Test Drive: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

By Kevin Harrison

The problem with being good at something is that you likely won’t be good at it forever. And even if you are, there’s always someone who will surpass your greatness. If they’re at the bottom and you’re on top, they’ve got nothing to lose so they’ll take more risks to get to that number one spot. If you’re on top you likely won’t change your game up – just keep doing what you’re doing.

Take the car world for instance. Ford was the number two automaker for a good decade, but I never understood why. Their products were cheap, but you got what you paid for. If it wasn’t Explorers rolling over, it was Windstars stalling on the highway. If it wasn’t the sheer blandness and lack of effort put into the Taurus, it was, well, pretty much the same for the Focus. Yet people readily handed over their cash to Ford for sub-par product, much in the same way people hand over cash to McDonald’s for sub-par food. So Ford really didn’t have to do anything – they were still on top.

Toyota, meanwhile, wasn’t exactly on the bottom, but they were aiming for that top spot. Dedication, quality, fuel efficiency, reliability was Toyota’s plan to lure away loyal Ford customers and it worked. Ford got too comfortable on top and Toyota went in for the kill.

Now Toyota is the number one automaker. But it seems Toyota is now the one feeling a bit too comfy being the number one automaker with recalls on almost every single one of their product and and unwillingness to shake things up.

Ford is vying for the top spot yet again, so they’re taking more risks. And you really gotta take a risk if you’re willing to take on the mid-size sedan market where the Camry is sitting quite comfortably on top of most people’s car shopping lists.

Has Ford built a Camry killer, and is it enough to unseat Toyota’s reign at the top?

This is the Fusion’s second generation. The first was a bit of a styling departure for Ford and Ford has managed to make this second generation quite eye pleasant to the eye. Aside from the three bar grille and a single bar on the rear deck lid, chrome is thankfully kept to a minimum. A big departure for an American brand. The overall shape is evolutionary from the first generation with more angular headlights, less flashy tail lights and and more aggressive stance. The only indication of this Fusion being the hybrid model are exclusive wheels (which also look decent) to hybrid models and hybrid badging. Otherwise, there isn’t much difference. The Camry Hybrid takes on more styling changes to differentiate itself from its regular gas powered siblings.

But the Camry Hybrid isn’t the Fusion Hybrid’s only competition. There’s also the Nissan Altima Hybrid and rumours of a return of the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and Honda Accord Hybrids afloat. Of all those cars the Fusion Hybrid has the best efficiency score at 5.7 L/100 kms city and 6.5 L/100 kms highway. In fact, the Fusion Hybrid is the second most efficient hybrid available in our market, only being bested by the Toyota Prius. Not bad for such a large vehicle. This is thanks to the full hybrid system found under the hood where the Fusion can actually run solely on battery power up to 75 km/h. Ford claims a range of 1127 kilometres. But that may be modest as a team of professional drivers were able to get 2326 kms back in April on one tank of gas averaging 2.8 L/100 kms. Now that’s impressive!

Ford’s new hybrid system is much improved over the one found is the previous generation Escape Hybrid. The 2.5 litre 4 cylinder is 20% more powerful, yet it creates less emissions and is more efficient thanks to its 275 volt nickel battery pack. Like most hybrids, the Fusion Hybrid uses a very boring CVT transmission. Don’t expect much in terms of excitement here, but this is a hybrid after all. The electric motor combined with the gas engine makes 16 more horses than the standard 2.5 litre in a regular Fusion which is good enough for 191 horsepower. One disadvantage over the regular Fusion, however, is that the rear seats don’t fold flat thanks to that large battery pack. This makes the Fusion Hybrid a little less versatile, but the trunk size is still adequate and the front passenger seat actually folds flat.

The rest of the interior is much improved over the old Fusion with higher quality materials and a more user friendly centre stack. The gauges are definitely eye catching, but the blue combined with green and white font for the information system which let’s you know what the electric motor is doing is hard on the eyes and is way too busy. The Fusion has a plant vine which grows leaves on it the more efficiently you drive. It’s almost like a game challenging yourself to see how many leaves you can get on a single vine, which in turn trains you on how to drive efficiently, but that’s also distracting too. I found myself with my eyes off the road way too often doing this. It’s also worth noting that you lose leaves if you start driving like a jack-ass.

The Fusion Hybrid also comes with a 12 speaker Sony audio system which is superb. Combined with six free months of Sirius radio and you’ve got yourself quite a neat and technologically advanced cabin.

Like all hybrids, the Fusion Hybrid automatically shuts itself off when you come to a stop so you don’t idle. It automatically restarts itself once you take your foot off the brake – very seamlessly. The CVT is noisy at high RPM’s, but if you’re at high RPM’s most of the time, then chances are a hybrid isn’t for you in the first place since that uses lots of gas. There is actually good low speed torque of the line, but you won’t be winning any drag races either. If you hop in the car, turn the key and the battery is fully charged, you can run on the electric motor right away. If you turn on the air conditioning or heat while driving, unfortunately, you’re going to be using the gas engine more.

All this added technology means added weight, so handling isn’t the Fusion’s strong point – but again, if you want good handling, a Hybrid isn’t for you.

Who exactly is it for then? Well, obviously for people who want to save on gas, but also for people who are willing to pay for it, which kind of defeats the purpose in the first place. Still, the Fusion Hybrid offers lots of benefits to the environment too.

But I can say without a doubt that the Fusion Hybrid is probably one of the best balanced hybrids on the market in terms of performance and efficiency. You won’t get much of the former, but it’s more than what you’d get in, say, a Camry Hybrid.

Which answers my original question. Has Ford actually beat the Camry with this new Fusion. In terms of hybrid models, absolutely. And it’s a good sign of things to come from the once dominant brand. Which Toyota is playing the game of not changing a good thing, Ford is taking more risks, developing products properly and offering good value in the process.

Watch out, Toyota. Ford wants that top spot back.

Base Price: $31,999

Pros:

  • Good blend of power and efficiency
  • Lots of cool tech inside
  • Decent interior room

Cons:

  • Six grand more over a regular gasoline Fusion
  • Rear seats don’t fold flat
  • Noisy engine at high RPM’s
  • Colour scheme for gauges is distracting

Score: 7.5/10

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