Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for September 2018

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid

This month's best deals list includes a newcomer among plug-in hybrids. That could be a great thing for buyers who want the best deal along with the latest technologies.

Our partners at CarsDirect.com, now focus the list of best deals on models that are widely available, not "compliance cars" available only in token quantities in select locations.

Experts expect regulatory changes this year to bring a wider selection of electric and plug-in models to states outside of California. New models are also expected to arrive with longer-range batteries, as well as some electric SUVs. 

Some buyers may be better off waiting for those longer range electric cars and SUVs.

For those who need a car now, or who just want a more efficient hybrid, plug-in, or conventional car, read on.

2018 Nissan Leaf

Electric car

The Nissan Leaf is the granddaddy of modern electric cars. As such, it often offers the best deals among widely available electric models.

This month, lessees interested in a Leaf can drive home a base S model for $219 a month for three years and 36,000 miles, after putting down $3,979 at signing.

That represents a huge $10,025 lease discount (the same as last month). Counting the up-front payment, that amounts to an effective cost of $330 a month, about $70 less than a Chevy Bolt EV.

California buyers and current Leaf owners may be eligible for even steeper discounts.

The deal isn't quite as good on higher trim levels. The Leaf SL gets only an $8,400 discount. The Leaf deals end Oct. 1.

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid drive, Napa Valley, Caifornia, Dec 2017

Plug-in hybrid

With deals on the Chevy Volt expiring early this month, the best plug-in hybrid lease deal goes to a newcomer, the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid.

Along with the Volt, the Clarity Plug-in Hybrid has among the longest electric range of any plug-in hybrid.

For September, lessees in eight Northeastern states that follow California emissions standards can lease a Clarity Plug-in Hybrid for $209 a month for 36 months, with $2,299 due at signing. That gives customers an effective cost of $273 a month.

For those who'd rather buy, Honda is offering 0.9 percent financing for up to 60 months in those states, or for 36 months elsewhere.

2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Hybrid

The most affordable hybrid is also a mainstay among hybrid models: The Ford Fusion Hybrid.

The best deal on the Fusion Hybrid is focused on buyers, rather than lessees.

Ford has extended its $3,000 cash back, plus an interest-free financing offer. That financing runs for six years, which is becoming increasingly rare for such a discount. For comparison, the Toyota Prius is only eligible for a $1,000 rebate, with no financing rate discount.

Buyers have to finance through Ford Motor Credit to get the cash back as well as the free financing, so the deal won't work for buyers who pay cash. The good news is, this deal actually makes it cheaper to finance.

2018 Hyundai Elantra

Fuel-efficient gas car

The Hyundai Elantra takes the prize for the most affordable fuel-efficient car, joining the Fusion Hybrid as one of the few models available with zero percent financing for 72 months along with cash back.

In the Elantra's case, the cash discount is only $1,000, but it's still a rare bargain to come with free financing.

Buyers can also choose a larger $2,500 rebate without the free financing, but Cars Direct's analysis shows that buyers can save $23 and get two extra years to pay off the car by taking Hyundai's financing with the lower discount.

Ford Fusion Hybrid, Energi Shed $900 Off MSRP

Low gas prices may not have hurt plug-in car sales much, but traditional hybrids have been feeling the pinch as consumers go for sportier sedans or even SUVs. Some automakers have yet to come up with a response, but for the Blue Oval the next move is clear. The price of the 2016 Ford Fusion Hybrid and Energi models are being cut by $900 each.

This brings the base price of a 2016 Ford Fusion down to $25,675, while the 2016 Fusion Energi will now start at $33,900, down from $34,800. Besides the lower price, Ford hasn’t made many changes to the Fusion for 2016, besides the addition of a new EcoSelect mode. This retards acceleration and devotes less power to heating and cooling systems, all in the name of fuel economy.

Keep in mind that Ford was forced to adjust the MPG ratings of its hybrid models downwards last year after consumers complained they weren’t seeing the advertised numbers. Ford C-Max sales in particular have stumbled, and in addition to paying out millions of dollars to unhappy customers, new competitors in the form of the 2016 Chevy Volt and the 2016 Toyota Prius, both of which will be brand new as the Fusion enters its fourth year on the market. So rather than add new features, Ford just cut the price a wee bit to keep its hybrid models competitive.

