What can Ford do to make the Fusion Even better?

[dkegel]

Hey is it possible to run the fans and get air from the outside without turning on the AC? :wub:

Yes. Just go into the climate control and turn off the AC, turn down the temp, and turn up the fan speed. Kind of like with any other car every made. :)

 

Dave

[MaineFusion]

Yes. Just go into the climate control and turn off the AC, turn down the temp, and turn up the fan speed. Kind of like with any other car every made. :)

 

Dave

Makes me wish there were max and min temp settings for a FFH. Temps higher than max would kick in AC below min would kick in heat.

[murphy]

t works that way now in auto except there is no temperature range between the set points.

Set it to 72 and if the temperature is below 72 the heat comes on. If it is above 72 the A/C comes on.

I hope there is some hysteresis in there or it would be continually cycling between hot and cold.

[KLH]

Small LED ring light around the keyhole or the PBS button like this:

 

Edited October 3, 2013 by KLH

[Fusion_Diffusion]

Small LED ring light around the keyhole

 

 

 

It still takes me a while to find the keyhole without the ring of light I had with my previous car, but I'm getting closer every time.

 

While I agree with many of the previous suggestions, like LED's, more positions on the passenger seat, spare tire, Etc, I still love my FFH and think it's an amazing car.

 

For my own two cents, I'd like more room to rest my left foot if it's not too much to ask and maybe a sun-visor extender so the sun doesn't hit my face from the side every morning.

Either the visors on the FFH are very short or I sit very far from the steering wheel or both, but I'm on the lookout for an after-market add on.

 

On a Hybrid note, the arrows above and below the battery icon would make more sense to me if they were both pointing down. The arrow below the battery would indicate energy leaving the battery (just like it does now,) and if the arrow above would also point down, it would indicate energy entering the battery. This way, the arrows will represent energy, either going in or coming out and we will know right away if we are 'spending' energy or 'making' energy.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Fusion_Diffusion

[TX NRG]

On a Hybrid note, the arrows above and below the battery icon would make more sense to me if they were both pointing down. The arrow below the battery would indicate energy leaving the battery (just like it does now,) and if the arrow above would also point down, it would indicate energy entering the battery. This way, the arrows will represent energy, either going in or coming out and we will know right away if we are 'spending' energy or 'making' energy.

I can see that. I usually interpret the up chevron as 'charging up' the battery and the down chevron as 'drawing down' the battery.

[B25Nut]

I prefer the up arrow. It lets me know the battery is filling "up" and it indicates the direction the charge level is moving.

[cruzangold]

Having driven a long line of flat back SUVs, it sure would be nice to have a rear wiper. It seems the angle of the rear window collects everything from dew to leaves and doesn't clear aerodynamically in the rain. Does the Titanium model have a rear wiper?

[hybridbear]

For my own two cents, I'd like more room to rest my left foot if it's not too much to ask and maybe a sun-visor extender so the sun doesn't hit my face from the side every morning.

Either the visors on the FFH are very short or I sit very far from the steering wheel or both, but I'm on the lookout for an after-market add on.

The visors do extent. The whole visor extends out rather than having a little slide out plastic extension.

[dkegel]

Having driven a long line of flat back SUVs, it sure would be nice to have a rear wiper. It seems the angle of the rear window collects everything from dew to leaves and doesn't clear aerodynamically in the rain. Does the Titanium model have a rear wiper?

No. Seems like the only vehicles that have had a rear wiper in decades are minivans and SUVs.

 

Dave

[acdii]

Whats this rear window everyone talks about?

[Fusion_Diffusion]

The visors do extent. The whole visor extends out rather than having a little slide out plastic extension.

 

WoW, Thanks hybridbear, I guess I should have read the manual...

[milleron]

 

 

On a Hybrid note, the arrows above and below the battery icon would make more sense to me if they were both pointing down. The arrow below the battery would indicate energy leaving the battery (just like it does now,) and if the arrow above would also point down, it would indicate energy entering the battery. This way, the arrows will represent energy, either going in or coming out and we will know right away if we are 'spending' energy or 'making' energy.

That's an interesting point of view, but I'm very sure that it's a minority opinion. That icon is a state-of-charge meter. The up arrow means that the state of charge is increasing. I don't think it could be more intuitive, and I hope they don't change the way it's currently implemented.

