Ford Motor Co. took the wraps off its updated Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans -- including hybrid-electric variants of the Fusion and Milan -- at the Los Angeles auto show this week. The vehicles will hit the streets next spring.

AutoTech Daily reports that the base gasoline-only models and the hybrids offer best-in-class fuel economy, according to Ford. The hybrids are expected to have an EPA rating of at least 38 mpg for both city and highway driving, which would make them 5 mpg more efficient than the Toyota Camry Hybrid in the city and 4 mpg on the highway.

Ford says it has about 200 pending patents on the new hybrid architecture. The Fusion/Milan hybrid can operate up to 47 mph in pure electric mode, about twice as fast as some competitors. The vehicles feature a new nickel-metal-hydride battery pack that is 20 percent more powerful than previous batteries used in Ford hybrids. Supplied by Sanyo, the battery pack has 17 percent fewer cells and is 23 percent lighter than the system used in Ford’s current Escape/Mercury Mariner hybrid SUVs.

The electric drivetrain is mated to a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine and a continuously variable transmission. The combination generates 175 hp and 136 foot-pounds of torque and allows users to drive up to 700 miles between fill-ups. Ford’s new “SmartGauge” system is designed to help motorists optimize fuel economy by showing various performance data and the effects of different driving behaviors.

New powertrains, which include a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a 3-liter V-6, are more powerful and efficient than the engines they replace. Ford says the inline four outperforms the Camry and the Honda Accord by 3 mpg and 2 mpg, respectively.