The other 2 heavy hitters at the LA Auto Show 2008 were Ford’s Fusion hybrid, HEV and Toyota’s CNG hybrid.
Ford Fusion. We’ve talked about Ford before and we were impressed with their parallel HEV SUV, the Escape. Even though Ford has been reluctant to adopt electric drive and hybrid, they are now bringing to the market another hybrid, the Fusion.
It might not woo a huge market segment on looks alone, but its fuel efficiency is a good and healthy step forward. On paper, the car looks very good.
Technically speaking, the Fusion is a parallel HEV and that’s about as much as we can say. The numbers are decent, with up to 47 mph on electric mode only and average fuel economy will be nearly 40 mpg. All of this makes us wonder why Ford is so slow to adopt full electric systems when it worked on groundbreaking technology with PLM.
The other sensation was the Toyota CNG HEV. If HEVs make sense with gas engine, can you imagine how less they would pollute burning CNG instead?
Case in point, Toyota’s CNG HEV.
W3e can’t say the nose design frankly won us over, and the back looks normal.
Nonetheless, it is a step in the right direction.
We wonder where Toyota and Ford are going with these models. Neither one were clearly advertised and it makes it hard to see what their plans are for both cars.
More to follow on the LA Auto Show.
[...] Ah, marketing, we don’t even blink an eye at you anymore. According to Jalopnik, the Fusion is a nice ride and can add up to significant savings by riding under 47mph, in full electric [...]
Pingback by Electricnick, The World Of Electric Cars » Blog Archive » Electric Vehicle, Weekend Review, Part 2 — December 14, 2008 @ 11:25 am
[...] Times Likes Ford Fusion. The LA Times likes the Ford Fusion, and why not, at $27,270 retail price, but $25,000 after taxes, it gives you around 50 [...]
Pingback by Electricnick, The World Of Electric Cars » Blog Archive » Electric Vehicle, Weekend News, Part 1 — December 20, 2008 @ 2:23 pm