2013 Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid

i wonder why no one has commented on the vid.

 

i'll say one thing, he makes a good case for having the plug in the rear fender like the pip.

 

...where's ...the ...f'ing ...trunk space ...??

Seriously that's one of the more annoying turn-offs about Ford's hybrids.

I have stuff to pack for my trips; I don't need a short-range battery blocking the way

plus the Energi doesn't even look aerodynamic from the exterior.

 

I regularly have 4- or 5 Styrofoam coolers in the trunk to allow a 50 mile trip to Costco. Two of us, those freezer containers and huge cartons of TP, Kleenex, paper towels plus about two double-Xerox-sized boxes of assorted "just gotta haves" come back home in the back seat. Trader Joe's is nearby so there are 2-3 sacks from there too. Now where would that fit? Another duty is the trash run to the dump. Typical is a stack of newspapers, some cardboard, 4-5 kitchen trash bags and a large box of recyclables. Where would that all fit?

This might make a fine second car but for a family with a house to maintain I need trunk space in the SUV class and Ford just doesn't make one with room plus economy yet. I looked because I was positively inclined towards Ford at the time.

 

One solution for this problem would be to "pay" for the Local Town Sanitation Dept. to pick-up and recycle for ALL those items.

 

the non plug in fusion hybrid and hycam both have decent trunks, but you can't beat the prius for versatility.

 

You can put the roomy rear seats down.

 

Don't be fooled by looks. For example - the Lamborghini Countach which may look aerodynamic, has a drag CD of .42 and that's pathetic. A Ford c-max on the other hand has a drag CD of of only .29 which is mighty good.

Yet?
Let me take you ALL the way back to the year 2004 when Ford hybridized their Escape SUV. Its EPA, around 30mpg. You can pick up a 5 or 6 year old one for a song.
.

 

I test drove a Ford Escape hybrid and it is a very nice ride. I took it on a deliberately poor, local road and it smoothed out all the potholes and cracks. Yet it steered with better accuracy than I remember on similar sized vehicles.

Bob Wilson

 

The dump is on the way on 90% of the trips I'll make and the county dump recycles all those items so I save neither gas nor the environment by paying the private contractor (no town pickup) to add to his load and drive his polluting load in his smoking diesel with trash spilling out onto the side of the roadway to a further dump.

Just pointing out that there are practical considerations to a car purchase that should be factored in. (I'm likewise amazed when I watch the "House Hunters" TV shows and never see the systems within a house discussed. No "how old is the roof, the HVAC, etc. or what are the annual fuel costs" questions hit the air.)

My route today has 4 stops one of which gets rid of smelly diapers. They are all along the same road. Small town living. OTOH, I live in an area where the roads go up and down rolling hills and speed limits vary along the route from 25 to 70. Tough to exceed EPA figures here. I've broken 50 only once. But I do get the advertised 42.

The v works for me and my needs, it may not for everyone. And that is just fine.

 

In the Lambo's defense, that CD is likely because of downforce generators required to keep it on the road at the excessive speeds it was designed for.

But point taken. A more subtle example would be the Prius c and Insight2. The c looks more like a typical small hatch, but has the lower CD.

 

The countach is an ancient design.

The current Lambos get cd of 0.33 and 0.34. That 12 cylinder engine is a guzzler though. Lucky most of these cars are driven less than 5000 miles a year, they are not commuters.
Compare Side-by-Side

The prius c is about low cost The fusion is an aerodynamic sedan. The tesla S is about the best sedan. The cmax though could be more aerodynamic if it was designed for its job, instead of as a european gasoline tall car.

 

So is the Insight2. Sharing the profile with the original Insight and Prius, it looks more aerodynamic than the c, but it isn't. The first Camry hybrid shaved some points off its cd with some tweaks that most people wouldn't notice. The point is that not looking aerodynamic doesn't always equate to not being so.

 

I don't know what honda was thinking with the insight, but it clearly didn't work and was less aero than the civic. Maybe it was we want to look like the prius but be cheaper. I don't think the prius c's aerodynamics are a problem if you are going for a lower priced car, but.... they do hurt highway mpg versus the regular prius liftback and prius phv. I expect the next gen prius liftback to be even more aero (cdA), but this may be mainly by reducing frontal area.

The fusion hybrid is quite aerodynamic compared to the last generation about 0.27 as opposed to the 0.33. Just don't get the bigger tires which hurt aerodynamics and rolling resistance. This is about the same as the camry hybrid. When substance (aerodynamics) is more important than style you get the Mercedes cla blue edition 0.22, tesla S 0.24, and prius 0.25, although IMHO all of these designed for aero cars are good looking.