Alongside a lineup of refreshed Ford Fusions and Mercury Milans, the Blue Oval has revealed details on the hybrid versions of the mid-size pair.

The Ford-designed hybrid setup is similar in function to that used in the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids, but it boasts significant improvements over the old system. The gas-powered side of the equation is the same 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder, which produces 155 hp and 136 lb-ft of torque on its own. Several packaging improvements have been made, most notable being a revised nickel-metal-hydride battery that takes up 30 percent less space while also providing 20 percent more power. The cars’ regenerative brakes, a staple technology for hybrids, are said to reclaim up to 94 percent of available kinetic energy.

These new hybrids also claim to reach up to 47 mph using electric power alone, which is pretty unbelievable; most hybrids on sale today, including Toyota’s Prius, cap EV-mode speed at 25 mph or so. What’s more, Ford expects the new hybrids to beat the Toyota Camry hybrid by 6 mpg in the city (for a grand total of 39 mpg), while also bettering the Camry's highway rating of 34 mpg. All of this fuel aversion will allow a 700-mile city range for the hybrid duo, says Ford.

It all sounds quite good, but we hear the new tech won’t allow the company to both price the vehicles competitively and make anything near a profit, making these green sedans little more than environmentally friendly loss leaders.

Ch-check Out How Green You Are

Ford has collaborated with design consultant group Ideo to create a new system to monitor fuel economy and other information. The system, clumsily dubbed SmartGauge with EcoGuide, is a reconfigurable gauge cluster made up of a large, centrally located analog speedometer flanked by two 4.3-inch LCD displays. Four default layouts can be chosen as a basis of customization, from a bare-bones look at vital vehicle stats to an information-laden view designed for—and with the help of—hypermilers. Why Ford wants to promote the dangerous driving techniques involved with hypermiling, we’re not sure.

The SmartGauge displays are bright and easy to read, but we do worry that this is another step toward total driver distraction. One such distraction is a display featuring a tree branch that grows more leaves as the vehicle is driven in what’s determined to be an environmentally friendly manner. Drive like a hooligan, though, and you’ll kill the tree. This hokey, literal interpretation of efficient driving can be turned off or substituted for a more useful gauge, but we look forward to wiping out whole forests once we drive the car.

Although SmartGauge’s grass-and-sky theme looks similar to Windows Vista, Ford says the system was developed entirely in-house and will not communicate with Microsoft’s SYNC system. SmartGauge also will not display navigation information on vehicles so equipped, which sounds sort of not-so-smart to us.

The 2010 Fusion and Milan hybrids will be fully revealed—wearing the nonhybrid cars’ new exterior and interior styling, of course—at this year’s Los Angeles auto show.

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