Just in case it wasn't already obvious, yes I still have the Focus ;D
Anyway, my grandmother recently decided she wanted to trade in her 2010 Edge with 61k miles on it. She drives about 50-a 60 miles a day to/from work. This is her second Edge. I've tried to convince her before that there is no reason for her to be driving such a big car. She almost never has more than one passenger, and doesn't really ever carry anything big around. Well, last Saturday morning she told me that she was going to buy a new Edge. I sighed, and asked her if she even looked at any of the other options on the lot. She said no.
I asked why not. She said because she has hip problems (had one replacement already, another one probably will be needed in the next few years) and that all other cars are too low for her to easily get in and out of. I asked if she even tried. She said no again. She had basically walked into the dealer, said she wanted a new car, the salesman saw she had an edge, and basically just showed her a new edge. But as I said, there is no reason for her to have one, she needed something with better gas mileage.
So I took her to a different dealer on Sunday to look. I told the salesman what I was looking for, something that maybe was a little higher and got good gas mileage. She is a Ford girl through and through, her deceased brother worked out at Avon Lake Assembly for many years. I had originally planned to have her look at the Escape, and even the Fusion. After I told him the story, he asked if she had considered the C-max. It was like an epiphany moment for me. I hadn't even considered the C-max previously. They had one in the showroom, and she was happy with how high the seats were to get in and out of. She liked the interior, and how it looked.
The salesman found one for us to test drive, she drove it around. She really liked it, though she found the transmission odd. (This woman has no concept of anything mechanical, she barely knows what a transmission is, let alone the different types) which I found amusing, because it is a hybrid with an eCVT. She liked it enough to get one.
She got a really good deal on it. 60 months, 0% interest through Ford Motor Credit, and she got a little less than she wanted for her trade, but she is the type to buy extended warranties, so they gave her a significant break on that (ie according to him, they gave it to her for cost. He seemed honest enough, I'm pretty good at telling when I'm being lied to/swindled. Anyway, she was able to sign the paperwork and drive it off the lot that afternoon.
We went for a drive, and I drove it for a bit. I have to say, I'm pretty surprised. I wasn't expecting much. It drives pretty nice. It has a little gauge on the instrument cluster that shows the current power usage, if you are in EV mode, or on gas and whether you are charging the battery, or using the electric motor to help the gas engine. The amount of throttle you can give and keep in EV mode changes depending on the battery charge, and it also has a little "game" of sorts to help you improve your braking, so you use the regenerative brakes more.
It was pretty fun to drive, it's built on the Focus platform, but it's a little longer, higher, and the seats are higher up. There is a ton of headroom in the front, and in the back. Legroom in the back is quite good, way better than the Focus is. It's also built at the Michigan Assembly plant, same as my Focus is. Driving it to be efficient was actually fun, trying to modulate your foot so that it's either in EV mode, or the engine is charging the battery, to allow you to run in EV mode more. It also was smooth, and very quiet. The visibility was really good, with a huge windshield, windows in the A-pillar, and all around bigger windows with a relatively low beltline. It's an SE, and also has the panoramic sunroof (it's huge, and really opens up the interior feel of the car) Myford touch, and heated cloth seats and heated side mirrors
Surprisingly, the CVT wasn't bad at all (this is a planetary CVT iirc, same as Toyotas. In fact I think most of the Hybrid powertrain is from the same manufacturer as Toyotas, as the car has 20% Japanese parts content) It did what I wanted it to do, and I think the extra torque from the electric motor helped when needed.
One thing that would take a lot of getting used to (for me anyway) is the fact that when you turn the key and "Start" the car, most of the time the engine will not start. It will flash a little "ready to drive" on the instrument panel. If you sit and "idle" with the A/C and radio on, the battery will discharge, and eventually will kick the gas engine on to charge the battery, and eventually shut back off again. It's a little loud when the engine is on, charging the battery at idle. It's not so much engine noise, so much as you can hear the motor generator itself. I found it fun to drive, and try to keep it in EV mode as much as possible. Transition from EV mode to gas and back to EV is seamless, the only telltale sign the engine is running is the thrum of the engine when it kicks on. There is no jerkiness, or any other sign that you are switching from pure EV to gasoline and back again.
At the end of a trip, when you turn off the ignition, it grades you on braking performance, how many EV only miles, and how many regenerative miles you drove. It's pretty neat, I enjoyed driving it greatly just for that. They manage to make it fun to drive. It's also not lacking for power. When you need it, and put your foot down, the CVT is very responsive, and the extra torque from the electric motor really helps the 140HP Atkinson Cycle 2.0L get up to speed. I think this is going to be a really good car for her. She doesn't drive faster than 60mph on the highway (ugh) so she should be able to get excellent fuel economy out of it. Way better than the Edge she has been driving for years, at any rate.
It comes with a 3/36k bumper to bumper, 5y/60k powertrain, and 8y/100k on hybrid components (battery, motor, etc) She bought the extended 75k bumper to bumper warranty, which also includes towing.
Am I sold? Yes. I have to say I am. If I was in the market for a new car, I would have zero problem spending my money on one of these. I am extremely impressed, well done Ford.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer. Here are some pics.
