timf

I debated back and forth between the Fusion Energi and MKZ Hybrid, and ultimately the decision came down to the MKZ Hybrid being $100 less per month than the Fusion Energi (note: this was in November and the Energi would come in lower since the price cut). I liked the styling and few extra luxury touches of the MKZ better than the Fusion, but thought the driving experience of the Energi was better with the much greater electric range. The Fusion Hybrid never factored into the equation. If there had been a MKZ Energi, that would have made the decision for me regardless of the price. I've been very pleased with the car, but I know when this lease is up I'll only be looking at plug-in vehicles. If Lincoln doesn't offer one by then, they won't have a chance of keeping my business.

My guess is your preferred dealer isn't even EV certified. Whether the salespeople knew this and tried to cover it up or were just oblivious to the fact is another story.

Aha, that's a good call on the incentive. The car looks great!

Be careful doing so many mods to a leased car. You will have to restore it to original factory condition at the end of lease unless you decide to buy it out.

Ford is certainly offering good incentives in order to get rid of the 2013 models. The 2013 Energi I priced last month was $50 cheaper per month on a 2 year lease than a comparable 2014 Fusion Titanium Hybrid. Ultimately I decided to wait in order to get the exact color and options that I want if I decide to move forward with the Fusion.

Level 3 chargers use a direct connection to the battery in order to charge at a faster rate, bypassing the onboard charger. There are several different standards such as CHAdeMO and SAE Combined Charging, but they require a separate connector besides the J1772. The Fusion Energi does not have provisions for any of these charging methods.

Great demonstration! The trunk really isn't as small as it looks at first glance.

That sounds like a good lease. Taxes are charged based on the initial capital cost while the base payment is based on the adjusted capital cost, which is why they are such a high percentage of the base payment. Based on the adjustment it looks like they are deducting the $4000 tax credit, the $3000 down payment, and an extra $1500 incentive to come to a total of $8500 in adjustments that you don't have to pay for monthly but still need to pay tax on. $300/mo with $3000 down is a great deal and I'd take it.

If I had to guess, they changed the calculation to give credit for the full capacity of the battery rather than rounding down to the nearest full kWh. With a 7.6 kWh battery, that was 600 Wh of energy that weren't getting credited before which works out to around $250.

Yet there is an event in Hermosillo of all places.

I don't think it's a feature that could easily be expanded to other models without hardware changes. The system depends on a built-in cellular data connection in the vehicle, and I don't believe any non plug-ins have this module.

I am guessing that while Ford used the Fusion Hybrid to get the 47 combined rating for both the Fusion and C-Max Hybrids, they used the C-Max Energi to get the 43 combined rating for the Fusion Energi. The numbers are just too similar to the new C-Max numbers now that we know how Ford tests their hybrids.

I haven't seen any mention of this applying to the Energi models. I think they already incorporate a number of the changes such as the 85 MPH top electric speed, and I haven't really seen any complaints of Energis not living up to the advertised mileage ratings when running in hybrid mode.

I don't think the current number is much higher than 10,000 if even that. It will be a long time before Ford approaches phase out numbers. EDIT: I looked up the sales number, and it's 8025 through the end of June. Obviously this doesn't account for all vehicles manufactured, but it shouldn't be significantly higher. Fusion Energi: 1584 C-Max Energi: 4856 Focus Electric: 1585

Canada uses imperial gallons, which are about 25% bigger than U.S. gallons. They also use a different mileage test cycle than the EPA.

I don't see anything different about the car, just the lighting has changed making the shadows and reflections different. Edit: on second look there is some sort of underbody deflector that is present on the 2013 but not the 2014, but I'm not sure if this is intentional or not.

The design hasn't changed for 2014. All Focus Electrics since they first debuted have had the Fusion-style grill.

I know there was a lot of discussion about the aluminum pedal covers being dropped for the Hybrid Titanium and subsequent $100 price reduction. Was this not applicable to the Energi? I can't remember if the one I test drove had the aluminum pedals or not. It's supposedly been corrected for 2014 and all Titaniums will have them.

I don't think Ford is really looking to sell the Energi models in huge volumes. Unlike the Volt which is the only use for the platform (at least until the ELR is available), the Energi is merely an extension of Ford's existing hybrid technology. It's provided as an option for people who want even better fuel economy or reduced reliance on gasoline, plus it gives Ford additional credit in states with strict emission requirements like California. The cost of development was likely a fraction of what Voltec cost, and I have to believe they are priced so Ford is not losing money on them like GM does with the Volt. That's part of the reason why there are some tradeoffs such as a smaller battery capacity and intrusions on cargo space. Ford seems committed to continued development of electrified vehicles, and as more people come to understand the technology and it is further refined, take rates will increase without the need for huge incentives.