Two Hybrid Household

I'm happy you finally found a friend for Priapus. I'm sure he's tickled to have a new playmate.

Congrats on the new car & we can't wait to hear about the inevitable MPG comparisons.

 

congrats tony and wife! my wife has a hycam and is thinking of checking out the fusion next time around. did you test the hycam? if so, can you give us your comparison impressions? thanks!

 

understand completely, that's how we've made it for 32 years.
mine had several camry's so the shoe fit. she is interested in buying american next time and will drive the fusion. seats are a big part of the 'fit'. mpg is impressive, we've never done better than 45 on a full tank. size will be interesting, i don't thnk she'll want to go smaller and we take it to florida every winter so comfort is important. i'll be interested in all aspects of your analysis after you've had it a while.

 

That's great, congratulations to you! Very impressive mpg, considering the size of that car.

I drove the current model Camry as a dealer service loaner for a few days when the traction battery was being replaced on my HiHy. I felt that car seemed way too big (from a handling and maneuverability perspective) compared to the actual interior space available. Perhaps that is what your wife means by "fit"?

I owned a Ford Taurus 8 years ago, and that car was much easier to handle.

 

exactly, that's why we like it! although, i do find it roomy compared to the prius.

 

I looked seriously at the FFH before buying the Prius. It is a nice looking car. It will be interesting to see side-by-side comparisons to the Prius.

 

it's interesting how we all think differently. my wife is still trying to beat me on percentages, but she has no interest in learning the best methods for doing that. that being said, she does win occasionally, much to my chagrin.

 

The Ford Fusion Hybrid started out as my first choice
when I was car shopping in February. In the end, I
didn't buy one because of Ford's irrational pricing
strategy for the hybrid option.

My former company provided me with various Fords
as company cars. I had a new Ford about every 18
months, during my twelve years there.

I would have never bought a Ford on my own before
this, but after driving them, I was impressed with
the improvements in features and quality over that
time. So much so, that last year I bought a 2009
Fusion for the family, and I selected a 2010 Fusion
for my last company car.

My two Fusions got 30-32 mpg overall, and 37 mpg
on the highway. I considered that to be excellent
mileage for a mid-size sedan. My prior Fords, sedans
and minivans, got in the low 20s in comparison.

The Fusion Hybrid is rated at roughly 40 mpg overall.
In other words, it can get 20-30% better mileage
than a traditionally powered Fusion. Since Ford
only allows you to buy the Fusion Hybrid in an
ultra high-end options package, the starting
price is $28K (my local Ford dealer wanted $30-31K
for the typically outfitted model). This is 88% more
than what I paid for my 2009! I could not justify
paying 88% more to gain 7ish mpg more (works
out to a 70 year payback for 12k miles/year at
$2.80/gal).

Why does Ford offer theoretically attractive fuel
savings only on a Fusion package that costs an
arm and a leg? That doesn't make sense, unless
the high end options are subsidizing the true
production cost of their hybrid technology. They
would have more success if they offered options
packages similar to the Prius II or III for the
Fusion Hybrid.

So, reluctantly, I passed on the Fusion Hybrid.
I do miss Ford's Sync, though!

 

How's the space in the back end of the fusion hybrid? Can you get anything more than a few shopping bags in it? Like say.. a big stroller or kid's bike?
I know the Camry hybrid trunk is next to useless so I'm curious how the fusion truck compares to that. (obviously it's not going to compare to the Prius hatchback).

I have mixed emotions on Ford. I've had 2 that were absolute lemons, but my brother had an explorer that served him quite well.

 

In my conventional Fusions, the back/trunk was quite
roomy. I could fit a full size adult road bike laying down
in the back/trunk. There is some weirdness with the opening
between the trunk and the passenger compartment, in
other words, that is a bottleneck - narrower and shorter
than the height-width of the trunk itself.

I'm guessing that the Fusion Hybrid has the same trunk
layout as the conventional Fusion, but I haven't seen
the Fusion Hybrid trunk in person.

 

Lifetime is simpler -- she just needs to hand you the gas receipts.

Total_mileage / Total_fuel

The dealer usually fills the car up, so calculate anytime the car has just been filled up. Total_mileage is actually minus what was on the odometer at the dealer.

 

My wife loves her Yaris too much to "upgrade".

So until Toyota makes a tiny hybrid...and sells it in Canada...IQ where are you?

 

hycam was the same way. paid 17K for our 05 camry and 25K for the hycam. i think your right about the extra's paying for the hybrid.
but don't compare hybrid epa to fusion ral world, you'll beat the epa on the hybrid as well. it's still a lot to pay and those are great numbers on the regular fusion, same as we got on the camry. the hycam is really quiet though and the upgrades are nice. and we can afford the extra to promote the hybrid technology so worth it for us!