Anyway, my grandmother recently decided she wanted to trade in her 2010 Edge with 61k miles on it. She drives about 50-a 60 miles a day to/from work. This is her second Edge. I've tried to convince her before that there is no reason for her to be driving such a big car. She almost never has more than one passenger, and doesn't really ever carry anything big around. Well, last Saturday morning she told me that she was going to buy a new Edge. I sighed, and asked her if she even looked at any of the other options on the lot. She said no.
I asked why not. She said because she has hip problems (had one replacement already, another one probably will be needed in the next few years) and that all other cars are too low for her to easily get in and out of. I asked if she even tried. She said no again. She had basically walked into the dealer, said she wanted a new car, the salesman saw she had an edge, and basically just showed her a new edge. But as I said, there is no reason for her to have one, she needed something with better gas mileage.
So I took her to a different dealer on Sunday to look. I told the salesman what I was looking for, something that maybe was a little higher and got good gas mileage. She is a Ford girl through and through, her deceased brother worked out at Avon Lake Assembly for many years. I had originally planned to have her look at the Escape, and even the Fusion. After I told him the story, he asked if she had considered the C-max. It was like an epiphany moment for me. I hadn't even considered the C-max previously. They had one in the showroom, and she was happy with how high the seats were to get in and out of. She liked the interior, and how it looked.
The salesman found one for us to test drive, she drove it around. She really liked it, though she found the transmission odd. (This woman has no concept of anything mechanical, she barely knows what a transmission is, let alone the different types) which I found amusing, because it is a hybrid with an eCVT. She liked it enough to get one.
She got a really good deal on it. 60 months, 0% interest through Ford Motor Credit, and she got a little less than she wanted for her trade, but she is the type to buy extended warranties, so they gave her a significant break on that (ie according to him, they gave it to her for cost. He seemed honest enough, I'm pretty good at telling when I'm being lied to/swindled. Anyway, she was able to sign the paperwork and drive it off the lot that afternoon.
We went for a drive, and I drove it for a bit. I have to say, I'm pretty surprised. I wasn't expecting much. It drives pretty nice. It has a little gauge on the instrument cluster that shows the current power usage, if you are in EV mode, or on gas and whether you are charging the battery, or using the electric motor to help the gas engine. The amount of throttle you can give and keep in EV mode changes depending on the battery charge, and it also has a little "game" of sorts to help you improve your braking, so you use the regenerative brakes more.
It was pretty fun to drive, it's built on the Focus platform, but it's a little longer, higher, and the seats are higher up. There is a ton of headroom in the front, and in the back. Legroom in the back is quite good, way better than the Focus is. It's also built at the Michigan Assembly plant, same as my Focus is. Driving it to be efficient was actually fun, trying to modulate your foot so that it's either in EV mode, or the engine is charging the battery, to allow you to run in EV mode more. It also was smooth, and very quiet. The visibility was really good, with a huge windshield, windows in the A-pillar, and all around bigger windows with a relatively low beltline. It's an SE, and also has the panoramic sunroof (it's huge, and really opens up the interior feel of the car) Myford touch, and heated cloth seats and heated side mirrors
Surprisingly, the CVT wasn't bad at all (this is a planetary CVT iirc, same as Toyotas. In fact I think most of the Hybrid powertrain is from the same manufacturer as Toyotas, as the car has 20% Japanese parts content) It did what I wanted it to do, and I think the extra torque from the electric motor helped when needed.
One thing that would take a lot of getting used to (for me anyway) is the fact that when you turn the key and "Start" the car, most of the time the engine will not start. It will flash a little "ready to drive" on the instrument panel. If you sit and "idle" with the A/C and radio on, the battery will discharge, and eventually will kick the gas engine on to charge the battery, and eventually shut back off again. It's a little loud when the engine is on, charging the battery at idle. It's not so much engine noise, so much as you can hear the motor generator itself. I found it fun to drive, and try to keep it in EV mode as much as possible. Transition from EV mode to gas and back to EV is seamless, the only telltale sign the engine is running is the thrum of the engine when it kicks on. There is no jerkiness, or any other sign that you are switching from pure EV to gasoline and back again.
At the end of a trip, when you turn off the ignition, it grades you on braking performance, how many EV only miles, and how many regenerative miles you drove. It's pretty neat, I enjoyed driving it greatly just for that. They manage to make it fun to drive. It's also not lacking for power. When you need it, and put your foot down, the CVT is very responsive, and the extra torque from the electric motor really helps the 140HP Atkinson Cycle 2.0L get up to speed. I think this is going to be a really good car for her. She doesn't drive faster than 60mph on the highway (ugh) so she should be able to get excellent fuel economy out of it. Way better than the Edge she has been driving for years, at any rate.
It comes with a 3/36k bumper to bumper, 5y/60k powertrain, and 8y/100k on hybrid components (battery, motor, etc) She bought the extended 75k bumper to bumper warranty, which also includes towing.
Am I sold? Yes. I have to say I am. If I was in the market for a new car, I would have zero problem spending my money on one of these. I am extremely impressed, well done Ford.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer. Here are some pics.