The Fusion is expected to get a mid-cycle refresh next year, though, so if you can hang on for another year you can probably get a much better deal on a barely-used Hybrid or Energi model.

Testing Error Forces Ford To Lower MPG On Six Vehicles

A little over a year ago, Ford was riding high on a wave of enthusiasm for a product lineup that boasted some of the fuel efficient vehicles in America. Unfortunately, those MPG ratings proved to be a bit optimistic. The EPA has forced Ford to lower the MPG ratings on six of its vehicles by as much as 7 MPG, due to an internal testing error.

The hardest hit by the new MPG figures was the Lincoln MKZ hybrid, which saw its 45/45/45 MPG rating drop down to 38/37/38. The Fusion Hybrid also took a big hit, falling from 47 MPG across the board down to a 44/41/42 MPG rating. The other vehicles affected include all Ford Fiesta models (save for the Fiesta ST), the C-Max Hybrid, and both the Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids.

As recompense, Ford is refunding lessees and buyers as much as $1,050 to make up for the difference in advertised and actual fuel economy. Consumer Reports was one of the first to sound the horn on Ford’s overly-generous MPG ratings, and they’ve certainly been validated by the EPA. Already the lowered MPG ratings are affecting sales,especially of the C-Max Hybrid, which was supposed to be Ford’s Prius-killer.

So much for that.

Ford blames both virtual aerodynamics testing, and the Total Road Load Horsepower measurements, which produced these huge discrepancies. Ford claims to have discovered the error only in March, when it immediately reached out to the EPA.

Uh huh. Pardon my skepticism, but if you’re going to try to build some of the most fuel efficient cars on the market, I’d think you’d go to great lengths to ensure your cars are actually returning the claimed MPGs. All the wind tunnel testing in the world doesn’t compare to real world driving experiences, and if road engineers were coming back with wildly different numbers than what the lab tests reported, maybe that was the time for Ford to reconsider its MPG ratings.

I’m a Blue Oval fan through and through, but this whole thing reeks of bureaucratic incompetence at best, and underhanded trickery at worse. European automakers have been called out for deceptive fuel economy testing practices, and who’s to say American automakers aren’t doing the same thing?

Model Year	Vehicle	Powertrain	Revised(City, Highway, Combined)	Previous(City, Highway, Combined)	Lease Customers	PurchaseCustomers
2014	Fiesta	1.0L GTDI M/T	31 / 43 / 36	32 / 45 / 37	$125	$200
		1.6L A/T	27 / 37 / 31	29 / 39 / 32	$150	$250
		1.6L SFE A/T	28 / 38 / 32	30 / 41 / 34	$275	$450
		1.6L M/T	28 / 36 / 31	27 / 38 / 31	Combined MFPG not affected	Combined MPG not affected
2013-14	C-MAX	Hybrid	42 / 37 / 40	45 / 40 / 43	$300	$475
	Fusion	Hybrid	44 / 41 / 42	47 / 47 / 47	$450	$775
	MKZ	Hybrid	38 / 37 / 38	45 / 45 / 45	$625	$1,050
Model Year	Vehicle	Powertrain	Revised**(Charge Sustaining, Charge Depleting, EV Range)	Previous**(Charge Sustaining, Charge Depleting, EV Range)	Lease Customers	PurchaseCustomers
2013-14	C-MAX Energi	Plug-in Hybrid	38 mpg / 88 MPGe+ /19 mi EV range	43 mpg / 100 MPGe+ /21 mi EV range	$475	$775
	Fusion Energi	Plug-in Hybrid	38 mpg / 88 MPGe+ /19 mi EV range	43 mpg / 100 MPGe+ /21 mi EV range	$525	$850

Source: Gas 2.

