What can Ford do to make the Fusion Even better?

[corncobs]

3. Also as suggested the battery charger for the HVB would be nice. Leaving every morning with a full charge would definitely increase mpg.

 

It's called the Energi........

Yes but combine that mini charger for the hybrid HVB with an integrated engine block heater. You could warm up the ICE and the cabin before you leave in the morning in winter or vice versa cool it down in summer.

 

Another idea in combination with that would be and integrated solar panel like others have as well in order to run the AC of it. While parked out side it could also charge the HVB.

 

It's crazy talk I know but Ford raise the bar so high you have to come up with crazy stuff.

[murphy]

Another idea in combination with that would be and integrated solar panel like others have as well in order to run the AC of it. While parked out side it could also charge the HVB.

 

It's crazy talk I know but Ford raise the bar so high you have to come up with crazy stuff.

The state of the art is not even close to that being possible.

The A/C requires 5000 watts at full cooling.

That's 20 250 watt panels at $375 per panel.

Each panel is 39" by 65". There is only room for one panel on the roof of the car.

[corncobs]

The state of the art is not even close to that being possible.

The A/C requires 5000 watts at full cooling.

That's 20 250 watt panels at $375 per panel.

Each panel is 39" by 65". There is only room for one panel on the roof of the car.

Agreed and maybe I wasn't accurate by saying "run it of solar panels" I meant to run it of the HVB after it had been charged for hours. I would also say that it doesn't need to run full blast if you give enough time.

 

Like I said crazy idea which might not be economical in terms of cost vs. benefit.

[hybridbear]

Agreed and maybe I wasn't accurate by saying "run it of solar panels" I meant to run it of the HVB after it had been charged for hours. I would also say that it doesn't need to run full blast if you give enough time.

 

Like I said crazy idea which might not be economical in terms of cost vs. benefit.

Doesn't the Prius or some other PHEV or HEV already offer a solar panel that'll power a fan to help keep the cabin cooler while parked in the sun?

[acdii]

Doesn't the Prius or some other PHEV or HEV already offer a solar panel that'll power a fan to help keep the cabin cooler while parked in the sun?

Not sure if they still have it, but the 2010 MY had a version that used solar power to cool off the cabin when parked. It was only available on a select model and had to be optioned just so for it to be included, which meant not many were sold.

[acdii]

 

4: Better trunk spacing. Instead of making the battery pack 5 inches tall and placing it at the front of the trunk giving us the oddly proportioned trunk space we have, Why not build it 2.5 inches thick and spread it across the entire trunk floor giving us a better overall trunk space.

Weight distribution would suck if they did this. It would move the cars balance point too far to the rear. As it is now it sits nearly, if not on top of the rear axle. If they were to flatten the case, then half that weight would then be over the rear bumper, and would make the car touchy on the steering. It may also impact crash safety. I havent seen the trunk in the E, but the one in the Cmax also does not come all the way back like you would think it would, there is still about 8 or so inches of room between the back of the pack and the hatch. Makes me wonder if the FFEH handles any different than the non E.

[46stang]

3. Also as suggested the battery charger for the HVB would be nice. Leaving every morning with a full charge would definitely increase mpg.

 

It's called the Energi........

Uh yea, the trunk space on the Energi was a no go! I have a family of 4 and on road trips i need to be able to place more than two carry on luggage pieces back there. I was able to fit, 1 full size suit case, and 4 carry on luggage's in my trunk. That would be impossible with the Energi

 

Weight distribution would suck if they did this. It would move the cars balance point too far to the rear. As it is now it sits nearly, if not on top of the rear axle. If they were to flatten the case, then half that weight would then be over the rear bumper, and would make the car touchy on the steering. It may also impact crash safety. I havent seen the trunk in the E, but the one in the Cmax also does not come all the way back like you would think it would, there is still about 8 or so inches of room between the back of the pack and the hatch. Makes me wonder if the FFEH handles any different than the non E.

 

 

I see what you're saying but I just like the idea of a nice flat traditional trunk.

