Ford’s completely redesigned 2013 Fusion sedan, the most fuel efficient midsize car in America, has been named Green Car Journal’s 2013 Green Car of the Year at the L.A. Auto Show. The Fusion emerged on top of an exceptional field of finalists including the 2013 Dodge Dart Aero, Ford C-MAX, Mazda CX-5 SkyACTIV, and the Toyota Prius c.
Selecting the 2013 Green Car of the Year® was a jury comprised of the nation’s top environmental leaders including Natural Resources Defense Council president Frances Beinecke, Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune, Ocean Futures Society president Jean-Michel Cousteau, and Global Green USA president Matt Petersen, plus Tonight Show host and auto enthusiast Jay Leno and Green Car Journal staff.
The 2013 Fusion is designed from the ground-up to be a world car with distinctly different fuel-efficient powertrains available. These range from familiar EcoBoost internal combustion engines that use turbocharging and direct injection to eke out greater efficiencies, to a next-generation hybrid variant and an all-new plug-in hybrid version, the Fusion Energi.
You can’t talk about the new Fusion without mentioning its striking good looks. Ford did a stellar job in designing the new Fusion, offering an attention-grabbing body design with a front end that hints of Aston Martin influences. The interior is also well-appointed and intuitive, with an array of advanced electronics either standard or optional. Safety systems now include dual first-row knee airbags and adaptive front airbags that vent and tether to conform to a specific occupant’s size, position, and seatbelt usage.
The 1.6-liter Fusion SE EcoBoost model, which starts at $24,495, is Ford’s first automatic-transmission product with an automatic start-stop system. This shuts the engine off when the car is stopped and seamlessly restarts as the driver releases the brake pedal, and can alone reduce fuel consumption and emissions by about 3.5 percent. The $25,950 Fusion SE with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine is mated with a paddle-shifted, six-speed SelectShift automatic transmission and available in front-wheel-drive.
Ford’s all-new Fusion Hybrid SE offers even more content than the outgoing Fusion Hybrid model at a price $1,575 less. It features an all-new 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle, four-cylinder gasoline engine that’s significantly downsized from the previous 2.5-liter engine, while offering similar performance. The Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid is expected to net more than 100 MPGe overall fuel efficiency.
The all-new 2013 Fusion embraces all the elements important to aggressively raising the bar in environmental performance. Importantly, its approachable price points also mean that large numbers of this sedan will make their way to the highway, bringing meaningful reductions in petroleum use and CO2 emissions along the way.