Ford C-MAX Energi 1,300 mile review.

[refaller]

Just got back from a 1,300 mile trip in my dad's 2013 CMAX Energi. Couple observations after riding almost all highway (from Philadelphia, PA to Louisville, KY and back). I was going to take the Oddy, but Dad wanted to take his car on a trip that used his engine (they drive a lot of small trips that stay in Electric only mode). I hesitated because it has a small trunk due to the increase battery size and smaller passenger compartment. I was talked into it for the increase in fuel economy and his desire to put miles on the car (it had 3900 before the trip and he has had it for 9 months).

Pros: The car tracked well and felt very solid. The drivetrain handled hills extremely well and the extra torque of the motor really helped maintain speed regardless of the grade of the hill. I appreciated how quiet it was and how seamlessly it moved from gas- to electric- to gas/ electric mode.

Cons: While the seats were comfortable, after long sections I was having trouble finding a comfortable spot. In my mini-van I can move my knees to a variety of positions which prevents them from hurting. The rear seat was OK, but definitely not roomy. I was extremely displeased by the fuel economy. All told we averaged 33.5 miles per gallon. On our trip to Florida a month ago we averaged 27 in the minivan with the same people and a lot more luggage. By the end of the trip, my wife and I were truly regretting taking the CMAX. We agreed that the Cube was even more comfortable and I believe has more passenger room. In addition, my one long trip with the Cube netted 36 mpg- although there was only 2 of us so that number would've gone down.

Overall: I think this trip has all but eliminated the CMAX Energi as my choice to replace the minivan unless someone with the non-plug in can convince me I can get mid-40s on highway trips. I would definitely not get the plug-in for 2 reasons: 1. I have no place to plug-in as I only have street parking. 2. The additional batteries take a substantial amount of the trunk making space tiny.

Fortunately, the Oddy still seems to have lots of life left and drives great on long trips with plenty of room for comfort and acceptable gas mileage. I just wish it was quieter!

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[cchase]

I drove one for ~120 miles a week or so back.

It returned ~40 mpg on a 95% highway trip, speeds about 65-70 mph.

I don't think it could do much better, as I usually have good luck getting decent highway economy.

The brakes were about the worst I've ever encountered on a vehicle, not sure if that's Fords regenerative scheme or not but they were far too touchy, difficult to modulate on initial tip-in.

Steering was as numb as is possible.

It did track well and was notably quiet in the cabin.

 

[earlyre]

it puzzles me why ford refuses to sell the non hybrid version of the C-MAX here in the states. it's been sold in the UK for nearly a decade, with various petrol and Diesel engines. (it's a Focus variant, like the transit connect.)

 

[refaller]

I should note that I drive 5 mph over the speed limit so I was going 70-75 mph most of the time. The brakes were touchy but I got used to that pretty quickly.

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[bvance554]

It still puzzles me how the 2000 Saturn i had could consistantly get 40 mpg, and it was a cheap car. No expensive batteries, hybrid systems involved. Sure it only made 100 hp but i didn't buy it for its power. Here we are 14 years laterand with the advancements in everything else, why have we really made no gains in fuel economy? Sure maybe overall CAFE standards have risen, but today it seems like i have to pay a premium if i want the same efficiency that the Saturn gave me reliably day in and day out. Why can't we have this today? I could buy a Smart car for about the same money as the Saturn and get the same fuel economy. Even though the Saturn isn't much of a car it was still substantially more vehicle than the Smart car. It feels like we're going backwards in terms of economy and efficiency. I know it all boils down to HP. The 100 HP was fine, but i guess not acceptable these daysz

 

[The Critic]

Did you check the tire pressure before the trip?

 

[refaller]

Did not check tire pressure. The tpms would say if they were low. Dad said he has gotten 50 on a trip but it was warmer and less weight.

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[Cujet]

I've driven both the C-Max energi and the Fusion energi. Both were incapable of achieving superb real world MPG unless I drove 5 under the speed limit and, in essence, drove slower than surrounding traffic. I also found that both were really sluggish and underpowered on electric only. Having a difficult time achieving the 70MPH speed limit on battery power alone.

I found both of them quite comfortable, in contrast to the OP's review. But comfort is subjective.

The Chevy Volt is a much better and more capable electric car. More electric power, more electric range. The Ford seems more refined from a comfort point of view.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
it puzzles me why ford refuses to sell the non hybrid version of the C-MAX here in the states. it's been sold in the UK for nearly a decade, with various petrol and Diesel engines. (it's a Focus variant, like the transit connect.)


There's a non hybrid version? Didn't know that! If they brought over a non hybrid one, I'd buy it!

 

[rjundi]

Ford should refund owners the MPG lie over the lifetime of ownership of this car at today's fuel prices.

