The Ford Fusion has been designed to be environmentally conscious. Internally the vehicle is powered by a high voltage electric motor as well as a 2.0l Atkinson cycle i-4 fuel engine.
Available for the vehicle is the Auto Start-Stop. This will help to save money in fuel and will also reduce the emissions produced by the vehicle. While city driving the engine will automatically shut off when stopped. The engine will come back to life the moment you take your foot off the brake pedal. Another feature to help increase efficiency is the Active Grille Shutters. They help to reduce the drag to the vehicle which is caused by the air travelling through the engine compartment.
The battery gets charged partly by regenerative braking which recovers over 90 percent of the energy used.
Also with the Fusion, the vehicle interior is made from a fabric called Repreve. This fiber is made using 100% recyclable materials. As well as this, the seat cushions and also the head restraints use a bio-based polyurethane foam which is made up of oils of various seeds.
Some of the features inside include a lane keeping system. There is a camera which is mounted behind the windscreen. This watches road lane markings to determine the position of the vehicle and to detect lane departures. This can work either day or night time.
BLIS (Blind Spot Information System). This uses a radar located in the rear quarter panels to identify if any vehicle is detected in your blind spot. If there is a vehicle detected an indicator light will appear in the appropriate side mirror. The sensors can detect an approaching vehicle from 15 metres away. This helps when you are backing out of your driveway or out of a parking spot.
Smartgauge with Ecoguide Cluster. This has two screens which are both liquid crystal. They are located on either side of the speedometer. On one screen, leaves will start to grow if you drive efficiently and the more you do, vines and more leaves will appear. On the left screen, you can get information like the fuel economy, the engine coolant temperature, trip data plus the range till empty.
Adaptive Cruise Control and Forward Collision Warning. The adaptive cruise control works just like other vehicles that have cruise control but when the sensors detect traffic in front of the vehicle slowing down, the vehicle also slows down. When the sensors detect that the traffic has cleared, the vehicle will resume the set speed. Also an alert will sound if the sensors sense a potential collision. If the alert does sound, a heads-up display will also flash up indicating brake lights on the windscreen. In the event that you do not react in time, the brakes will precharge, this will help increase their sensitivity so they will provide more responsiveness for when you do brake.
If car rental companies in major cities, like Sydney do start to move their fleets to vehicles which are a hybrid or all electric like then this would reduce their carbon footprint as well as helping to reduce their maintenance costs for their fleets and the need to refuel their vehicles. This would also reduce the cost for car rental in Sydney.