Ford says the new, 2017 version of its Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid has a bigger range than any other plug-in hybrid available in the US. The carmaker says it will do 610 mi (982 km) on a full tank of gas and with a fully charged battery, citing Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
The range is quite an increase from the 550 mi (885 km) that the 2016 Fusion Energy was capable of. Ford puts the improvement down to updated hybrid powertrain software and an improved regenerative braking system.
The Fusion Energi's all-electric range is around 21 mi (34 km), after which it will operate for about 1 mi (1.6 km) powered by both its battery and gas, assuming there is gas in the tank. The car can then travel for a further 588 mi (946 km) on gas alone. It has an combined city and highway efficiency of 42 mpg (5.6 l/100 km).
Based on data collected from its electric vehicles, Ford says drivers of its plug-in hybrids have an average daily commute of 42 mi (68 km). As such, it posits that the average plug-in hybrid driver could drive a Fusion Energi to and from work on a daily basis without using any gas at all, as long as its battery was fully charged both before they left for work and before they returned home.
The 2017 Fusion Energi is available to buy now for about US$31,000.
Source: Ford
The purpose of creating a hybrid is to reduce the size of the engine to average load+~5%. Then run the gasoline engine at it's most efficient range all the time allowing the battery pack to take the peaks off the load. They clearly missed that point all together since this thing gets a pathetic 42mpg. In 1979 a guy in his garage converted an OpelGT using the average load hybrid. It got 79mpg with a 4500lb curb weight and the tech of that erra. The fact that the best modern materials and tech can produce in a ford is 42MPG is just plain stupid, and a clear indication that traditionalism has control of the engineering staff rather than innovation.