The hybrid Fusion won't compete directly with the Volt. I think people will cross shop them with Honda and Toyota - so there needs to be a lot of extra room inside, or a higher level of interior content to justify the additional thousands of dollars.

I doubt most folks will by the hybrid in order to save money. They'll do it for their conscience, to be technology adapters, because their worried about future fuels availability of price volatility, or because they think it's cool. A lot of overlap there with the performance market, that is also willing to pay substantial surcharges that aren't linked to economic returns.

And if our young Tempo Fanatic puts one of them in his garage, the smug will be deafening! wonder how well the batteries perform up in Alaska? There might be a substantial decline in range due to chilling.

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Unfortunately, it looks better in photos than it does in person. It doesn't look bad, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I was looking for it, and I walked past it twice.

Still, Toyota has made great gobs of cash by selling boring vanilla vehicles. Maybe Ford's on the right track.

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I don't notice any real smug, maybe a trace of it exists, but it is practically imperceptible.

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This is where TrueDelta.com comes into play...Michael Karesh has all this stuff figured out on his website.

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Not buying an upcharge that high. It sounds extreme.

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What's the matter, Ford, couldn't fit one of those nifty keypads back there?

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