Edited July 31, 2013 by 46stang

[acdii]

Yeah, but where would you put the spare? :)

[neod192]

Yeah, but where would you put the spare? :)

I don't have one now .. They could have used that space in our cars a little better than filling it with foam inserts ...

[acdii]

Thats the Floatation device! Didnt you know that?

[MaineFusion]

No, there are other explanations. My last tank was 45.9, and I always use the A/C and my gas is not special in any way. In my experience, Ford gave me a number that I regularly achieve, so the bragging rights are deserved. That may not be the case for a lot of other people, but it is for a lot of us too.

I also regularly exceed the rated fuel economy, Granted, running the AC makes this quite a bit harder.

 

Here are my thoughts that would make the FFH better. Some things are probably possible with a software upgrade, other things would have to be in a future model.

1. Increase size of fuel tank to the standard FF or make it possible for us to actually use more of the tank we have. Even though the FFH has a 12.5gal tank, rarely can I put in much more than 10.5 gallons of gas even when I run the remaining range down to near zero. I'd love to have a 600mi range. On a related note, my FFH is really prone to cause gas pump nozzles to prematurely kick off necessitating them to be restarted. Something needs to be done to improve fueling. It's almost as if there is a bad bend in the fueling pipe or it is too narrow.
2. Add the range remaining to more screens so that I didn't have to toggle to it.
3. Add climate control to "leaf" screen. I have to take my eyes off the road for too long to adjust climate. Along this line, the climate system should remember my fan and duct settings when I turn it off and then back on. I hate having to reset fan speeds and where air is blowing every time I turn on climate control.
4. Have real "push" buttons for climate control. In winter when wearing gloves having only touch sensitive buttons means I have to take off a glove to adjust seat heater and other climate settings. I should be able to adjust climate settings without taking off my gloves. Also, if they were real buttons I could feel my way to the correct button without taking my eyes off the road.
5. Have an Android app that would allow detailed trip data to be downloaded to smart phone via blue tooth. I'd love to be able to analyze my driving habits. When I worked at a trucking company in safety in the late '90s, we routinely downloaded truck data via the OBD port and printed out reports for our drivers. It really helped them learn to drive smarter, which saved fuel and reduced wear on the trucks. Most consumers don't get OBD plugs, so being able to download said data via a smartphone app and blue tooth would be a great ability. Obviously there are some data/system security concerns that would have to be addressed to make sure the car's systems couldn't get hacked from the smart phone.
6. Being able to display my Android smartphone's navigation map on one of the FFH's displays. Google's navigation is way more accurate than the built in navigation, although the built in voice activated navigation has the advantage of not needed an active cell data connection.
7. Make the USB ports capable of providing 2.1amps so that they can charge/run tablets and iPads.
8. I agree with an earlier statement about daytime running lights. I didn't realize the FFH didn't have them. I thought this was a standard regulatory requirement nowadays.
9. Increase the distance at which EV+ kicks in. The distance at which it kicks in doesn't really do me any good. I could keep my car in EV mode for that last little distance even without EV+ because of the low speeds. If EV+ kicked in twice as far out it could actually stop my ICE from turning on for a brief moment on the final hill before my home.
10. Add another distance setting on the adaptive cruise control. Some times I'd like to be following at a further distance than is provided by the current maximum following distance.
11. Have an audible alert if someone tries to change lanes with someone in the blind spot. While the BLIS light in the mirror is nice, getting an audible alert when trying to change into a lane with someone in the blind spot would improve safety.

That's more than enough ideas for one post.

[sdeeble]

I have 3300 miles on my FFH and seem to get around 43-46 daily.

Normal drivining is around 60 miles per day.

 

Have a couple of questions: :)

1. Where do you find the Tack to check RPM on the dash?
2. And the engine temperature read-out gauge?

I have looked every where on the dash and still can't find it. Took it to my dealer and they couldn't find it. HELP! :shift:

 

On another note, its great that we can have the opportunity to speed up to 85 mph, but the real question is why are people going in to see their dealer for the update now when the news release clearly said it would take place in AUGUST. Word to the wise when I spoke to the Service Director at my dealership he recommended that you NOT be the first one to have the update applied. Seems their is going to be a "learning curve" on this and you may not want to have it done until they have SUCCESSFULLY completed several before they do YOUR car.

