Every year Car and Driver selects the 10 Best cars of the year. Winners typically range from high end cars such as the Porsche 911 Turbo on down to the lowly Honda Civic. Perennial winners include the BMW 3 Series and the Honda Accord. The cars selected are the best overall cars in any class for any given year. This year, Car and Drivers has selected the Ford Fusion Hybrid as a Best winner.

The Fusion Hybrid is the only hybrid car to make this year’s list. As Car and Driver magazine notes, “It’s an unlikely claim, but the Ford Fusion Hybrid is in fact the most advanced car on this list. Through the body of this unpretentious family sedan runs the sturdiest bridge between the tech of the 20^th century and that of the 21^st.”

The Fusion gained the award for numerous reasons. Car and Driver cited the car’s intelligent power tracking gauge display and the constant challenge to achieve the highest mileage numbers possible as both interesting and entertaining. The Fusion offers the best of both worlds. It can be driven for fun or for mileage. The car really requires no sacrifices as it handles sufficiently to offer fun driving and performs admirably.

The ability of a car to combine elements of fun driving with everyday practicality are rare. Few cars can offer up a combination of these attributes. The Fusion does it with ease. The car can easily return 41 mpg if driven with economy in mind and likewise provides strong acceleration and precise handling when required.

As Car and Driver magazine said, “Fuel economy numbers, handling, ride, interfaces-there is only virtue, no vice, making the Fusion Hybrid the most mainstream and thus the most important alt-fuel car on the road. We admire it as much for what it isn’t (polarizing, showy, cramped) as for what it is.”