Ford Executive: “Hybrids Are Flying Off The Shelves Out In California”

J Mays, vice president of design at Ford Motor Corporation, said that their hybrid cars are flying off the shelves in California. He also added that the US hybrid market is growing as a whole, slowly, but steadily. Looks like Americans are finally warming up to hybrids.

In an interview with Inhabitat, J Mays says that “…our hybrids are flying off the shelves in California,” which has helped Ford far exceed sales goals for its hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. Sales in import-dominated areas like San Francisco are up 325%, and in the L.A. area hybrid sales are up a staggering 500%.

Even though hybrid cars have been around for many years, and mainstream hybrid production goes even as far back as 2001 (2002 Toyota Prius), Americans have been slow to adopt hybrids. For the past few years, hybrids have never made up more than 2% or 3% of the car market. However, the hybrid market has grown to 4% of the total car market so far in 2013, and shows signs of strengthening. With more hybrid car options available than ever before, hybrids are no longer a “niche” product.

Hybrids are still a fairly small slice of the new car market, but they are certainly on the track to becoming mainstream. Hybrid vehicles vary from compactcars, to SUVs, and even trucks now, able to better fill the needs of potential customers.

California is one of the largest markets for green cars in the entire country, and domestic cars have not done so well there in the past few years. But California is in large part responsbile for driving the surge in hybrid sales, allowing Ford to sell over 38,000 hybrids so far in 2013. These new sales are mostly coming from other brands too, thanks to aggressive marketing and new products like the (supposedly) 47 mpg Ford Fusion Hybrid and C-Max Hybrid and plug-in hybrid Energi models.

Ford seems to be biting off a fair chunk of the hybrid car market, though Toyota is still the undisputed king of hybrid cars. But with Ford hybrid sales taking off at a staggering rate, could there be a usurper on the horizon?

Source: Inhabitat

Ford Fusion Hybrid Wins Canadian Green Car Award

The 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid has been awarded the inaugural Canadian Green Car Award. The Canadian Green Car Award is chosen by a panel of expert members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

This marks the second time that the Ford Fusion Hybrid has won an award for the AJAC. At last Fall’s Testfest the AJAC awarded the Ford Fusion Hybrid the Best New Family Car for Under $30,000.

The Canadian Green Car Award competition looks at fuel economy and emissions of course, but more interestingly the award considers other environmental features within each chosen vehicle such as the use of recycled or naturally sourced materials. Additionally, the competition puts the car manufacturers under the microscope by into account the businesses green operations.

The 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid is rated at 47 mpg across the board, though customers and publications have averaged much lower fuel economy, prompting complaints and lawsuits. That said, it is also a front runner in the use of recycled materials such as soda bottle carpets and soybean seats, and the Canadian Green Car award takes the whole automobile into account.

Runners up for the Canadian Green Car Award were the Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid, Hyundai Sonata hybrid, Mazda3, and the Volkswagen Turbocharged Hybrid Jetta.

Source: vancouversun.com

Ford Achieves All-Time High Hybrid Share and Toyota Slides, as Fusion Hybrid Closes in on Another Sales Record

PRESS RELEASE

Ford hybrid market share jumped nearly 9 percentage points from December 2011 to December 2012; Toyota's share of the hybrid vehicle segment dropped 8 points

Ford Fusion Hybrid achieved all-time monthly sales record in December 2012 with 3,244 sales; Ford hybrids expected to deliver best January hybrid sales month ever with a projected 5,500 units sold

More stylish and technology-laden Fusion Hybrid attracting younger buyers compared to the outgoing model and Toyota Camry Hybrid

Nearly 70 percent of Fusion Hybrid sales are conquest sales, compared to 53 percent for Camry Hybrid

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 30, 2013 – The 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid is off to a fast start after achieving an all-time sales record in December 2012, helping Ford to record hybrid sales and market share, as Toyota lost nearly 8 points of share in the segment.

Ford's launch of the new C-MAX hybrids and Fusion Hybrid this past fall led the company to deliver record-setting hybrid sales in December, resulting in a 9 percent market share gain to 16 percent. In the same period Toyota's share of the hybrid vehicle segment fell 8 points, from 68 percent to 60 percent.