 

Just a thought. :happy feet:

[acdii]

Those are located under MyView on the left screen. They need to be configured through the menu settings. You can have Tach on the left side, and coolant temp graph on the right.

[sdeeble]

Yeah, but where would you put the spare? :)

Acdii, does anyone have a good idea for a spare tire? Some how "spare in a can" doesn't cut it with me.

[sdeeble]

Good point!

[sdeeble]

All things said and done my FFH is one of the best cars I have owned. Prior to this I had a 2000 Cad Eldorado. For 13 years and 278,000 miles that baby ran great. Bought it brand new and took great care of it. Didn't know if another car out there would keep up with it but "Ruby" (the color of my Fusion) so far is a real crowd pleaser. I purchased it on June 8th and it still amazes. :headspin:

[jeff_h]

All things said and done my FFH is one of the best cars I have owned. Prior to this I had a 2000 Cad Eldorado. For 13 years and 278,000 miles that baby ran great. Bought it brand new and took great care of it. Didn't know if another car out there would keep up with it but "Ruby" (the color of my Fusion) so far is a real crowd pleaser. I purchased it on June 8th and it still amazes. :headspin:

 

Good, another Ruby Red... stuff the ballot box!

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6608-what-color-is-your-car/

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6192-what-color-is-your-2013-ffh/

Edited August 2, 2013 by jeff_h

[LASooner]

My Ford Touch needs to add Mirror Link so you can just duplicate your phone's screen on the car touch screen. This would solve a ton of problem with the entertainment system as your phone would do all the grunt work. It would definitely need a better touchscreen though

[hybridbear]

Older Saabs had lights on the side of the turn signals in front that would light up when the car was in reverse. These lights were a great help when backing out of parking spaces, even in sunny weather, to properly judge the distance to other objects. I don't know why other automakers don't add this feature. I really miss it.

[majorleeslow]

For me there are a few.

- Firstly make only the fan on when I hit blower speed button. One had to go thru hoops to keep ac compressor off.

- instead of bars and arcs keep an option for digits , much less time to figure out the inst mpg and threshold if that's digital.

- need a second myview screen ones not enough as I need tach, temp, mpg histogram, and they aren't part of standard screens.

- clicking phone button turns phone on instead of hitting power vol first.

- post the real mpg on window sticker.

[milleron]

As the FFH already has a Heads-Up Display (HUD) for it's collision-warning system, I'd LOVE to see a truly functional HUD like GM has been putting in its up-scale cars for two decades already. There's no car, in fact, that would benefit more from this than the FFH. Projecting the Empower and Engage screens would make it much, much easier to follow the numbers there that are critically important for us hypermilers -- and whom among us doesn't catch at least a mild case of that bug?

[corncobs]

Increasing resistance on the gas pedal when getting closer to the EV threshold. This would allow the driver to feel when the EV will run out and the ICE kick in.

I think it could help a lot of drivers not looking at the Empower screen all the time.

[Aquineas]

How about adding in some of the options that Ford intentionally left off to distinguish the MKZ? I was shocked that the 2013 didn't offer HID lights (you know, like pretty much every single one of its competitors). That's the only one that I am scowling about; lots of other great ideas in this thread though.

[sbvizzo]

1. More Wheel Options. 19" H spoke for sure

2. LED Headlights

3. Panaramic Glass roof with optional solar panel

4. Did I say more wheel options? How about the optional black 18" available on the SE?

[MaineFusion]

2. LED Headlights

 

Why stop with headlights, I want LED everything. Oh and LED "eyebrow" daytime running lights. I think the FFH would look wicked cool with LED "eyebrows"! LED everything is an option I would have happily paid extra for.

Edited August 30, 2013 by MaineFusion