Buying a Fusion Energi

[The Madd Doctor]

Hello

 

New to this group and looking for a second car. I've had my eyes on a Fusion Hybrid but have switched over to the Energi because I love the idea of saving even more in gas and maintenance. So far I've test driven the car but am confused on how EV now works. I also have a few other questions..

 

1. What is the best year to go for? I'm buying used and don't want to spend too much on a car I won't use too much so I'm looking for 2013-2016 range

2. What is the difference in trim levels? I've been seeing some 2013 titaniums with different options than a 2016 titanium.

3. How is the reliability?

4. What is a reasonable mileage to go for? I've seen some with high mileage such as a 2016 with 125,000 and another 2013 with very little miles, not more than 60k

5. How do you actually switch to all EV? I test drove a 2016 that had half battery and half gas filled but it would not let me switch to EV Now. Also, the little battery icon in the left in the instrument cluster would fluctuate back and forth depending on being in EV mode and then using the brakes, going from half full battery icon to 7/8 full within 5 minutes..is that normal or is the battery thrashed? It only had 80k miles.

6. How long do the batteries go for, and is it hard to find a technician in Southern California?

7. How much does charging cost in my area?

 

Thanks in advance

[murphy]

1.  There have been very few changes.  In the later years they upped the range from 21 to 25 miles with a slightly bigger battery.

2. Titanium trim does not include adaptive cruise control and automatic parallel parking.  Those are both extra cost options.

3. The only failure I have had is one segment of the light ring around the charge port burned out.

4. My 2013 has less that 12000 miles on it.  It is an around town car for me.  Soon, I hope, to be traded for a Mach-E.

5.  It sounds like the EV Now portion of the battery was empty and you were driving in hybrid mode.  Many dealers don't know they are supposed to charge the battery. If the EV Now portion of the battery is not empty just putting the mode in EV Now is all that is required with a couple of exceptions.  Oil maintenance mode and gasoline maintenance mode will force the engine to run.

6. The car is rated at 21 miles EV.  That is with no heat or air conditioning and the battery above 70° F.  I have a 2013 and that is the way mine is driven most of the time.  I try to never use the engine.

7.  It takes at most 7 kWh to charge the battery.  Multiply the rate you pay for 1 kWh by 7 to get your answer.

[Gkinla]

South Bay Ford, is the best dealer for Energi maintenance in Southern California. I've owned two hybrids, 2010, 2013 and now own a 2016 Energi. I've met people at SBF who drove over 100 miles, because the Hybrid service, is the best in the Southern California. If you can get it, adaptive cruise control and automatic parallel parking, is the way to go. The 2017 and up, has, stop and go adaptive cruise control. I have had zero problems with my 2016 Energi. It now has 42,000 miles.

[jsamp]

The only really big change came in 2019 when they increased the battery from 7.6kWh to 9.0kWh which upped the miles per charge from 20 to 25.  There were many options as well as 3 trim levels over the years (SE, Titanium and Platinum).  You can find SE's that look suspiciously like Titaniums when they've had all the options added.  Like Murphy, my reliability has been great.  The charge port ring and a driver's seat adjustment wire harness were the only 2 things I've had replaced in 85k miles.

 

I would be careful with higher mileage vehicles.  Heck, on any mileage the HV battery could have been abused.  Once you find a vehicle you really like, work with the dealer/seller to let you do a full battery EV test.  That will tell you the health of the battery.  Unfortunately the dealers know nothing about this test (or won't admit it).  The test can be found here: https://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/5924-2019-kwh-test/?tab=comments#comment-32745

For 2018 and before, a "new" battery would get ~5.6kWh on that test.   I rank the condition of the battery as follows:

5.0+  - good shape

4.5-5.0 - fair shape

4.0-4.5 - weak

<4.0 - bad news.

 

So if you find one at a good price, and the battery comes in decent, go for it. 

 

2019 and above would get 7.0kWh

[theterminator93]

I also know of the change from the console shifter handle to a knob, as well as lighter/more efficient motors starting in 2017 - the latter of which gave the EV range about a 10% boost with the same battery capacity. There are minor differences in the displays on the cluster as well. For example, earlier models were capable of showing MPGe. My 2017 only shows MPG (not that helpful when you spent a lot of time in EV mode).

 

Mine is coming up on 48k. I did the draindown test and it's about 4.95 kWh or 88% of new. Not great but not bad either, given its being 5 years old.

 

I'll second the charge port light going bad. Mine doesn't behave and a quadrant is out, so I just ordered a replacement, given the car isn't in warranty anymore.

Edited May 23, 2021 at 03:26 AM by theterminator93

[jj2me]

On 5/19/2021 at 4:40 PM, The Madd Doctor said:

5. How do you actually switch to all EV? I test drove a 2016 that had half battery and half gas filled but it would not let me switch to EV Now. Also, the little battery icon in the left in the instrument cluster would fluctuate back and forth depending on being in EV mode and then using the brakes, going from half full battery icon to 7/8 full within 5 minutes..is that normal or is the battery thrashed? It only had 80k miles.

 

It may be that you were seeing the hybrid battery icon, as opposed to the normal battery icon.  The hybrid battery icon is smaller (at least on my 2017), and is displayed when your plug-in power has depleted and the Energi needs to run in hybrid mode.  That would explain what you saw.

 

Another desirable change introduced in model year 2017 was Sync 3.