Ford hits nearly 500 hybrid patents with new 47 mpg 2013 Fusion Hybrid

Ford announced today that with the new Ford Fusion Hybrid’s projected 47 mpg rating, the company has achieved nearly 500 hybrid patents.

“Ford continued to invest to develop new products like our new Fusion hybrids during the depths of the economic downturn,” said Chuck Gray, Ford chief engineer of Global Core Engineering Hybrid and Electric Vehicles. “We succeeded in transforming our lineup with leading fuel efficiency, thanks in part to the many Ford inventors who are helping make our Fusion Hybrid America’s most fuel-efficient sedan.”

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One of the main brains behind the whole thing is an inventor named Ming Kuang – a 57-year old man who helped grow Ford’s hybrid patent portfolio from 10 in 2000 to nearly 500 today.

Check out more news on the Ford Fusion.

“The work on the Fusion Hybrid is all about a commitment I made a long time ago to have a positive effect on our environment,” said Kuang. “It’s about helping make the world my children live in – and the world my children’s children will live in – a better place.”

The new 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid will go on sale later this year. It is powered by a 2.0 liter Atkinson 4-cylinder and is expected to deliver best-in-class fuel-economy of 47/44 mpg (city/highway). The model also gets a lithium-ion battery, which bumps its electric-only power from 47 mph to 62 mph.

– By: Omar Rana