lokicat Posted April 17, 2013 at 10:52 PM Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 at 10:52 PM (edited) Just took delivery on 4/16. Looked at competitors (similarly equipped): Fusion Hybrid - no Titanium version yet, but about $6K cheaper than EnergiLexus ES300h - about the same priceToyota Avalon - $2-$3K lessTesla S - not really considered, but just not comfortable yet for all EV vehicle When you consider a total of $5K tax credit and HOV lane in CA, Energi makes total sense for me. I've only driven this one day, but I am getting over 80 MPG for my round trip commute. Basically EV one way, hybrid on the way back. Good quality and features. Only negative so far is trunk size but non-issue for me as this is a commute car. Edited April 17, 2013 at 11:01 PM by lokicat meyersnole 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcolline Posted April 18, 2013 at 12:18 AM Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 at 12:18 AM Congratulations! Mine is on order and I am patiently waiting. Its interesting to see the other cars you considered in your search. I had no idea the hybrid only did not come in the titanium trim level. How was the avalon? The newest body is actually attractive. The previous generations seemed to go after the over 65 crowd. Other cars I considered in my search: Lexus ES300hKia Optima hybridHonda Accord V6 (No plugins were available but I wanted to get a feel).The lexus was uninspiring and its hybrid felt very weak. It relied on the gas engine more than the fusion. Very nice interior and luxurious. There was a fairly loud whine as the regenerative braking system worked.The kia felt cheap inside. The controls felt too plastic and the AC display reminded me of cars from the 90s. Rear lit amber LCD monochrome. At low speeds the drive was a bit jerky as the hybrid and gas motor worked with each other. This car shined on the freeway and around corners. It was the best handling and quietest of the bunch! Even more so than the lexus.Honda Accord was well put together but I was uninspired. It had the most wind noise on the freeway. It also had this dual LCD display setup that seemed odd. The radio LCD was not very clear. The backup camera and nav LCD was fine, but it felt like an after thought in the dash. The fusion had the best hybrid drive experience. The electric motor was the most powerful and I really enjoyed the driving experience. The handling was second to the kia and way better than the honda and lexus. The LCDs flanking the spedometer had surprisingly good resolution. The information about the hybrid system was the most satisfying of the 3 I drove. Im excited about the mytouch setup and the mytouch app for controlling charge times. PG&E has TOU billing that will make this very handy. There is more I can gush about, but time to get back to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokicat Posted April 18, 2013 at 12:30 AM Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 at 12:30 AM Congrats to you too! Ford is suppose to come out with a Hybrid Titanium but every time I asked the dealership, I got a different answer. When combined with the tax credits, the premium for Energi is only $2-3K so I decided to go Energi. Agree with you on Avalon styling, I think it's more attractive than Lexus. I could not really tell the difference from a driving standpoint - more cruiser than sporty. The Avalon fully loaded is about $43K including heated back seats! I think the back seats on Avalon/ES300h have a couple inches more leg room than the Fusion, but I was comparing the charcoal Titanium interior to the cashmere interior of the Toyotas so could be just perception. Having said that, a two tone interior for Fusion Titanium would have taken this "10" to and "11"! Hope your car arrives soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted April 18, 2013 at 12:46 AM Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 at 12:46 AM (edited) Ford is suppose to come out with a Hybrid Titanium but every time I asked the dealership, I got a different answer. When combined with the tax credits, the premium for Energi is only $2-3K so I decided to go Energi. The Hybrid Titanium was announced in October, I ordered one in November and was going to forgo my existing SE Hybrid order... then in early January (when Titanium Hybrid builds were supposed to begin) my ordered SE Hybrid arrived and so I took it. My Titanium Hybrid was built this week (will be dealer stock now) and the build start was slipped from January until March, so there are plenty that have now been built and some users on the fordfusionhybridforum.com are just getting theirs and happy to finally have them. So if you look on the Ford.com dealer inventory search, there are some showing up as dealer stock. Edited April 18, 2013 at 12:46 AM by jeff_h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy314 Posted April 19, 2013 at 02:57 AM Report Share Posted April 19, 2013 at 02:57 AM I was looking at the Acura ILX and the Lexus 200h. The ILX is Acura's first hybrid and despite owning an Acura for 19 years, it didn't seem like their best effort. I loved the 200h, but it is small and not a plug in for that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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