Ford sold more hybrids in the fourth quarter of 2012 than in any other three-month period in the company's entire history with 19,554 units sold, besting its own previous hybrid vehicle sales record by more than 193 percent.

An all-time record of 3,244 Fusion Hybrids were sold in December, compared to the previous mark of 3,010 in August 2010. The car is expected to achieve record January sales when results are announced Feb. 4. Nearly 70 percent of new Fusion Hybrid owners are new to the Ford brand, while Toyota's conquest rate for its Camry Hybrid is only 53 percent.

"We're bringing new hybrid buyers into the market, many of whom wouldn't be considered traditional hybrid buyers," said Amy Marentic, marketing manager, Global Small and Medium Cars. "There's a sense hybrid buyers represent a pragmatic or green ethic. Fusion Hybrid is scoring with these audiences, but the car also puts some excitement into the segment through design; it shows hybrids can have beautiful and sophisticated styling. This, in turn, means different buyers."

Not only are most buyers new to the Ford brand, early data suggest Fusion Hybrid is appealing to younger buyers outside the traditional hybrid vehicle demographic.

Ford reports new Fusion Hybrid buyers are five years younger than buyers of the previous Fusion Hybrid, dropping to 48 years old from an average of 53 years old. 2012 model year Toyota Camry Hybrid buyers have an average age of 54, according to J.D. Power and Associates PIN data. Moreover, 22 percent of Fusion buyers are under the age of 35; only 13 percent of Camry Hybrid buyers are.

Not surprisingly, Fusion Hybrid's best-selling markets are San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., but Ford reports stronger sales in the more traditional buying areas of the Central, Southeast and Great Lakes regions – areas not known for strong hybrid sales. In these areas, retail sales more than tripled in December compared to the previous year.

Fusion Hybrid continues to have the fastest turnover rate (the number of days cars sit on dealer lots waiting to be sold) of any vehicle in the Ford lineup. Fusion Hybrid turns over in just 10 days on average.

Press releases, videos, photos and other material related to Ford's electrified vehicles can be found here.

2013 Ford Fusion Rated At 25/37 MPG, Hybrid Lands 47 MPG Rating

The midsize 2013 Ford Fusionsedan has received a lot of love from the motoring press for its bold new look and variety of powertrain options. Yet even though it was “revealed” back in January, Ford has not officially announced the fuel economy numbers…though the government’s fueleconomy.gov website mistakenly posted them live yesterday, enabling Car & Driver to pinpoint the 2013 Fusion’s MPG ratings…and they’re pretty damn good.

All The Numbers Are All Good

Arguably the most popular model will be the 2013 Ford Fusion with the 179 horsepower 1.6 liter EcoBoost engine. This motor will give drivers an EPA-estimated 25 city and 37 highway rating, among the best for a midsize sedan. The caveat? You have to opt for the six-speed manual transmission to get these numbers. The automatic transmission will net you 23 city and 36 highway, which is still very good. Opting for the non-turbo 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine nets you just 170 horsepower and a 22/34 rating, while the 2.0 liter, 237 horsepower EcoBoost engine delivers a 22/33 rating with the automatic transmission. Add all-wheel drive, and the rating drops to 22/31. Still pretty good. These ratings also don’t reflect an optional start/stop system for the 1.6 liter EcoBoost engine.

How ‘Bout That Hybrid?

But the biggest news is the new 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid, which will reportedly get a 47 city/47 highway rating, making it the third most-fuel efficient car for sale in America (behind the Prius and Prius C). That also matches Ford’s other dedicated hybrid vehicle, the C-Max. The plan appears to be to offer a hybrid that looks like a hybrid, as well as a hybrid that is a bit less…distinct. That will certainly draw more customers into the showroom, especially the young buyers Ford needs to appeal to.

Ford needs the new Fusion to be a hit, having lost nearly a full percentage point of market share in the last year. They have certainly set themselves up for success, and there is still a lot of positive buzz around the new Fusion. But it has been a while since the debut. Can Ford keep that good karma going?

Source: Car & Driver