I rent cars a lot(!) for work reasons. For two days this week, I had a 2013 Ford Fusion hybrid with ~11k miles on the clock. It was my first experience driving a hybrid for more than a mile or two. With all of the threads regarding electric cars, I wanted to add some thoughts about one of the newest hybrids.
I'm reluctant to admit it here, but I loved it. Granted the driving experience is only appliance level, but, for doing what most of us need a car to do 98% of the time (point A to point B), it was awesome. I did 2 long highway trips (~300 miles each) and a fair amount of city driving too. I was amazed when my gas mileage would increase when I started city driving!
The fit/finish was quite nice. The interior is well laid out, the stereo was great, seats felt wonderful, sight lines were good and the interior room was quite generous. It's quite a bit larger than my 2004 BMW 3-series. My kids were in the back seat briefly and had tons of room. The trunk space is shaped a little strangely, perhaps due to the batteries, but is super deep.
The driving experience is different. The brakes are touchy and not super linear. Steering felt nice and the suspension felt buttoned up yet fairly compliant.
The most interesting component was managing the EV vs gas motor propulsion. Through the graphics displayed on the dash, it is simple to tell which system the car is using and the transition is virtually seamless. The feedback from the car regarding the propulsion also instantly converted me to driving more conservatively, because it becomes a game to try to stay on the EV side. The car also "coaches" you to brake in the best manner possible in order to capture as much regenerative energy as possible.
While on the highway, I averaged ~37.5 MPG while cruising at 75 MPH with the A/C on full blast. Once in the city, the MPG would climb north of 40/gallon. Pretty amazing.
