Jim Buvalic is a hybrid transmission systems engineer at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich., who worked on the development of the Fusion Hybrid. He gives a Q&A about what where they gained efficiency designing the Ford Fusion Hybrid. auto.theglobeandmail.com
Buvalic says that it's a "total systems approach" but that regenerative braking gives the total boost in fuel economy.
Regenerative braking is also the single most driver controllable element of driving a hybrid.
Long slow stops.
The longer your brake pads last, the more you have mastered this skill. I have 80,000 miles on the original brakes of a 2005 Civic Hybrid. I predict that I may squeeze another 8,000 miles out of the original front brake pads.
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