I know a few gung ho American car brand buyers who got this and are sorely disappointed. Prius for better or worst is the only one worth picking up if hybrid MPG is your thing.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Like many vehicles, it's built for the EPA test cycle. I'm sure ford could tweak it to do well in real world ... but then it wouldn't do so well on the EPA cycle.

 

[cptbarkey]

nothing really new here about the C-Max getting terrible MPG for a hybrid. I predict its resale value to be on par or worse with the Honda Insight.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Like many vehicles, it's built for the EPA test cycle. I'm sure ford could tweak it to do well in real world ... but then it wouldn't do so well on the EPA cycle.


How does that explain the Prius V then? It manages fine on both the test and the real world?

I don't think there's any tweaking they can do that's going to affect highway MPG, short of redesigning the entire body and footprint of the car. The drag coefficient of the car is just too high to get good highway fuel economy, especially on the highway at over the posted speed limit. Power requirements increasing with the cube of speed and all. The car is a bit of a brick.

That said, let's not forget this is a plug-in hybrid, so highway trips aren't where it's going to excel in fuel economy. The AVERAGE owner on Fuelly is still averaging 70mpg, and given the OP's mileage on the car, the lifetime average (assuming it's mostly short-tripped) on this car is probably in the neighborhood of 100mpg--which isn't all that bad...

I imagine someone buying this is short-tripping it quite a bit--otherwise, they'd just buy the conventional hybrid version. And there's nothing else which really compares to it for short-trip hauling. No other plug-in has the cargo space of this thing. A Prius V would make more sense for me, but for someone hauling kids around to soccer practice or whatever, this would be hard to beat.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the review!

I had high hopes for the C-Max Hybrid & C-Max Energi... unfortunately, thats all I read is how poorly they do when trying to achieve the mpg ratings Ford set forth and the EPA. I really wanted to like the C-max Hybrid or the Energi so I could replace my Prius one day.

For what its worth, my Prius often goes OVER the mpg ratings. This past summer, I averaged 59.2mpg on a tank of gas. Far over my ratings of 49mpg city and 45mpg hwy. Im a leadfoot by nature, always having had SUV's with big engines up until I bought the Prius last year. You can drive that thing like you stole it and still get 45mpg, its ridiculous. With that being said, on the highway I found a sweet spot of 81mph that will return 44mpg avg! Now to me, thats impressive....

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: earlyre
it puzzles me why ford refuses to sell the non hybrid version of the C-MAX here in the states. it's been sold in the UK for nearly a decade, with various petrol and Diesel engines. (it's a Focus variant, like the transit connect.)


There's a non hybrid version? Didn't know that! If they brought over a non hybrid one, I'd buy it!


Ford C-Max - Wikipedia

also if you have netflix, see if they currently have Topgear Series 4, Episode 7 up for streaming. they do a test of the first gen C-Max.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: refaller



I was extremely displeased by the fuel economy. All told we averaged 33.5 miles per gallon.





That's awful! I've averaged higher than that (34.6 MPG) over the past 600 miles worth of driving in my Civic, including a ton of extremely cold (sub 0F) morning starts. On long highway trips, even in cold weather with winter gas, I always average well over 40.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: bvance554
It still puzzles me how the 2000 Saturn i had could consistantly get 40 mpg, and it was a cheap car. No expensive batteries, hybrid systems involved. Sure it only made 100 hp but i didn't buy it for its power. Here we are 14 years laterand with the advancements in everything else, why have we really made no gains in fuel economy? Sure maybe overall CAFE standards have risen, but today it seems like i have to pay a premium if i want the same efficiency that the Saturn gave me reliably day in and day out. Why can't we have this today?I know it all boils down to HP. The 100 HP was fine, but i guess not acceptable these daysz


Automaker's marketing department won't allow then to build a car that doesn't go 0-60 in more than 10 seconds, that and everything has 4 doors and power everything now, even if you don't want all that extra stuff. That and federal mandates.

One of the reasons I still drive my 1995 Escort is because I like have manual everything and a 2 door hatchback (which is a real hatchback, not a small station wagon like today's "hatchbacks").

 

[OGRE81]

I'm trying to lemon law mine now. Every time I try and get in it the 12v battery is dead.

 

[daves87rs]

They don't seem to be great long trip cars...at least with MPGs.

That said, I know 3 c max owners. and all are having good luck so far with them.

One has taken theirs on a long trip, and knew the mileage would be "lower", because the system itself gets taxed going over say 500ish at a time.

Ford's 3 shine better as commuter cars...and while they can still go coast to coast, they are getting the stuffing beat out of them on real long trips...I'm not sure that it is perfected yet. And why I'm not planning to save the earth with one....

If going to buy something like a Volt, I'm going to use it for commuting, that's it. Give me a regular car for anything else....