The sporty exterior design, accented by an edgily sculpted, three-bar grille, will turn heads. The interior ergonomics are just right.

Ford

WASHINGTON — Troll the garages and parking lots of Capitol Hill. Lots of Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota cars are in those places. After a while, it becomes clear that it’s not so much that Detroit does not make cars Americans want to buy. It’s that many of the people who were sent to Washington to represent America are no longer interested in taking what America is making.

Their rejection of homemade goods has more to do with their illusion of status and sophistication than it does with any inherent inferiority in American cars and trucks. What they need is a motorized attitude changer. I can suggest many with GM, Ford and, on the truck side, Chrysler badges. But in this space, at this time, I offer one — the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid family sedan.

We did not want to return the Fusion Hybrid at the end of the test week, during which we tried all sorts of things to make it run out of gas.

Mary Anne, my wife, drove it all over suburban Virginia, deliberately allowing it to idle, only to discover that she was saving fuel by recharging the Fusion Hybrid’s nickel-metal hydride batteries through regenerative braking. Mary Anne fell in love with this car, but I wrested it from her for a long, two-day drive around Virginia.

I’m not exactly an enthusiastic fan of hybrids. I think too many of them are too gimmicky, not efficient enough to justify their generally higher purchase costs, and too laden with unanswered questions — such as end-life battery disposal and assembly line-to-grave energy costs.

I still have my doubts. But after a week in the oh-so-smooth, technologically transparent Fusion Hybrid, I’ve not only become more of a believer in hybrids, but I’ve also moved closer than ever to buying a hybrid automobile.

The basics are all good. Exterior design, accented by an edgily sculpted, three-bar grille, is attractive. Overall fit and finish and interior ergonomics — the way things are designed for ease of reach and sight — are excellent. And the Fusion is an information lover’s delight, much more so than any hybrid I’ve driven.

There is what Ford calls a “smart gauge” instrument cluster. It has color liquid-crystal display screens on either side of the car’s speedometer. The driver can select from among four information packages, most of which monitor gas-electric power flows and exchanges, and one of which renders your green driving score via an on-screen, electronic growth of green leaves.

But the bottom line is that Ford’s claim that the Fusion Hybrid offers the best fuel economy of any mid-size family sedan on the market has something of real-world truth, which can be a really good thing for city-suburban commuters, who waste much time and fuel idling in traffic jams.

Mary Anne and I averaged 40 miles per gallon in city traffic, one mile less than the Environmental Protection Agency’s city rating of 41 miles per gallon for the Fusion Hybrid. We got 36 miles per gallon on the highway, where the Fusion Hybrid’s 2.5-liter, inline four-cylinder gasoline engine, running on regular unleaded, does most of the work.

I really like this car, mostly because it feels and looks like a nice, high-quality, midsize family sedan instead of a science project.

But I mostly like it because it proves what I’ve been writing and saying for years. Detroit makes good cars. The only people who don’t know that are people, who for reasons both valid and ill-founded, long ago abandoned Detroit. They need to come back and take another look. Detroit has changed. For proof, take a drive in the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid.2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Complaints: We have a bias toward leather seating surfaces. But leather is an expensive option, which, apparently, is why Ford chose cheaper cloth seating surfaces in a hybrid sedan that comes with a built-in premium.

Ride, acceleration and handling: It beats all midsize hybrid cars in all three categories. Compare with Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Saturn Aura Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid.

Head-turning quotient: Sharp, high-end, attractive.

Body style/layout: The Ford Fusion Hybrid is a front-wheel-drive, midsize family sedan powered by a 2.5-liter, inline four-cylinder gasoline engine working in tandem with an electric motor driven by a nickel-metal hydride battery. The car can reach a speed of 47 miles per hour on battery power only. The gasoline engine takes over at higher speeds and shuts itself off at idle and slow speeds. Recaptured heat from braking helps recharge the battery.

Capacities: There are seats for five people. Maximum luggage capacity is 12 cubic feet. The fuel tank holds 17 gallons of recommended regular unleaded gasoline.

Mileage: City mileage is generally better than highway mileage in current-generation gas-electric hybrids. We got 40 miles per gallon in the city and 36 mpg on the highway.

Safety: Standard equipment includes front and rear solid disc brakes with antilock control; electronic stability and traction control; side and rear air bags.

Pricing: Base price on the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid is $27,270. Dealer’s invoice price on that model is $24,988. Price as tested is $27,995, including a $725 destination charge. Dealer’s price as tested is $25,713. Prices sourced from Ford, Edmunds.com and Cars.com, an affiliate of The Washington Post.

Purse-strings note: The Ford Fusion Hybrid gets a solid “buy” here.