2013 Ford Fusion debuts along with 47-MPG Fusion Hybrid, 100-MPGe Fusion Energi

The v sells on space, the alpha on the 3rd row. Either would be compromised by the larger battery. Until energy density can be increased significantly certain platforms won't suit PHEV well.

 

I'd be perfectly happy to pickup v plug-in with a somewhat lesser cargo area than v. I think most people looking at plugins will think of that as a very viable compromise.

To me aggressive would be trying to maintain the same kind of dominance in PHEVs that Prius has in hybrids.

 

The 2.0 ecoboost does match or exceed the out going V6 in output. Plus it's been out in the Edge and Explorer for at least year, so it has some real world data behind it.

At one time, the Nissan Altima didn't have a V6, and buyers looking for it were pointed at the Maxima. Perhaps directing people to the Taurus was a consideration.

Perhaps.
While optimization is possible with a standardize test like the EPA, the CR test is not repeatable. They don't test in the rain or snow, but temperatures do swing between summer and winter in Connecticut. One test leg is also in public traffic. Consumers need to be aware of their fuel economy with their current vehicle in order to make a proper judgement of what they can expect in a new one from the either reported test results.

For academic interest, the released Fusion hybrid numbers are both one shy of the gen2 Prius' new EPA adjusted ones.

15hp isn't that much difference, and if the AWD Fusion is around 3600lbs, the hybrid shouldn't be far from the HyCam. Besides, acceleration comes down to torque. What is the Camry's number? Toyota didn't feel like listing it.

That is the real question. Toyota really under cut the the Fusion hybrid with 2012 Camry. Is Ford willing to decontent the 2013 to narrow the diffference?

As to why the article didn't bring up the Prius. Despite what the EPA says, the liftback will make the Prius a hatchback/wagon to the general public, and they won't look it if they are looking at sedans.

 

The world is not europe. They have not even anounced some things for north america yet, but I know they plan on selling this thing in China. The fusion is a global platform with serious input from europe. That does not mean engine or options are the same in all markets. Not selling something in 2012 does not mean that it won't be sold in 2014.

I have no idea how you would have gotten that from anything I posted. The fusion energi will not even be available until the end of the year. If there is strong demand for the fusion and/or c-max energi say in 2014, they can quickly ramp up production. I would expect a slow roll out of the energi, just as nissan, toyota, and gm have had slow roll outs of their plug-in cars.

 

hybrids and mondeo dont sell in china... only chance they have selling it outside usa is europe or japan... it is too big for japan, and they are not sure if they will sell it in europe... thats as far from agressive as it can get

 

Last month, I was on a business trip for two days and I had a Ford Focus rental car with Ecoboost. At max horsepower, it was comparable to a much more powerful engine - I was impressed how much that 4-cylinder was pumping out. However, the turbo had a lot of lag (yes, it's
"Eco" and like the Eco mode on any fuel sipper, the accelerator needs to be pressed further to get more power because the objective is to drive gentle and save fuel. However, when the pedal is put to the floor (panic situation), it seems like it takes several seconds for the turbo to spool up before you get a jerk of acceleration. If you're in a driving situation where you need to get out of an idiot's path fast to save your life ... you will be disappointed with Eco-boost. That's something Ford needs to fix. I wouldn't mind having the torque of electric motors for those first few seconds.

 

problem with "fixing" it, is that it would kill the EPA mileage . Thats why Ford is delaying accelerator response. I noticed the same in their diesel when I drove it in Europe, marked difference from Avensis diesel which gave more instant response to the throttle. And thats a way to "optimize" EPAs too.

I wonder why new Fusion gets lower mpg than Camry 4cly though. Less hp and torque and 2 MPG less overall compared to Camry 2.5l 4cly. Small turbo engine does get better mpg, but again, i wonder at real life mileage of these small turbos, it usually is never as good.

 

Was the focus the 6spd dual clutch auto? If so it may be lag from that just as much as the turbo.

We have a fiesta with the same transmission and I have figured out why it has such a slow response.

When you cruise it will double shift when you let up on the throttle. You can be in 6th gear at 40mph, it does that for ECO obviously. When you get on it the 6th gear clutch has to disengage, engage 5th and then re-engage the original clutch to put you back into 4th where you should be for acceleration. (dual clutches are on 1/3/5 and 2/4/6 so they swap back and forth for fast shifts).

Meanhile you have floored it and your RPMs are rising so the computer is forced to slip the clutches so you dont have a nasty shift so now you have 3 clutch cycles plus slip.

I have found if you feather in you can force that first downshift faster and not upset the computer so much.

 

i dont quite understand why they dont offer "sport" button which changes its logic to more responsive one.

 

Do they run on regular gas?

 

Yes, they are direct injection to handle the higher boosted compression.

Torque is what the common man is feeling when talking about acceleration. It has a bigger play in a hybrid with its istantaneous application over an ICE which needs to spool up. The Prius is quicker off the line in day to day driving than some higher powered cars. Has Toyota released the HyCam's torque numbers? If the Fusion's is greater, it can have an edge in the 0 to 20 which may help in the 0 to 60.

 

Low is basically that. It will hold shifts to redline from 1st to 6th gear but its kinda silly to drive around at 5k RPM all the time.

There is also a hill mode which holds a gear longer so you can accel/decel on a mountain. I use it in corners a lot because it is easier to hit the button than drop to L. When you drop to L it forces a shift too so you get that rapid engine decel if you arent used to it.

 

Was this business trip in Europe? We don't get EcoBoost Foci here yet.

 

Mondeo sold about 8K units in china last month. Its small compared to american sales, but ford is just getting going in china and hopes to grow rapidly. They are waiting for the 2013 redesign to sell the hybrid over there. I have no idea how much the hybrid was sell. Ford ran chinese focus groups and made changes to the fusion design based on their input. I was bringing that up to show that it is a world car, which should be able to absorb NRE well because of world wide sales. The prius is also a world car.

Both ford and toyota are employing a fast follower strategy on plug ins. Both were hurt by the global auto recession. The energi strategy is more aggressive than toyota's, but these are small differences.

 

they will sell ten of them (hybrids).

i dont see how energi strategy is more agressive when they wont produce anywhere near amount of cars as Toyota.

 

There will be two Energi models, Fusion and C-max, next year v. Toyota's one plug in. They also push the envelope a little more on the EV range.

Even if they don't produce more vehicles, the differences can mean more buzz and walk in traffic.

 

I do not have sales figures for 2014, when these cars will have national distribution, do you? Toyota will not nationally distribute the prius phv in the US until some undetermined time in 2013, and until then will have very limited availability. I said small differences. It will depend on pricing and availability. Toyota had a big head start on ford, promising a plug in prius based on an existing platform in 2010. Its taking them until 2012 and it has a very limited range. Ford has since designed a plug-in with a longer range although details still need to be established, on two platforms. This is my understanding of more aggressive. It is nothing like the aggressiveness of gm doing an entirely new platform with a plug-in only car. Aggressiveness does not necessarily better sales. I don't really have a dog in this hunt, toyota versus ford in plug ins. I was disappointed with the prius phv price and range. We still don't know if I'll be disapointed with the energi price and range.

 

Hi guys and Gals ;-)
I gotta say I LOVE LOVE our Prius but if the Fusion energi is reasonably priced and the EV range is decent I will be all over it;-)
I think its a great looking car.

 

Yes, but I hope they begin to capture much more than the current 2% market share here.