Review YOUR hybrid car

[KenH]

Ford Fusion belonging to the university. 870 miles, mostly 70mph with the cruise on. 31.9 gallons of gas. 27.3mpg. Seemed to do better around town, but sucked gas on the highway. I was not impressed. On the same trip my 1992 Olds Achieva returned 34mpg.

Performance not quite equal to my Achieva with the base engine. Something odd about the driveline leaves a vague feeling of discontent. Don't know what it is, other than a gnawing feeling the car is about to go up in a puff of plastic insulation smoke. Comfort level is about the same as the Achieva, a tad quieter and a bit better ride, but the handling leaves much to be desired, especially in traffic on greasy city streets in the rain. No love there.
Dash is loaded with a ridiculous quantity of electronic distractions. Expect people to die due to distracted Fusion drivers. It's a car, not a computer work station. Drive it. I expect most Fusion gimmicks will die quickly.

All in all, I wouldn't buy one due to the ambiance for the driver. Not very confidence inspiring at all. Also, my short commute and local errands are more efficiently made with a small motorcycle (consistent 75-80mpg). Any destination of consequence involves a highway drive in which the weight and complexity of the hybrid driveline works against efficiency. My driving certainly isn't the type which plays to any hybrid's capabilities. I expect for urban and suburban use the Fusion would make a better showing because it didn't seem to burn much fuel for all the city driving we did around Knoxville. In any case, I'd ditch the low rolling resistance tires and mount some with a stickier tread.

[Rogue]

Ken, I drove the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid version of the Fusion Hybrid.  I can't confirm the mileage but the driving dynamics was really good.  This after comparing it to other cars in its class.  The powertrain was ultra-smooth, especially in the electric to ICE transition.  Engine fire up from a stop was imperceptible.  Handling was luxury car good, not overly sporty, but it was well controlled when pushed in corners with good body control.  I did prefer the Buick LaCrosse with eAssist.  Nevertheless, both cars were way, WAY better than the Lexus 250H (hybrid).  The Lexus was overly stiff, SLOW, and the powertrain was noisier and worked too hard to be in a luxury car.  

The dashboard electronics is the standard in today's cars in that class.  Even compact cars selling for $18k+ have pretty "techie" dashboard displays.  In midsize cars like the Fusion, Camry, Malibu, Accord, buttons and displays are plentiful as you go up the ladder in price and options.  Luxury hybrid cars have more.  The new buzzword in today's luxury cars are "infotainment", which is a melding of information and entertainment in one or more dashboard displays.  

In any case, the most efficient means of powered transportation is in a scooter or electric motorcycle.  Two wheels beats four in every efficiency contest.

[Cablebandit]

  Two wheels beats four in every efficiency contest.

How about drag coefficient?  

[Rogue]

You have a point.  

I should say, "overall efficiency contest".  

However, fit a motorcycle with one of those RIFLE "bullet" fairings designed for efficiency competitions and it's all over for the car.  Google "Parabellum", which I think is the new name.  

[KenH]

Ken, I drove the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid version of the Fusion Hybrid.  I can't confirm the mileage but the driving dynamics was really good.  This after comparing it to other cars in its class.  The powertrain was ultra-smooth, especially in the electric to ICE transition.  Engine fire up from a stop was imperceptible.  Handling was luxury car good, not overly sporty, but it was well controlled when pushed in corners with good body control.  I did prefer the Buick LaCrosse with eAssist.  Nevertheless, both cars were way, WAY better than the Lexus 250H (hybrid).  The Lexus was overly stiff, SLOW, and the powertrain was noisier and worked too hard to be in a luxury car.  

The dashboard electronics is the standard in today's cars in that class.  Even compact cars selling for $18k+ have pretty "techie" dashboard displays.  In midsize cars like the Fusion, Camry, Malibu, Accord, buttons and displays are plentiful as you go up the ladder in price and options.  Luxury hybrid cars have more.  The new buzzword in today's luxury cars are "infotainment", which is a melding of information and entertainment in one or more dashboard displays.  

In any case, the most efficient means of powered transportation is in a scooter or electric motorcycle.  Two wheels beats four in every efficiency contest.

I just had a gnawing feeling something wasn't quite right with the car. After all, it's driven only by government education employees, so just keeping itself running is probably more than can be reasonably expected of it.

As for a dash full of tech toys, let the lawsuits begin.

I'm looking at an electric motorcycle for commuting and running errands. Lipo battery prices are coming down, and my commute is slow and short. The entire town is 5 miles from limit to limit, and I live 2 blocks from the middle of it. I can also access a 20 amp outlet at work for free, so the state can pay my energy bills.   I'm thinking a TW200 with street tires just for the funkiness factor.  

[coho]

Ken, you might consider an eROCKIT instead, coming soon to US shores at a significantly reduced ridiculously high price.  Used to be around $40K (when they had sold 8 or 9) now under $20K (they've sold more than 40 of 'em).
Human-electric hybrid motor-bicycle that goes 50mph.

[Kootenanny]

The dashboard electronics is the standard in today's cars in that class.  Even compact cars selling for $18k+ have pretty "techie" dashboard displays.  In midsize cars like the Fusion, Camry, Malibu, Accord, buttons and displays are plentiful as you go up the ladder in price and options.  Luxury hybrid cars have more.  The new buzzword in today's luxury cars are "infotainment", which is a melding of information and entertainment in one or more dashboard displays.  

I'm with ken here--the one time I drove a hybrid (Honda Insight), I admit to spending more time concentrating on all the fancy dashboard displays than the road.  The car seems set up to encourage efficiency competition, not efficient driving...definitely aimed more at "tech-savvy youngsters" than this old fart...



(BTW, I scoff at pixie dust... )

[Rogue]

Koot, the Honda Insight is unfortunately at the bottom of the hybrid food chain as far as driving dynamics are concerned.  It’s not a bad economy car, but it makes the Prius look really good.  Road tests confirm your findings—it’s designed for maximum efficiency at the lowest price possible.  That was Honda’s goal with the Insight and that’s what you get.  

[Kootenanny]

Rogue, I drove the Insight a few years ago when my wife and I were shopping for a new car for her--she wanted to try out a Fit, which we did, but the salesman also insisted we try the Insight.

Both of us hated it.  Not so much the car, but the driving experience was so bland and colourless...no wonder I ended looking at the dash instead of the road...otherwise I would have fallen asleep.

BTW, neither of us liked the Fit, either.  My wife's best friend has one, and my wife liked the way the seats folded up, etc.  She wanted to drive one with a stickshift, though, hence the visit to the dealer; but while the manual transmission helped, the Fit would still be a step down from her current Ford Focus wagon...

[dorklord]

OK, technically any vehicle using two different sources of power is a hybrid.  I was thinking along the lines of the Leaf as a plug-in vehicle."

That makes sense. A leaf is certainly a 'plug in' vehicle, but lately the term 'plug-in' has been used as short for 'plug-in hybrid' as opposed to a "hybrid" that runs on gas or an electric car that runs only on it's batteries.

The Prius will run on only the electric motor under certain circumstances.  Your last sentence is wrong based solely on the definition of hybrid vehicles.

I'm a bit confused...are you referring to this sentence? "Most 'hybrid' cars like the Prius aren't really hybrids, as they actually only run on gasoline, and use a battery to store some of the power produced by the gas engine for later use.

The Prius may run only on the electric motor under certain circumstances, but the for that electric motor comes from the battery pack, which was charged earlier by the gas engine (or by regenerative braking, which is another way of recapturing energy that came from the gas engine).