Ford’s Euro-designed Fusion sedan is a pretty handsome ride, and it’s loaded with all of the latest technology. However, it’s what you don’t see on first glance that will spark attention. Check out the little round door on the front fender. Strange place for gas, right? It’s not a Porsche or old VW Beetle, so yep, this Fusion has been plugged.
There are three main versions of the Fusion: the four-cylinder, the hybrid, and the Energi. In Fordspeak, “Energi” means at least part of the car’s energy comes from an outlet. Fusion Energi can travel up to 21 miles as a pure electric after charging its air-cooled lithium-ion batteries for 2.5 hours on 240v or 7 hours in 120v current.
After that, a 2.0-liter Atkinson-Cycle gas engine runs the car as a typical hybrid. Total vehicle range, charged and gassed, is 620 miles. At full burn, the system delivers 195 horsepower. A button in the console lets drivers determine when they want to run fully electric. Ford claims 108/92 MPGe city/hwy, and 100 MPGe combined. Cost to fully charge the vehicle is about $1 (based on a national average of $0.10 per kWh).
There are other magic tricks. Regenerative brakes re-capture up to 95% of the energy normally lost during braking, returning it to the battery pack as electricity. Virtually everything on the car – air conditioning compressor, water pumps, heater, power steering, vacuum pump – are electrically-powered.
Even without the cosmic powertrain, the Fusion is a class leader. It’s beautiful, looking like a scaled-down Aston Martin Rapide. The body is taut and streamlined, complemented by the family grille, 17” alloys, and semi-flying buttress rear roofline. It’s Ford’s most striking sedan since the original Taurus. Inside is even better.
If Audi merged with Apple, you’d be looking at the resulting interior. There are plenty of places to plug your iDevices, but you can also tap into Bluetooth. Ford is listening to complaints about MyFord Touch and simplified the controls for audio and climate, even providing real knobs for volume/tuning and direct tuning for satellite radio.
Soft touch surfaces, satin silver trim, and restrained use of dark woodgrain are decidedly upscale and convincingly European. Our test car also came with heated leather seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, power-folding mirrors, and 110v outlet. Safety, enhanced with a backing camera and knee airbags, rates an overall five stars.
Slapping pavement, power is metered as if by misers, but battery weight low in the chassis gives the Fusion Energi a planted feel, both when it’s traveling straight-ahead and through corners. Typical in hybrids, the re-gen brakes can be a little slow to respond, and then do so aggressively, all in the name of generating electricity. It takes some getting used to. Unlike typical hybrids, the transition from battery to gas is near-seamless. Acceleration is acceptable, but won’t shock your socks.
Ford made a good effort with the Fusion Energi, balancing electric range with overall cost. Still, you can burn a pile of fossils for the difference in price between a base four-cylinder Fusion and the (cough, choke, sneeze, faint) $38,700 Fusion Energi. More perplexing, the Ford C-Max Energi starts at $32,950. Same MPGs, same grille, same passenger count, better utility. Hmmm…
Other competitors include the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius plug-in.
Storm Forward!
2014 Ford Fusion Energi
Five-passenger, FWD sedan
Powertrain: 7.6 kWh Li-ion batteries, 2.0-liter I4
Total Output: 195 horsepower
Suspension f/r: Ind/ind
Wheels: 17”/17” alloy f/r
Brakes: regen disc/disc fr/rr
Must-have features: MPGs, Style
Driving range (approx.): 21/620 miles electric/total
Top speed (elect/full): 85/102 mph
Fuel economy: 100/43 mpg combined/gas
Assembly: Hermosillo, Mexico
Base/as-tested price: $38,700/$40, 585