Ford just recently revealed that as part of the mid-cycle upgrade for its Fusion sedan, the plug-in hybrid variant would be getting a significant improvement in fuel performance. The EPA fuel economy approximates for the Fusion Energi have gone up by 10 percent bringing all-electric driving variety to 22 miles and the gas hybrid rating to 42 mpg together. Although the lithium ion battery which stays the same at a capability of 7.6-kWh.
“Plug-in vehicles like the Fusion Energi are very conscious parasitic losses, so we concentrated on focus on information to reduce friction wherever we could,” stated Alan Dona, Ford’s supervisor of electrical powertrain systems calibration. “We did a great deal of little things that eventually amounted to a lot.”
Similar to the battery-pack, the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that powers the Fusion was basically rollover from 2016 although the oil specification has actually been changed from the previous 5W-20 to a lower viscosity 0W-20 to minimize internal friction. As with a lot of hybrids, the Ford engine operates on an Atkinson cycle that keeps the consumption valves open longer for a shorter effective compression stroke. This enhances overall engine performance at the expense of some torque production. However, the electric drive functioning more than compensates with a lot of immediate low-end torque for off-the-line responsiveness.
The single most significant mechanical change to the upgraded hybrid drive is the electric motor itself. The motor still produces the very same 118-horsepower that it did in 2015. The steel core has been upgraded and utilizes thinner gauge steel in the laminate structure. The result is a substantial decrease in eddy currents in the electro-magnetic field and a total boost in energy conversion performance.
