2013 Ford Fusion debuts along with 47-MPG Fusion Hybrid, 100-MPGe Fusion Energi

Yes - that is the big question. FFE was a real snoozer after they announced the price.

If these Ford plugins are anywhere close to PIP price, I'd have to imagine that they will steal a lot of PIP sales.

I also have to wonder now - did GM make a mistake making the Volt in compact segment ? If they had used the D segment instead and sold it for the same price - I think it would have have been received much better.

Apparently, Nissan has been caught napping too. They should have had the Altima PHEV ready this year (not to say it can't still be announced later).

 

I don't have a good idea of pricing. I think gm is happy with the volt at this size. The cruze is much more successful than they expected and they think the volt comparison price is a good driver. I would prefer more plug ins sold, but maybe that will come soon. I really like the look of the new fusion, I hope it has a high capacity battery pack.

 

Energi will have 20 mile AER ...

 

well Volt was sized on purpose to fit demands of worldwide sales better...

I dont really buy this "fact" that they are happy with poor Volt sales because it helps them sell cruze... thats load of *. They could have used billions they spent on developing Volt a lot better than marketing campaign for Cruze .

 

promising things in PRs is not agressive at all. GMs have been promising things in PRs since 2004, how "next year" their "hybrid" will be much better than Prius.

Focus PHEV is laughable effort. I dont know how they had the nerve of presenting Focus with 90% of its trunk taken by battery.

If thats the same for Fusion/Mondeo, then they trully dont make it more than PR efforts from Ford.

To me this is not an effort:

 

p.s. I am not being down on Ford, I want them to do better than Toyota.
I am just pointing out low little hybrids they sell and that Focus is trully an poor effort, as it is unusable car due to that freak trunk.

 

Why not comment on the fusion hybrid and energi on this thread instead of putting up a focus pure ev photo and pretending its a hybrid.

 

because we have not seen Fusion hybrid trunk yet.
Focus is not PHEV?

I thought both Focus and Fusion Energi are PHEVs with 20 mile range.

but again, you are basing your statements of how agressive is manufacturer based on their PR's... Ford sold 30k hybrids last year. Is that aggressive?

I have been following hybrids for a long long time now. I remember GMs two mode statements from 2004 clearly. So to me, to see someone being aggressive, I need to see cars being sold. Not PRs. Pretty much all Manufacturers have been publishing hybrid PRs for past almost 10 years. We can see what happened with them (nothing).

It seems to me that Toyota is pushing for 15% of their complete production to be Hybrid in 2012.

I hope Ford tries to do the same as well.. without large production, their hybrids will be money losers and thus will end up being just PR shows, like Volt.

 

because we have not seen Fusion hybrid trunk yet.
Focus is not PHEV?

I thought both Focus and Fusion Energi are PHEVs with 20 mile range.

but again, you are basing your statements of how agressive is manufacturer based on their PR's... Ford sold 30k hybrids last year. Is that aggressive?

I have been following hybrids for a long long time now. I remember GMs two mode statements from 2004 clearly. So to me, to see someone being aggressive, I need to see cars being sold. Not PRs. Pretty much all Manufacturers have been publishing hybrid PRs for past almost 10 years. We can see what happened with them (nothing).

It seems to me that Toyota is pushing for 15% of their complete production to be Hybrid in 2012.

I hope Ford tries to do the same as well.. without large production, their hybrids will be money losers and thus will end up being just PR shows, like Volt.

 

here you go

 

No that is part of a 23 kwh battery pack on a pure BEV, the rest is under the back seat. There is no engine or gas tank in the focus BEV. The fusion energi trunk should be about 1 cubic foot smaller than the camry hybrid's, but the fusion will be able to plug in and have blended electric range. Preliminary specs are earlier on this thread.

 

Any links - or is it your theory ?

 

Focus Electric is a pure BEV. It was designed by Magna and "sold" to Ford. Ford will bring out C-Max hybrids which are built on the same platform as Focus - but are cross overs, rather than hatch backs.

The Fusion & C-Max Hybrid/Energi OTOH, were designed by Ford. They both have flat floors when the rear seat is folded. Ofcourse PHEV will eat a bit of cargo room - but that is an acceptable compromise (unlike the FFE "trunc").

 

The Fusion hybrid EPA fuel economy numbers sound impressive. I wonder what width tyres they put on the tested car.

 

prliminary information on tires for the the fusion hybrid
http://media.ford.com/images/10031/2013_FusionHybrid_Specs.pdf

 

you think they will get 47 MPG with 235 tires?

 

Found some juicy bits of information so I am pasting the paragraphs I like. It looks like the new Fusion Hybrid will weight and cost less. It'll include all the advancements made in HSD, like electric water pump and exhaust heat recovery.

Kuzak realizes the level of product required to seriously challenge Toyota’s Camry and Honda’s Accord as segment leaders, not to mention fending off the surging Hyundai Sonata and a new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. For this task, Ford leadership clearly gave Chief Engineer Adrian Whittle and his team the resources to make the new Fusion a class leader, as it moves from its seven-year-old Mazda G-derived CD3 platform to the new CD4 architecture developed by Ford Europe.

The CD4 is claimed to be stiffer in torsion and bending, and more mass-efficient than the former platform. It will also underpin Lincoln’s new MKZ, a concept version of which also appeared in Detroit.

The new hybrid powertrains are Ford’s first electrified drive systems fully developed and manufactured in the U.S. (in house).

“We’re doing the [air-cooled] battery pack, controller, dc inverter, motor, and thermal control of the pack—everything except the cells,” said Sherif Marakby, Director of Electrification Programs and Engineering. Related ancillaries on the hybrid model (which launches with the conventional versions) include electric water pump, electric A/C compressor, and a system to recapture exhaust heat.

The Fusion Energi PHEV launches a few months after the other two versions. To minimize the bill of material and reduce systems cost, it carries over a number of technologies from Ford’s parallel power-split transmission architecture, Marakby said, including an air-cooled battery pack and permanent-magnet ac traction motor.

Ford claims a remarkable .27 Cd for the new Fusion, a result of extensive modeling, CFD analysis, and full-scale wind-tunnel work, said Whittle. The LED taillamps were chosen for their aero-enhancing aspect ratio, he said, and an active grille shutter system will help lower drag at highway speeds.

Source

 

I'm intrigued so far...

 

Ford is the only US car company I'm impressed with. They didn't take the bailout and they're making cars like this. They seem to "get it".