30 Minutes With: The 2019 Range Rover HSE P400e

The 2019 Range Rover HSE P400e.

Publisher's note: Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days. Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series features cars we spent half an hour driving during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Day in Monterey, California.

Needless to say, these are quick drives and brief impressions that we hope to be able to flesh out with a full review of the vehicle at some point in the near future.

Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley over Laureles Grade and back or off-road on the acclaimed Land Rover Experience on the grounds of Quail Lodge.

My eighth drive of the day was the 2019 Range Rover HSE P400e.

Plugged In: The 2019 Ford Fusion Energi Titanium

The 2019 Ford Fusion Energi.

We've said a couple of things consistently during the 11 years that TireKicker has been in existence. One: The true value of a hybrid is in a larger car, where the fuel economy gains will be greater than they are in small cars.  And two:  A plug-in hybrid, done well, is a better alternative (and will be until range and charging issues are fully addressed everywhere in this country) for many people than a pure electric vehicle.

And really, the Ford Fusion Energi, doomed as it is (Ford is phasing out passenger sedans and the Fusion Energi may not see the 2021 model year), is the best of them.