4th Place: 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid
Even if we ignored fuel economy, the Toyota Camry Hybrid would easily fall below the Fusion and Accord when rating family sedans. Though nearly as quick (0-60 mph in 7.6 seconds) as the Accord, the Camry Hybrid is the least responsive and least enjoyable to drive. The steering is oddly heavy and exhibits an annoying reluctance to return to center. The regenerative brakes also make all sorts of odd noises.
The backseat offers space on par with the Ford and Honda, but the front seat doesn't adjust low enough for taller drivers. The cabin also suffers from cheaper-looking plastics, while the trunk is less useful than the Fusion's.
When fuel economy is taken into consideration, however, the Camry Hybrid manages to fall even further behind. It was the least efficient car in every driving situation and the most expensive to fill up, even though the Jetta requires premium fuel. The fact the Camry was the only hybrid here to meet its EPA combined estimate of 40 mpg is at least a moral victory.
If you were to drive 12,000 miles per year and matched our fuel economy, the Camry would cost you an extra $103 per year to fill up than the Accord Hybrid. That's hardly breaking the bank, but why pay extra at the pump when there are two superior family sedans with similar prices and more available equipment that cost roughly the same?
3rd Place: 2014 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid
The Jetta Hybrid's turbocharged engine is ultimately its best asset and biggest detriment. Electric motors inherently provide a wealth of low-end power that push you into the back of your seat, and since turbocharged engines do as well, the Jetta constantly provides a neat 1-2 punch of torque. This not only makes it feel quick around town and confident during freeway passing, but the engine often sounds and feels less strained than the others. Its torque also helped it achieve the best fuel economy (47.7 mpg) on a hilly section of Interstate 15 between Las Vegas, Nevada, and San Bernardino, California.
Unfortunately, its turbocharged engine comes with the penalty of requiring 91 octane gas. Though the Jetta burned a mere 0.02 gallon more fuel than the Fusion Hybrid over the course of the test, it cost $4.12 more to fill up. Again, not the biggest of margins, but the Jetta lands in 3rd for other reasons.
True, its backseat and trunk give up little in terms of space, and it is $2,000 less than the others when similarly equipped. However, it feels like it should be cheaper still. The Jetta is significantly less substantial and refined, with an interior that, while well equipped, looks and feels Spartan. VW replaces the standard Jetta's hard, overly reflective plastic dash top with a soft-touch unit in the hybrid, but other materials pale in comparison to those in the Ford and Honda. The tiny infotainment touchscreen and its integrated rearview camera also drew complaints.
On the upside, the Jetta feels less hybridlike to drive and even sporty at times thanks to its peppy drivetrain, responsive brake feel and best-in-test stopping distance (117 feet from 60 mph). It also has smaller exterior dimensions and a quick-shifting seven-speed automated manual transmission (though the latter does cause the car to annoyingly roll back on hills). In this way, the Jetta at least offers unique characteristics the Camry does not.
2nd Place: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid
It was clear from early on that this test was going to come down to the Accord versus the Fusion. The regular, non-hybrid versions are two of our top recommended family sedans and the hybrid models boasted the highest EPA estimates. Our first test, the suburban driving route, widened the gap with the Camry and Jetta even further.
When we filled up the Accord after 102 miles of mundane driving around Orange County, California, our calculations showed a wildly impressive 55.4 mpg. That was by far the best of the bunch, and it would come in 2nd on both highway segments. Overall, the Accord Hybrid was the cheapest to fill up, burning 2.18 gallons per 100 miles and costing $57.35. Yet, since most hybrids spend their lives commuting around suburbia, you may notice even greater long-term cost savings over the Camry and Jetta.
The Accord Hybrid boasts more than fuel economy, however. Its steering is direct and communicative, just like a regular Accord, instilling confidence whether we were driving amongst strip malls in Orange County or through volcanic peaks near Death Valley. The ride is also commendable, offering a substantially better blend of comfort and control than the Camry.
Two editors preferred the seats in the Accord to the Fusion's, with the backseat in the Accord feeling the most spacious. We also ranked its unique electronics interface the best of the bunch, though its combination of touchscreen, physical buttons and a multi-purpose knob still has some ergonomic foibles. We should also point out the Touring model's incredibly bright LED headlights, which trailed only the Luxor pyramid as brightest lights in Vegas.
Those attributes are very much intrinsic to every Accord, though. There are reasons the Accord Hybrid falls just a bit short. The main one is the engine, which loudly drones as it fights to replenish the battery under hard acceleration or when chugging uphill. Around town, the engine noise and your speed disconcertingly don't rise in step as you'd expect, pairing with a numb throttle pedal that offers unrelated engine vibration rather than feedback.
Furthermore, the trunk is also the least versatile and getting navigation requires the selection of the more expensive Touring trim. We still think the Accord Hybrid is as impressive as a fuel-saving sedan as it is as a family sedan, but it's outdone by the Fusion.
1st Place: 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid
As each editor climbed out of the Honda and into the Ford, it was a common refrain that the Fusion is much quieter, more comfortable and even more responsive from behind the wheel. Importantly, it draws less attention to the fact that it's a hybrid, doing without the Accord's excessive engine droning and the Camry's abundance of electric whirring noises. The fact that the Fusion is by far the best-looking and most involving to drive is icing on the cake.
Like the Accord, the Fusion topped the mighty half-century mark in the suburban driving segment at 52.9 mpg. It was also the most efficient on the rural highway route, returning 41.2 mpg, and a very respectable 3rd on the high-speed interstate leg at 44 mpg.
Now, the Accord was indeed cheaper to fill up overall, but the difference was a minuscule 0.5 mpg or 0.12 gallon per 100 miles of driving. That's a difference of 85 cents for the test or about $14 over the course of a typical year. As all things were essentially equal on that front, other attributes became the determining factor.
Among them was the Fusion's useful trunk layout. Though its numerical capacity in cubic-feet is actually less than the Accord and Camry (12.0 versus 12.3 and 13.0, respectively), there is more usable space. The battery chews up the lower quarter of the trunk's forward half, creating a shelf that a suitcase or other items can still sit atop. More importantly, though, the design allows for the 60/40-split rear seat to fold down.
The Jetta's does a similar trick but its shelf is bigger and the pass-through smaller; the second-best Camry provides the equivalent of a mailbox slot; the Accord an impenetrable wall. In this way, like the driving experience, the hybrid Fusion seems like less of a trade-off.
The cruise control was another best-in-test, fastidiously keeping speed both up and down hill. Less impressive is the Fusion's MyFord Touch electronics interface, but we've grown accustomed to it over time and preferred it to the Camry and Jetta's interfaces. In other words, we could live with it.
Which is a pretty good way to sum up the Ford Fusion Hybrid: for those who are new to hybrids, it'll be easy to live with. It feels the most like a normal car, while delivering the fuel economy you'd expect from a hybrid.
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