Ford Isn't Very Good at Keeping Secrets About Its Electrified Fusion

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Look, this is pretty awkward. While nearly every auto journalist in the country has congregated in Dearborn, Michigan today for Ford’s annual Christmas party, we’re here at work pounding out stories about Camaro steering wheels and drinking cheap coffee. We weren’t invited to the party, it’s cool. We can both be adults about the sitch.

But according to various Twitter feeds — including the Wall Street Journal’s Detroit Bureau Chief John Stoll and WWJ’s Jeffrey Gilbert— Ford is talking battery packs and showing off a covered car that looks like a Fusion with a half-assed bed sheet covering it.

Oh, and there’s a plug running right into it, as if Kevin the Ford shop hand forgot to unplug the damn thing before letting a roomful of journalists snap pictures of it.

We get it, Ford. You’ve moved on.

The only mystery is the size of its battery. The Fusion already has a plug-in hybrid version of the Fusion, so are we looking at an all-electric version?

An all-electric Fusion seems entirely plausible — almost likely — considering that Ford spent the day talking about battery tech, ahem … without us. Or, it could be an update to the PHEV Fusion Energi, which could use a refresh, I suppose.

Whatever it is, it’ll make its debut in Detroit during the North American International Auto Show. We’ll be there too, covering Ford’s announcement because it’s cool, we’re both adults. You and I obviously grew apart, but we’ll still be a part of each other’s lives. Just not in the same way, I guess.

No really, Ford, I want you to be happy. I mean, I guess I wasn’t ready for pictures like this, but I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Yeah, no, I’ll be OK.

P.S. Hats off to this guy for comment of the day.

@johndstoll@mims And apparently it takes a month to charge

— Mark Miller (@MarkDMill) December 10, 2015

P.P.S. Why does this picture of the plug running from the Fusion remind me of my dog when she’s trying (poorly) to play “Hide and Seek”?

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Dec 11, 2015

    I love when dogs try and play hide and seek, very cute. My family dog always thought he could hide behind a chair leg. And you say, "Oh where's Leo, can't see him!" Then he runs out and is so excited he fooled you. Figured that out on his own, nobody ever taught him how to hide and seek. He's too old and blind-ish/deaf to do it now at 15 years old. :(

  • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on Dec 11, 2015

    I don't know if it's a lack of interest in how Ford plays the tease or not, but I found that I preferred the parts of the story and comments here about the dogs more than about the EV tease.

  • FreedMike Non-GLI VW Jetta. Even the base version is a good driver, there's a manual version, and the whole line is reasonably priced. The Sport model is a fine little driver's car for not a lot of bucks. And...NO CVTs.Also: Hyundai Sonata N-Line. It's a modern day GTO (think modest family car with a crud ton of performance), and it's reasonably priced. Yes, it's overpowered, but it's overpowered in a hilarious sort of way - like an old GTO. With the loss of the Honda Accord Sport 2.0T, it's also the last survivor in the midsize, mass-market performance market, which I mourn losing.
  • Bouzouki Under-rated? Wrong question? What is the LEAST over-rated new car? That is the question."With all the excitement of the NY Auto show". Really? Tell us about the fun to drive cars with manual transmissions that you saw, that aren't wired for automakers to sell our data, how were they?What's that? There were none. Thank you.Yes, the THREE-cylinder cars are not as over-rated as the automakers would like, like the new Encore. It's not much fun to drive, but it has a great touchscreen--woo-hoo!!!
  • ToolGuy you make it sound so exciting i really wish i could attend in perzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
  • ToolGuy Yes let's be fair to Ford Motor Company, after all the Ford dealership has been so fair to everyone.
  • FreedMike We were in NYC in January for a cruise - the port is just up West Street from Hudson Yards. My plan was to pop the question on the top of the Empire State Building the night before we left, but the wind chills up there were hovering around -2,445 degrees. Ah well...cruise ships are a good place to get engaged. And, yeah, it's getting expensive to get around, but we found Lyft was way cheaper from the port to LaGuardia than a taxi would have been. Might be a better option for short hops too, but we didn't really check. You could ask what poor folks do to get around Manhattan, but that answer's the same as it's always been: MTA. We rode it during our trip; no problems (aside from figuring out which train goes where). BTW...this was the view from our balcony as we came back into town.
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