Back in October I was given the opportunity to check out the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi. After driving the C-Max Hybrid in the early spring, the idea of trying another eco-friendly vehicle definitely piqued my interest. What differentiated this experience from the C-Max was that the Fusion Energi is a plug-in hybrid vehicle.

When I arrived at the dealership I immediately thought to myself that a) it was a pretty streamlined looking vehicle and b) I liked the colour. Ford did a great job designing the exterior! Sitting in the driver's seat it was evident that I was sitting in a vehicle much wider than my trusty little Civic, but I had no problems navigating or parking in the city. The cabin is spacious, giving little me plenty of space to move around and adjust the seat.

Since the Fusion Energi is a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle, Ford recommends charging the car battery every night through the port on the driver's side of the vehicle. The port is easy to open & close and is fitted with a specialized plug in to connect the vehicle to a power outlet. When plugged in, the ring around the port illuminates to easily tell you that the vehicle is charging, and the fraction of the circle lit represents the percentage of power that the car battery contains. I usually park my car outdoors, and the thought of someone walking by and stealing the charging cable definitely crossed my mind. But then again, what is someone going to do with a specialized plug in? The things I think about sometimes...

The Fusion Energi that I drove was outfitted with power-adjustable leather seats and a dash made of soft plastic material with silver trim. The MyFord Touch system was placed in the center of the console ,the same as with the previous vehicles I have driven, so I was already familiar with the touch-screen technology. What was different was the flat panel of 'buttons' beneath the touch screen to control climate and audio. And I say "buttons" in quotation marks because I don't think they were true pushable buttons, but rather heat-sensitive buttons. The gear selector was quite close to said panel of buttons and it was a little irritating to accidentally swipe across the panel, activating a bunch of different functions.

Technology aside, I loved driving the Fusion Energi around the city. This particular vehicle was armed with lots of driver assistance, including the active park assist (which is SO perfect for parallel parking!), front, rear, and side collision warning sensors, a back up camera, blind spot monitoring, and lane control technology (which tells you when you're veering out of your lane on the road!). When running in electric mode the interior of the car was dead silent, so much so that I could easily tell when I started to drive using gas. Another thing I noticed is that the car was able to accelerate surprisingly fast. I never really noticed it until I looked at the speedometer to see just how quickly I was going. I'm a total speed demon on the road and this vehicle was able to keep up with me!

The biggest issue I could think of having with the Fusion Energi had to do with the trunk. As you can see, there's a gigantic battery taking up a majority of the space, leaving little room to carry things in. For someone like myself it's not really a big problem because I can fit groceries and my bags or shopping purchases in there. But big purchases like space-loving electronics (think TVs) or picking up relatives from the airport would be difficult for sure.

I had a great time driving the Fusion Energi throughout the week and must admit I was a little sad to let it go. The ride was steady, and in one week of driving I used less than one quarter of a tank of gas, having charged it only 3 times. Within the city limits I had a fuel economy of 5.1 L/100 km, which is pretty great compared to Ford's listed value of 4.5 L/100 km. Theoretically, the Fusion should be able to travel up to a distance of 33 km on electric power alone, but I typically only achieved 27 km after a full charge. Now this brings to mind what the cost would be to charge this vehicle day in & day out. For the battery to fully charge overnight it takes about 7 hours in a regular electric outlet. After doing some research, the cost for a full charge is about $1-$2 CAD, which can equate to a fair amount of savings over time if your regular commute isn't far or if gas is expensive. Like the C-Max, the Fusion Energi features a Brake Coach on the dashboard, teaching you how to brake efficiently in order to maximize the regenerative capacity of the brakes to increase fuel economy and reduce wear on the brake pads. Brake better and you extend the use of the electric mode.

Including all the features in this vehicle the price came out to just under $48 000, but the basic model starts at $42 000. It's a pretty heavy price tag, but it does depend on your commitment to the environment. In the long run, you will likely see the savings in fuel expenditure as well. By buying hybrid vehicles from Ford you also support their initiative to use sustainable materials in their vehicles. In continued commitment to reduce the impacts of vehicle production on the environment, the interior of the fusion is comprised of many recycled materials. At the current price tag, the Fusion Energi is way too expensive for a student like myself, but hopefully down the road hybrid vehicles will be more commonplace and affordable. I can only hope so, for the sake of the environment.