A tale of 2 Fusions: putting gas, electric versions to the test
The two Ford Fusion media fleet vehicles looked pretty much the same from the outside, except one was red and one was silver.
It turns out they’re very different: under the hood and, surprisingly, in the trunk.
The first tester was a red, gaspowered Fusion Titanium AWD. The second was a silver Fusion Energi SE, a plug-in hybrid.
The Titanium had a base list price of $34,188. (Options including navigation screen, parking assist, lane-keeping system, blind spot detection, leather interior and moonroof brought the price on this one up to $43,588.) The Energi SE wasn’t trimmed quite as luxuriously as the Titanium, and it had a starting price of $35,438 — and a much shorter option list.
These two Fusions each had lots of room, great visibility, comfortable rides, and easy-touse audio and nav systems. That’s where the similarities ended.
After testing the red Titanium in Regina, it was time to head to Toronto to try out the Energi.
The first surprise came even before I got behind the wheel. I noticed a major difference when I opened up the trunk to load my luggage in the Energi.
There was only room for my two carry-on cases and one checked bag. That was it; the trunk was full, mainly occupied by the lithium-ion battery. The Energi’s trunk capacity is almost cut in half — from 453.1 litres to 232.2 litres.
Both Fusions have fold-down back seats to provide access to the trunk — but the access in the Energi is severely restricted, and is really just a slot beneath the rear window; ideal, perhaps, for sliding in skis or two-byfours from the trunk into the back seat area.
In the gas-powered Fusion, with the back seat folded down there would be enough room to slide in long packages; you could even sleep back there in a pinch.
The other big difference was under the hood.
The red Titanium had a 2.0-litre four-cylinder gas engine, while the Energi SE had a 118-hp electric motor and a 141-hp 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine.
Unlike a conventional hybrid Fusion, the Energi has a bigger battery pack and can be plugged in to be recharged. The Energi is heavier than the gas version, weighing in at 1,801 kg versus 1,575 kg.
Not surprisingly, the heavier Energi was noticeably slower than the Titanium. The tradeoff is better fuel economy — and some might like to make the trade.
The Titanium is rated at 11.2 litres per 100 kilometres (25.2 miles per gallon) in the city and 7.6 L/100 km (37.2 mpg) on the highway; the Energi SE is rated at 2.4 L/100 km gasoline fuel efficiency for electric mode operation (117.7 mpg) in the city and 5.6 L/100 km (50.4 mpg) on the highway.
At low speeds in the Energi, the electric motor alone provides the power, providing you’re going slowly. If you need some extra power and step on the “gas” pedal, the gas engine seamlessly starts up and takes over. Driving mainly on the expressways in the Toronto area, I averaged 5.5 L/100 km.
When stuck in stop-and-go traffic, the gas engine shuts down and only the electric motor is needed to slowly move a few metres at a time. This proved valuable when I was creeping along a 15-kilometre stretch of the Gardiner Expressway for about one hour. As I watched the instant fuel economy readout, it improved the longer I was stuck in traffic — from 5.5 to 5 L/100 km. As the traffic cleared and I got back up to 110 km/h, there was a corresponding increase in fuel consumption and it was soon back to 5.5 L/100 km.
That’s the opposite of a gasonly vehicle, which sees fuel economy get worse in city traffic and then improve when out on the highway.
There’s another difference inside, as the Energi has displays on the dash to indicate whether the gas engine or the electric motor is providing the power. There’s also a display to show the battery level, and whether the battery is being charged during braking.
Choosing between these two Fusions depends on your needs.
The Energi is an ideal vehicle for people who don’t need much trunk space, are OK with leisurely departures from stoplights and drive mainly in the city.
But if you want more room in the trunk and prefer quicker acceleration over fuel economy, the gas-powered Titanium is the better choice.