Ford EV Sales Rose 38% In 2016 Led By Fusion Energi

Ford EV sales rose 38% in 2016, helping Ford claim 18% of the US market for electrified cars. Sales growth was led by the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid, which recorded a 63% increase in sales compared to 2015. The growth in Ford EV performance comes even though all of the company’s EV offerings are sedans, a segment of the market that is shrinking in this era of low gas prices and surging demand for crossovers, SUVs, and light trucks.

Ford has big plans to expand the number of EV models it offers its customers over the course of the next several years. It says it will bring an all electric SUV with at least 300 miles of range in the near future. It’s current lineup includes the Fusion Hybrid, C-MAX Hybrid, C-MAX Energi, Focus Electric, and Fusion Energi. Ford sold a total of 23,895 EVs last year.

Compared to its total sales for the year, the number of EVs in the mix may look small, but the uptick in sales belies CEO Mark Fields’ assertions that nobody wants to buy electrified cars. Fields is on record as saying high fuel economy standards will rob America of 1,000,000 manufacturing jobs, a rather odd statement for the head of one of the world’s largest car companies to make. No wonder many people think the biggest obstacle to an electric car future is the negative attitudes of car company executives.

On a percentage basis, the spurt in sales proves otherwise. Recent studies indicate that Americans really are interested in more efficient vehicles that pollute less and use precious resources more wisely. The Consumer Federation of America finds strong support for such cars despite historically low prices at the pump.

Yesterday, a group of senior Republican leaders proposed a carbon tax that would do away with all such burdensome regulations but add 38 cents to the price of a gallon of gas. If that happened, the frenzy for large, thirsty vehicles would likely cool down and demand for EVs increase. Will the proposal get traction with members of Congress? Don’t bet on it. Americans are perfectly willing to see the EPA gutted and public education turned into a mockery, but pay extra for gas? Them’s fightin’ words, cousin.

Source: TechCrunch

Ford Fusion Energi Is Bright Spot In Green Car Sales

Green car sales have been disappointing this year. President Obama suggested there could be more than one million cars with plugs on American roads by the end of this year. In fact, the actual figure will be less than half that amount. With historically low gas prices the norm, sales of larger vehicles are way up while efficiency and environmental concerns have taken a back seat.

We are not always kind to Ford Motor Company here at Gas2. It survives mostly on sales of monstrous pickup trucks with testosterone laden styling. When it comes to green car sales, it seems to be more of a follower than a leader. So it may surprise you to learn that the Ford Fusion sedan is its second best selling vehicle at a time when sales of traditional passenger cars have shrunk to their lowest levels in decades.

Two of the stars of the Fusion lineup are the Fusion Energi, a plug-in hybrid, and the Fusion Hybrid, which has no plug. Both are especially hot in the Los Angeles market, where they are favorites of millenials looking for relatively affordable transportation up to 5 passengers that is also environmentally friendly. Both cars are rated 41 mpg highway, 43 city, and 42 combined. The Fusion Energi with its 14 gallon fuel tank has a total range of 610 miles, even though electric only range is a mere 21 miles.

The Fusion Energi is now the second best selling plug-in hybrid in America. When combined with sales of it sibling, the C-Max Energi, the pair outsells the Chevy Volt. That may be due in part to the Volt’s rather snug interior dimensions compared to the those of the Fusion and C-Max. Wade Jackson, Ford Fusion marketing manager, said: “The spike in Fusion Hybrid and Energi sales is a testament to Ford’s advanced engineering team developing fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive electric vehicles offering customers the widest range of choice in the segment.”

In LA, Fusion sales are up nearly 40% compared to June 2015. During the same period, Fusion Hybrid sales are also up 35%. In fact, sales in southern California are so strong, there are few if any of the cars available on dealer lots elsewhere in the country. By comparison, the total midsize sedan segment is down nearly 5% in LA through May, according to IHS Automotive data.

If you are looking for an affordable green car with room for 5, the Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi may be worth a test drive — if you can find one at a Ford dealer near you.

Source: Cleantechnica  Photo credit: Ford Motor Company

Consumers Uninformed About New Automotive Technology

New automotive technology is a mystery to many Americans. A Harris poll of 1,052 US residents to be released May 27 finds that two thirds do not know anyone who owns an electric, plug-in hybrid, or hybrid car. The survey was commissioned by Ford Motor Company, which announced recently that it will spend $4.5 billion over the next several years to expand the number of models in its lineup that either electrics, plug-in hybrids, or hybrids.

Nearly 76% of those surveyed said they were “not at all sure” how far a plug-in hybrid car could drive without refueling and/or recharging. On average, they thought such cars could go about 260 miles on a combination of electric and gasoline power. In actuality, some cars can go twice that far or more.

The manufacturers are not helping consumers understand new automotive technology. Ford announced yesterday that its 2017 Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid will be able to go 610 miles on a tankful of fuel, thanks to new tweaks to the powertrain and an improved regenerative braking system. But only 22 of those miles can be managed on electric power alone. “Fusion Energi – with a full battery and a full tank of gas – can go from San Diego, through Los Angeles and all the way up to San Francisco, and still have up to 110 miles of range remaining,” says Wade Jackson, Fusion marketing manager at Ford.

That’s a 10% increase from last year, but is a PHEV with only 22 miles of range really relevant to anything? It certainly does very little to further the effort to reduce global carbon emissions. Isn’t that supposed to be the point? All it really does is bambozzle shoppers into thinking they are buying a car with significant environmental credentials when in fact it is just another hybrid after the first 22 miles. No wonder people are confused.

Consumers are also disinterested when it comes to self-driving technology. A survey of British drivers that 55% do not want to be a passenger in a driverless car. The poll was conducted by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers/ICM Unlimited and collected data from 2,002 people. A study by University of Michigan researcher Michael Sivak earlier this week found more than half of Americans would rather drive themselves than be driven in a computer controlled car.

The manufacturers are falling all over themselves to bring autonomous driving cars to market, fueled by the somewhat inflated claims by Tesla Motors for its Autopilot suite of software. Earlier this year,Trent Victor, senior technical leader of crash avoidance at Volvo, said this about Telsa’s Autopilot: “It gives you the impression that it’s doing more than it is [but it] is more of an unsupervised wannabe.” In other words, Tesla is trying to create an semi-autonomous car that appears to be autonomous.

That point was brought home forcefully this week when a Tesla Model S operating in Autopilot modecrashed into the back of a disabled vehicle on a highway. As one person commented,”If you have to be fully engaged and alert to use autonomous driving what then is the point? Might as well just drive the car.”

Despite Elon Musk’s enrhusiatstic embrace of autonomous driving systems, they are still many years away from being perfected and at least half of drivers aren’t all that interested in them in the first place. Still, more than 30,000 people die in motor vehicle crashes every year. Surely technology can help reduce, if not eliminate, that deadly toll.

Source: Automotive News