modes: the EV mode i.e. purely using the electric motor, Gas mode: power delivered only from the gasoline engine and the third mode is a combination of both the gas & electric modes.

Ford claims that the Fusion can maintain EV mode up to 47 mph but not while using the air conditioning, powering the stereo, and plugging in equipment into the Fusion’s 110-volt A/C outlet. The range would as expected, drop too.

The performance of the Fusion wasn’t exciting, like  a typical hybrid’s performance. The power delivered is  decent enough to keep you in pace with the traffic on highways but otherwise there’s not much to do with it. You take it work and back, the drive is pretty ok, not something you are eagerly waiting for. The handling was light and suspension was poor because it felt like it was tired of carrying the massive batteries and loads of electronics around. There also was considerable amount of under-steer and the fear of body-roll.

Inside the cabin, the seats are pretty comfortable. The rear seat was fixed which can be problematic for long objects. Once you get into the drivers seat, you will come face to face with a brilliant piece if engineering; the SmartGauge instrument cluster with EcoGuide. It is adjacent to a physical speedometer and is made of two full-color LCD screens. On the display you have the  gear selection indicator, coolant temperature and a trip computer. Another feature displayed is the EcoGuide, which is a virtual plant that indicates how green your driving actually is. As your miles-per-gallon increases, the plant sprouts more leaves. Step on the accelerometer and the plant dies right before your eyes. The annoying plant can be replaced with a more effective histogram that shows the fuel economy over the last 10, 30, or 60 minutes of driving. There also are four configurations that drivers can select to display adequate information as necessary.

The most basic configuration is the ‘inform’, which displays the fuel and battery charge levels. the  ‘Enlighten’ config. puts up a tachometer with EV mode indicator and  spontaneous fuel economy readings. ‘Engage’ drops the tachometer for a power meter that gives the battery and engine output power levels. Last of the configurations is the most complex, ‘Empower’, displaying the power to the wheels with an EV mode threshold overlay and an accessory power consumption device.

The Ford Fusion Hybrid is well-equipped with a basic six-disc CD changer along with a MP3-playback and AM/FM/Sirius Satellite Radio. The Fusion’s basic stereo is excellent, all credit goes to the standard Sync by Microsoft. The voice-controlled system consists of a standard USB port that is compatible with portable storage devices, flash devices and MP3 players that includes iPods and iPhones . it also provides standard Bluetooth connectivity for hands-free calling and A2DP stereo audio streaming. Also featuring is a hard-disk-based navigation system that combines with the Sirius connection for fuel prices, real-time traffic, weather conditions and other services.

Ford has also beefed up on the safety front, such as the Blind Spot Information System which utilizes radar detection to keep tabs on the Fusion’s blind spot plus up to 10 feet behind the vehicle, the Cross traffic monitoring and rear proximity alerts use the same radar technology and are very handy while parking. This system is so sensitive that it warns if there are pedestrians around; there also is a rearview camera that features a hidden display in the rearview mirror, which is a very smart piece of equipment.

To sum up, the Fusion  may look dull and boring on the outside as well as on the inside, but with all these features and a price tag like that, there isn’t much to complain about. But if you want to have fun and games and are mostly the adventurous type then stay away from it, far away. The Ford Fusion Hybrid goes on sale in March 2010.

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