This is such a delayed post, but I just had to write about our first experience in a Hybrid car. The Ford Fusion Hybrid to be exact.  If you remember we tried the Fusion Ecoboost in August, well a couple of weeks after that we tried out the Fusion Hybrid.  For the most part the Fusion Hybrid drives like any other car.  There are a few things though that you really need to pay attention to to get the best economy out of your car. The Efficiency Leaves, oh my, the better and more efficient you drive the more beautiful green leaves you have. Well, let me tell you that I wasn’t exactly driving efficiently for the first few days.  Add to that that my battery wasn’t being charged properly I had to figure out what all the symbols meant and how I could get it all back.
I started off with figuring out how the charging for the battery worked and once I found out that the battery charges from the braking of the vehicle, I then figured out that I needed to brake more efficiently.  No hard stops, I had to treat the car a little more  gingerly than I am used to.  Also I should add, in my defense, that I drive a much larger vehicle that requires a bit of a heavier braking foot to stop, especially when we are packed for a trip. So, braking. Got it. My battery remained nicely charged after I figured that out.

Now to grow my leaves. I again had to treat the car a little more gingerly, no fast starts, no passing trucks, but cruising nicely made for a much more efficient ride.

I did take the Fusion Hybrid on a small road trip to Merrickville , ON with the children.  They LOVE the car, the seats were comfortable and the ride is smooth and quiet and J was able to sync his iPod to the stereo and be our back seat DJ.  I enjoyed the ride, nice and smooth for sure, with enough power to pass if needed.  Hubby drove it a few times as well and also enjoyed it.  We tried to compare it in our minds with the Fusion Ecoboost and we both agreed that we are not Hybrid drivers and that we loved the Ecoboost more.

Why would we love the Ecoboost more?  We found that overall we had better fuel economy in the Ecoboost, something that is important when you are traveling on the highways a lot.  And we found that there was just too much going on in the dashboard of the Hybrid.  I am pretty sure you can change what you see, but I didn’t have time to play with all of the settings in the dash to figure that out.  I found I was more concerned about my braking power and growing leaves than I should have been, thus taking me away from my actual driving.  If we were looking for a hybrid for city driving then the Fusion would be it, but for now I think we need to stick with out full on fuel cars and pay attention.

Special thanks to Maxine at Thornley Fallis for giving me the fabulous opportunity to drive these amazing Ford vehicles. One thing I can say for absolute certainty is that these are not the Ford cars I drove as a teenager, Ford has come a long way in 25+ years and we are so impressed that we are still having that ongoing discussion on whether or not we will be switching up one of our cars for a Ford. Stay tuned….