All-New Ford Fusion Hybrid America's Most Fuel-Efficient Mid-Size Car

The all-new Ford Fusion Hybrid is now officially America's most fuel efficient mid-size car with a certified 41 mpg rating in the city and 36 mpg on the highway, topping the Toyota Camry hybrid by 8 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway.
"The new Ford Fusion Hybrid not only significantly exceeds the competition but also embodies Ford's 100 percent commitment to fuel efficiency leadership, quality, innovation and advanced technology," said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development. "The Ford team set the bar high -- to develop America's most fuel efficient mid-size sedan -- and that's what they delivered."

The 2010 Ford Fusion's final fuel economy certification was completed this week at Ford's testing laboratories in Allen Park, Mich., and the vehicle will carry an EPA label of 41 mpg for city driving and 36 mpg on the highway when it goes on sale this spring. The Fusion Hybrid, which beats even the much smaller Honda Civic hybrid by 1 mpg in city driving, can travel more than 700 miles on a single tank of gas.

To deliver the class leading fuel economy performance, Ford's engineers spent the past three years developing in-house the vehicle's next-generation hybrid propulsion system. It allows the Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrid to travel up to 47 miles per hour in pure electric mode, faster than the Toyota Camry and all other hybrids currently on the road. In addition, the system's Advanced Intake Variable Cam Timing allows the Fusion and Milan hybrids to more seamlessly transition from gas to electric mode and vice-versa.

"The Fusion Hybrid's ability to run at a much higher speed in electric mode allows drivers to maximize fuel efficiently in many driving situations," said Praveen Cherian, Fusion Hybrid program leader. "For example, this would allow drivers to travel around their subdivision and parking areas in all-electric mode."

Fusion's advanced hybrid system features:

-- Smaller, lighter nickel-metal hydride battery, which produces 20 percent more power than Ford's previous hybrid system. The battery's improved chemistry allows it to be run at a higher temperature and cooled using cabin air.

-- New 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine (155 horsepower / 136 lb.-ft. of torque), which is mated to an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission.

-- Enhanced electronic throttle control, which reduces airflow on shutdowns, reducing fueling needs on restarts.

-- Smart climate control system, which monitors cabin temperature and only runs the gas engine as needed to heat the cabin. It also includes an electric air conditioning compressor to further minimize engine use.

-- Regenerative brake system, which captures the energy normally lost through friction in braking and stores it. Nearly 94 percent energy recovery is achieved by delivering full regenerative braking, which means only 6 percent of braking is through traditional friction brakes

Source: Ford

Toyota Camry Hybrid: The Green Car

With gas pricing soaring up, the popularity for the hybrid vehicles are showing an increase. Many car makers have come out with attractive hybrid models. The Toyota Camry Hybrid is one among the most popular of these choices. Let us have a look at the gorgeous features of the Toyota Camry hybrid that makes it stay apart from the other hybrids.

Even though the Toyota Camry hybrid is exactly the same as the previous

Camry sedan models in many aspects, the new Hybrid models possess some features that differ in some ways. As Hybrid cars run partly by electricity and the rest by gasoline, there is no denial that there would be positive outcome. But of course there do have a serious of negative impacts also. Camry hybrid’s later models, such as the 2007 was classified as a “full hybrid” because it could run on gas or on electric energy, depending on the driver’s preference.  Nowadays, the combination of both is considered to be more popular and more and more people are considering investing in these models.


The sales of Toyota Camry hybrid are currently remarkably high. Toyota, the Japanese automaker is doing their best to annex a big part of the market. For this, a massive and research is being conducted to develop the existing specification of the Camry Hybrid. Hybrid is either superior or just within the average level. The Toyota Camry hybrid has a 40 MPG gas mileage while if the highway it has 38 MPG gas mileage. It moves utilizing a four-cylinder engine with gasoline fuel. The maximum capacity of its NiMH 245V battery is about 30 kilowatt or 40 horsepower, peaking at about 192 horsepower or 140 kilowatts. Toyota Camry Hybrid is capable of matching the acceleration speed of the Toyota V6 Camry. The car won the award for the Green car of the Year as well as the Eco-Friendly Car in 2007. Thanks to the ability of low consumption of fuel.

Horizon H-Racer 2.0: Faster, Greener, Less Likely To Smash Into Walls

The original Horizon H-Racer hydrogen fuel-cell toy just got an update: Before, you could fill it with water and let 'er rip. Now, you can actually steer the bastard. The new kit—because it may look like a race car but let's be honest, it's a science edu-toy—still comes with the solar panel and hydrogen station so that you can use the sun's rays to convert H2O to H2 and O2. But the car itself now has glowing LEDs, responds to an IR remote, and runs longer and faster with the same amount of fuel.

Taking a cue from auto makers and gas companies who release literally green advertisements to convince the public they aren't part of the problem, Horizon decided to change the car's translucent tint from blue to, yes, green. The difference, of course, is that Horizon definitely isn't part of the problem. Only time will tell, however, if they are part of the solution. Meantime, here's a fun Christmas gift for anyone that still has $120 to spend on progress!

[Horizon via Gizmag]

US Army goes green and adds electric cars to its fleet

The US Army has decided to start replacing its fleet of conventional cars, by buying thousands of battery-powered, 35 mph electric cars and light trucks to provide on-base transport. The plans were unveiled last month and Army officials already announced that 800 cars will be delivered next year, with 4,000 over the next three years, with the overall target set at around 10,000 vehicles eventually. The vehicles will be street-legal NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) from E-Z-Go, Native American Biofuels International and other electric-car makers and the fact that these are only capable of doing 35 mph is no object to the Army, because the vehicles will be used only for on-base transportation, and the speed limit on US Army installation is 30 mph.

“The Neighborhood Electric Vehicle [NEV] will be at Fort Belvoir, before Dec. 15. Our goal is to have the secretary there to drive in one of the first ones,” said Paul Bollinger, deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships. “We are having bumper stickers put on and decals on the doors which say ‘Army Green, Army Strong.’ ” Of course, they’re making a lot of fuss around the ‘green’ part of this decision, but the most important reason is the costs cut, electric cars requiring only $400 per year to operate, while a conventionl gasoline car requires around $2,400.

Army Times (Via TreeHugger)