[Toz]

The FFH could be better if I had one in my driveway!! (stupid late avalibility options) :nonono:

[KLH]

I wonder if the HVB packs could be distributed to "hidden areas", like the trunk lid, inside doors, under seats, or in the roof. If Ford could do that, then trunk space could (conceptually) be the same for the FF, FFH, and FFE. Ideally, the FFH shouldn't even exist... the PHEV should be the only upgrade from the ICE-only FF, with a minor price premium.

Edited October 17, 2013 by KLH

[corncobs]

That's pretty much the Tesla concept which is placing the HVB under the car.

I think with the right design you could split in half along the center of the car for weight distribution. You still need room for the exhaust pipe but that should be the future.

[acdii]

Thats also what the Volt has, but limits it to 4 passengers. The battery pack is down the center of the car.

 

However, where the HVB is in the Fusion is the safest place for it, check out what happens when a Tesla strikes an object in the road and compromises the battery pack. POOF!!

[B25Nut]

I wonder if the HVB packs could be distributed to "hidden areas", like the trunk lid, inside doors, under seats, or in the roof. If Ford could do that, then trunk space could (conceptually) be the same for the FF, FFH, and FFE. Ideally, the FFH shouldn't even exist... the PHEV should be the only upgrade from the ICE-only FF, with a minor price premium.

 

Volvo is working on this concept and has a truck lid that can replace the 12v battery: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087770_volvo-develops-structural-supercapacitor-nanobatteries-for-future-electric-cars

One of the downsides to this is that any minor body work becomes major.

[KLH]

I suppose the battery is the problem in all EV cars. There's never enough energy or capacity or space to store the batteries.

[trvlrschick]

Thats also what the Volt has, but limits it to 4 passengers. The battery pack is down the center of the car.

 

However, where the HVB is in the Fusion is the safest place for it, check out what happens when a Tesla strikes an object in the road and compromises the battery pack. POOF!!

I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. The Tesla hit a steel rod at a high rate of speed, and the rod punctured the battery pack with something like 26 tons of force. The battery pack was designed to contain the fire, and would have if the firemen hadn't tried to puncture through to get to the fire. If the battery is properly protected, it's no more dangerous than hitting a metal rod in the road would be to any other vehicle.

[acdii]

I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. The Tesla hit a steel rod at a high rate of speed, and the rod punctured the battery pack with something like 26 tons of force. The battery pack was designed to contain the fire, and would have if the firemen hadn't tried to puncture through to get to the fire. If the battery is properly protected, it's no more dangerous than hitting a metal rod in the road would be to any other vehicle.

Same thing can happen in a Volt, however, the chances of it happening in a Fusion, Camry, Cmax or Prius is very low. It would go through the fuel tank before hitting the HVB. There is a risk involved in any of these, and that was proved with the Tesla. What are the odds of hitting something that can pierce the battery pack? Pretty high, yet it happened. Then the Volt pack that got damaged in the Volt during crash tests. Didn't catch fire right away, but after sitting for a time. A slight flaw that GM figured out how to correct.

 

 

The point being that the HVB needs to be well protected because of the high voltages present and the fact that a breach to the medium can cause an immediate fire, so putting cells in the body panels, would not be a very good idea.

[MaineFusion]

Whats this rear window everyone talks about?

 

It's that big transparent or partially transparent area behind the back seat that helps you see what is directly behind you when the backup camera is turned off.

 

I wonder if the HVB packs could be distributed to "hidden areas", like the trunk lid, inside doors, under seats, or in the roof. If Ford could do that, then trunk space could (conceptually) be the same for the FF, FFH, and FFE. Ideally, the FFH shouldn't even exist... the PHEV should be the only upgrade from the ICE-only FF, with a minor price premium.

 

The problem is that batteries have to have their own climate control, which is easier to accomplish when they are all together. Also, Ford's idea to help bring down the overall cost of hybrids is to build them on the exact same body as a standard sedan that had high production volume. Designing, testing and building a special body unique to a hybrid would have tremendously driven up the cost of producing a hybrid, thereby driving up the selling price.

[acdii]

 

It's that big transparent or partially transparent area behind the back seat that helps you see what is directly behind you when the backup camera is turned off.

 

.

So thats what that is for! I had to go out and look towards the back. Whodathunk I didn't need my side mirrors to see whats behind me, I just thought the middle mirror was to keep an eye on the kids! :) I used to drive trucks, so rarely ever do I use the middle mirror in any of the cars.