The five-star rating is the U.S. Government’s highest-possible safety rating and is determined only after severe testing procedures as part of NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), which combines vehicle performance in frontal and side-impact crash tests and resistance to rollover.

The Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid joins the Ford Fusion and the Ford Fusion Hybrid which already received five-star safety ratings.

NHTSA has elected to test plug-in vehicles separately from vehicles powered by gasoline internal combustion engines as the market share of electrified vehicles is increasing.

Ford said April marked its best hybrid sales month ever with Ford’s EV market share hitting an all-time high of 18 percent, up from 3 percent last April.

“The Fusion Energi combines the highest possible safety ratings from NHTSA and great fuel economy, two things we know customers are looking for in their vehicles,” said Steve Kenner, Global Director of the Ford Automotive Safety Office. “Our strategy is to provide our customers with a range of powertrain options in our vehicles, while still leading in fuel economy in every segment that we compete.”

The Fusion Energi gets an EPA fuel economy rating of 108 MPGe.

The NHTSA five-star rating for the Fusion Energi comes in addition to the 2013 Fusion being named a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in December.

The Top Safety Pick + designation is the highest rating the organization has for vehicle safety.

The post Ford Fusion Energi Scores Five Stars appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The new function is powered by PlugShare.com and will be compatible with the new Ford Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Ford said PlugShare provides a live database of charging stations across North America. In addition to aggregating publicly available lists of stations from a variety of sources, PlugShare incorporates crowd-sourced information from users to provide the most comprehensive dataset available.

“When we launched the MyFord Mobile app and portal for the Focus Electric last year, it was the most advanced remote management app of its kind in the industry,” said Bill Frykman, business and product development manager. “We’re now expanding availability of the system to drivers of our new plug-in hybrids and offering some unique features specifically tailored to these long-range vehicles.”

Owners of the first-ever Ford plug-in hybrid vehicles can now use their smartphones from almost anywhere to monitor and manage the battery charging process, find charging stations, check energy efficiency and earn achievements for efficient driving.

“It is a little known fact that the majority of charging stations are currently free to use. By giving drivers a clear view of the reality of charging, PlugShare and Ford are showing more and more drivers that now is a great time to start driving on electricity,” said Forrest North, CEO of Xatori, maker of PlugShare. “With our real-time, crowd-sourcing features that include photos, reviews and check-ins, PlugShare has quickly become one of the largest and most popular charging station locators in North America. We are thrilled an established industry leader such as Ford has chosen PlugShare for MyFord Mobile.”

According to Ford, the station finder component of the MyFord Mobile app now blends point-of-interest search with charging station information from PlugShare.com to let drivers take advantage of opportunistic charging wherever their destination might be. Users can search for terms such as “pizza” or “Mexican food” near a location and MyFord Mobile will display the results along with the nearest available charge for each entry. Drivers can select a destination based on proximity to a plug.

“Access to public charging allows our C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi customers to drive more electric miles – helping improve our environmental footprint and improve energy security,” said Mike Tinskey, director, Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure. “We’ve seen impressive growth in the number of installed public charge stations – growing from fewer than 3,000 units in 2010 to more than 11,500 installed units in the U.S. today. This collaboration allows for Ford customers to access all the currently installed stations, as well as gain immediate access to new charge stations as they are installed.”

Ford added that MyFord Mobile’s trip and charge log has also been updated to provide drivers with information about how efficiently they are using their plug-in hybrid vehicle in both electric and hybrid mode. By taking advantage of available data on electricity use, hybrid gas mileage and regenerative braking, the app coaches drivers to adjust their driving style to be more efficient.

The MyFord Mobile app and website still lets plug-in hybrid owners check the state of charge of the battery, get alerts if they forgot to plug the car in or if charging stops, and take advantage of value charging for the lowest electricity rates during off-peak hours. Drivers can also precondition the cabin temperature while the car is plugged in to reduce the load on the drivetrain for enhanced efficiency.

“We designed MyFord Mobile to provide owners of Ford plug-in vehicles with a convenient way to monitor and manage their total energy usage, and we’re continually working to make the experience better,” added Frykman.

MyFord Mobile is available in the Apple iOS App Store for iPhones and the Google Play Store for Android phones.

The post Ford Adds PlugShare To MyFord Mobile appeared first on HybridCars.com.

But Ford has yet to post on its consumer Web site the EPA’s combined (city/highway) rating for gasoline only for the PHEV Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi.

However, on fueleconomy.gov the federal government has given both vehicles – each using the company’s 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle inline four-cylinder plug-in hybrid engine – a rating of 44 city/41 highway/43 combined miles per gallon (mpg).

Equally notable is the projected driving range of up to 21 miles for electricity plus gas.

A notation by fueleconomy.gov for the C-MAX Energi’s Driving Range rating says that the C-MAX tested didn’t use any gasoline for the first 21 miles. The notation also cautions the site’s users that individual driving methods may result in the car using both electricity and gasoline during the first 21 miles following a full battery charge.

This caveat about driving style impacting the vehicles’ fuel economy is effectively what Ford has been saying all along in response to the attention the Fusion and C-MAX hybrids received for apparently not getting 47 mpg combined when Consumer Reports magazine first reported its findings.

The C-MAX and Fusion plug-in hybrid models received an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rating of 100 Miles Per Gallon Equivalent (MPGe) late last year.

According to the Detroit Free Press Ford has said that the cars’ greater horsepower compared to competitive brands allows drivers to drive for fun, or drivers can operate the vehicles conservatively and achieve EPA mileage claims.

The EPA-rated 43 mpg combined for the Fusion PHEV bests the Chevy Volt’s rating of 37 mpg combined, yet is short of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid that achieved 50 mpg combined.

The Volt, touted as an extended-range electric vehicle by Chevy, has significantly better all-electric range at 38 miles compared to both Fords (21 miles), and the Prius Plug-in that manages just 11 miles from electricity plus gas.

Soon to enter the PHEV fuel economy fray is Honda’s 2014 Accord Plug-in Hybrid.

Although fueleconomy.gov hasn’t listed the PHEV Accord, Honda is quietly publishing on the car’s microsite that it has received an EPA-rated 47 city/46 highway/46 combined mpg for gas only.

The Accord Plug-in Hybrid, EPA-rated for 115 MPGe, is currently only available in California and New York state.

Credit to InsideEVs.com for first finding the EPA ratings for the Fusion Energi.

The post Fusion Energi EPA Rated At 43 MPG Combined, But Ford Isn’t Boasting appeared first on HybridCars.com.