Have PiP, just bought a Ford Fusion Energi...

The Fusion is much, much quieter and more comfortable on a long road.

 

Update from the Bonneville Salt Flats: after seven runs down that looooong strip, both upwind and downwind, with two drivers in attendance, we report that the Ford Fusion's governor definitely kicks in right at 105 MPH despite the engine+electric assist still having ponies in reserve. The Fusion was stable at all speeds, even into the slightly sideways headwind, once we got used to the peculiar track surface. Track air temperature was at an even 100 degrees (4:30 to 6 PM local time), and the car sure spun its radiator fan @ max RPM after every run.

But then we discovered the salt, the salt all caked inside the wheel wells - oh, the sweet agony of cleaning after the fun and naturally the displayed average MPGe took a hit as well, he hee...

 

...and yes, I'd love to try the same in our chassis-stiffened PiP - just have to drive it all the way out here from Virginia. maybe next Summer...

 

Fusion road trip update. Dateline: Chicago.

Trip odometer: 6054 miles. MPGe: 42.2 (was 47.9 at start after 4283 miles @ home).

Usual road speed: 75+ MPH on freeways in the Eastern half (East of the Mississippi), 80+ MPH on the Western half.

Freeway / at-grade road ratio: about 65/35 guesstimate. Would have been more even except for the Nebraska section

Charging enroute: four full charges. Once via L2 @ Minneapolis, three times via OEM EVSE at old-style motor hotels in the West, where you drive up to and park at your room door.

Significant stealth charging: twice. Once a 2/3 stealth charge previously reported on the very long, constant descent on US Route 16 @ the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming, where the indicated EV miles went from zero to "37" while the traction battery indicator showed about 2/3 full. Once on the 18-mile-road descent from Pikes Peak, where the traction battery indicator went from empty to completely full while the EV miles went to 43. At that point, the traction battery refused any more charge for the remaining three miles of the Pikes Peak road. And no, you can't get something from nothing - the "43 EV miles" turned into 23 actual road miles when we measured actual results on a flat freeway immediately afterward. Note: the Pikes Peak ascent and descent were both in L transmission setting.

So, the car ain't new anymore, he hee...

 

Back home in Northern Virginia. Trip mileage: 6965 miles (uuuf!). Indcated MPGe on the Fusion display when we started: 47.9. Indicated MPGe on the Fusion's display when we pulled into the driveway: 42.2. Gasoline gallons used during the trip: 168. My hand-calculated MPG for the trip (miles/gallons) = 41.5, and considering how we drove this beastie out West, I'm happy with that .

Yes, the PiP would have done this trip with a better gas mileage. The Fusion was a better car for it: quieter, more powerful, more roomy: two adults, two sleeping bags, two sleeping pads, a two-person Eureka tent, a Playmate food cooler, two dress suits for a wedding in Minenapolis enroute, two duffle bags (one each), two+ coats, sweatshirts etc. for the mountains, two notebook/laptop backpacks, and the usual dwindling case of water bottles, the usual bug / window washing fluid jug, the dry goods food box, the usual trip mementoes and knicknacks you pick up during such a trip, i.e. a hand-made wooden inlaid canoe paddle from an old Army buddy at whose house we stayed, a loose bottle of Bourbon for those cold campground evenings and the two mandatory Stetson hats we picked up in Cody Wyoming. We actually had room to spare every day with all this stuff in the car.

IMHO - the Ford 2013 Fusion is a damn fine car. It has its quirks, like any car make & model - but it's a solid car and easy to live with. Oh, and it's "Made in America" or at least in neighboring northern Mexico.

However, I'll take the Toyota PiP's GPS any day over the Ford Fusion's GPS. Sloooooooooooow to load, loses its path often, re-programs the route randomly for no reason when restarted at a gas station etc. Phoooey!

 

Now in late 2014, after two cross-country father-son Fusion trips and with the Fusion showing around 42k miles and the PiP with 48k miles, were the PiP to somehow wreck, I'd get a Fusion myself as my next car.

I switched to Michelin Defenders on the PiP this Summer and the Hedgehog is about to do the same on the Fusion (he doesn't know it yet - it's a Christmas thing). The Defenders have really quieted and also improved the PiP's ride and as a result I strongly recommend these tires all around. If they last for their advertised mileage, they might be the last tires the PiP will wear while I'm the owner.