Ford Hybrid Drops 5.5 MPG in MI Cold

by Robert Farago

Published: March 23rd, 2009

Many of our Best and Brightest have flagged the fact that cold weather may ding the Chevrolet’s gas/electric Hail Mary Volt’s performance. And now we have anecdotal, real world evidence for the challenge. Underneath an innocuous headline, “Fusion Hybrid Game-Changer for Ford,” a WardsAuto scribe gives us the 411 on the difference between the vehicle’s heavily advertised EPA number (38.5 mpg combined) and its cold weather efficiency. Byron Pope reveals, “The best we can squeeze out of the Fusion Hybrid is a combined 33 mpg (7.1 L/100 km). In all fairness, our seat time came in the midst of a brutal Michigan winter cold snap. Running the heater at nearly full blast most of the time siphons power from the battery causing the car to rely more often on its gasoline engine.” And that’s because using the heater changes the way the Fusion hybrid’s power-train works . . .

The weather also limits the speeds at which we are able to drive in all-electric mode. Ford says the Fusion Hybrid can travel up to 47 mph (76 km/h) on juice alone, significantly higher than most other hybrids on the road today.

However, we only are able to achieve about 30 mph (48 km/h) in all-electric mode. And that requires a feather-light touch on the accelerator. Pressing the pedal too hard immediately kick-starts the gas engine.

Otherwise, they love it! So what’s with the “may well be” and “game changer” defense?

Our tester stickers at $29,590, including a $725 destination and delivery charge. That’s a lot of money for a midsize sedan but about middle-of-the-pack for a hybrid. And when you add in the $3,400 available government tax credit, the Fusion Hybrid starts to look like quite the bargain.

Overall, the Fusion Hybrid is able to compete with, and often surpass, other hybrids in the market.

But its largest contribution may well be as a game-changer for Ford.

Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

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Bimmer on Mar 23, 2009
P71_CrownVic : Toyota can charge whatever they want and people will pay it. And that is because Toyota has a good reputation and great perception. Toyota doesn't have. It had good reputation. A friend of mine recently was shopping for a car to replace his 1993 4-cylinder Camry LE with 370,000km. He said I wish I could buy same car new. And he replaced it with 2009 Fusion SEL.

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Anonymous on Oct 30, 2009

[...] batteries have done a great deal to improve extreme temperature performance, electric cars and hybrids are still affected in cold climates where their battery life is shortened and MPG ratings are lessened. There is a greater drain on the [...]

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