Official Ford C-MAX Energi PHEV thread

[TomT]

Yep, I'd agree.

But that's a new one. I'm saying that Ford may have hit their stride early to mid last decade and fallen off it again.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

The other side of the coin is a 2013 Escape 2.0L FWD that a neighbor has. It has been a disaster with problem after problem.

That a shame because, a couple of minor transmission related problems aside, our Focii (2003 and 2005) have been about the most reliable cars we've ever owned.

ya Freshman jitters on that one. first year of total makeover and it has had "growing pains" for sure. at least they look good :?

 

[Yogi62]

We have three vehicles:

1. The Leaf for commuting and inside the metro area trips.
2. The monster crew cab dually for pulling trailers.
3. The mini-van for around town and long trips on the road.

I've been on the the lookout for a PHEV to replace the mini-van, but we need to be able to seat 3 to 5 people with their luggage/camping gear in the back. Unfortunately the C-MAX Energi just doesn't have the cargo space. Next!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

the mini van for "around town?"

 

[Yogi62]

the mini van for "around town?"

around town = while the Leaf is busy commuting to Boston, trips of around 5 to 15 miles with 1 to 7 people and/or small loads of cargo (groceries canoes, ladders, lumber, bikes, scouts, friends, recyclables, garbage). A PHEV would work great because that car is normally is back at the house between trips. Note that the nearest store/town area is 3 miles away.

On the weekend we use the Leaf when possible.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

the mini van for "around town?"

around town = while the Leaf is busy commuting to Boston, trips of around 5 to 15 miles with 1 to 7 people and/or small loads of cargo (groceries canoes, ladders, lumber, bikes, scouts, friends, recyclables, garbage). A PHEV would work great because that car is normally is back at the house between trips. Note that the nearest store/town area is 3 miles away.

On the weekend we use the Leaf when possible.

oh didnt hear the 7 people part. not sure there is a PHEV currently that will hold 7 is there? you need a Tesla!

 

[RegGuheert]

oh didnt hear the 7 people part. not sure there is a PHEV currently that will hold 7 is there? you need a Tesla!

And with the Tesla, two of the people need to be rather small people!

 

[Yogi62]

the mini van for "around town?"

around town = while the Leaf is busy commuting to Boston, trips of around 5 to 15 miles with 1 to 7 people and/or small loads of cargo (groceries canoes, ladders, lumber, bikes, scouts, friends, recyclables, garbage). A PHEV would work great because that car is normally is back at the house between trips. Note that the nearest store/town area is 3 miles away.

On the weekend we use the Leaf when possible.

oh didnt hear the 7 people part. not sure there is a PHEV currently that will hold 7 is there? you need a Tesla!

I'm willing to make adjustments, but you can't get 5 people and their gear/luggage in a C-MAX. Three yes, four maybe....
If the C-max had the same trunk capacity as a 2013 Leaf...

 

[adric22]

So we went to an auto show this weekend and when we were looking at the Fords, one of the representatives signed us up for a test drive of any ford product and they will send us $40. So I said I'd test drive a C-Max Energi, which we did today. Fortunately, it had a full charge on it. I put it in EV-Now mode because I was most curious to see what kind of acceleration power it would have. I was quite disappointed. I knew it had a 65 KW electric motor, which is obviously a bit small, but I really expected a little more. I mean, beyond 10 mph it really had no acceleration at all. I mean it would continue to accelerate but you couldn't really feel it. I honestly think that even though the main driver motor is 65 KW, I suspect the inverter doesn't actually even deliver that much directly from the battery. I suspect the actual power was probably closer to around 30 KW or so.

Having said that, I'm sure I could drive it back and forth to work everyday and pretty much live a gas-free lifestyle with my short commute. The acceleration, while anemic, would easily keep up with city traffic assuming you never needed to floor it for any reason. I would imagine most people would probably choose to drive the car in standard hybrid mode which allows the engine to kick on when extra acceleration power is needed. In this mode, it did have plenty of acceleration power.

My wife actually really liked the car and said she might like to have one when our lease on our Leaf is up (she is currently driving the Leaf) but I just can't honestly see it being we can get another Volt for roughly the same price due to the tax credit structure and I just feel like the Volt is the superior car.

I can also say this.. having owned several Priuses over the years, I think I'd rather have the C-Max over a Prius and definitely take a C-Max Energi over a Prius Plug-in.

 

[cwerdna]

I can also say this.. having owned several Priuses over the years, I think I'd rather have the C-Max over a Prius and definitely take a C-Max Energi over a Prius Plug-in.

For me, w/the horrific reliability reports in CR so far, there's no way I'd bother w/a C-Max until there's evidence that Ford's got that under control.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

So we went to an auto show this weekend and when we were looking at the Fords, one of the representatives signed us up for a test drive of any ford product and they will send us $40. So I said I'd test drive a C-Max Energi, which we did today. Fortunately, it had a full charge on it. I put it in EV-Now mode because I was most curious to see what kind of acceleration power it would have. I was quite disappointed. I knew it had a 65 KW electric motor, which is obviously a bit small, but I really expected a little more. I mean, beyond 10 mph it really had no acceleration at all. I mean it would continue to accelerate but you couldn't really feel it. I honestly think that even though the main driver motor is 65 KW, I suspect the inverter doesn't actually even deliver that much directly from the battery. I suspect the actual power was probably closer to around 30 KW or so.

Having said that, I'm sure I could drive it back and forth to work everyday and pretty much live a gas-free lifestyle with my short commute. The acceleration, while anemic, would easily keep up with city traffic assuming you never needed to floor it for any reason. I would imagine most people would probably choose to drive the car in standard hybrid mode which allows the engine to kick on when extra acceleration power is needed. In this mode, it did have plenty of acceleration power.

My wife actually really liked the car and said she might like to have one when our lease on our Leaf is up (she is currently driving the Leaf) but I just can't honestly see it being we can get another Volt for roughly the same price due to the tax credit structure and I just feel like the Volt is the superior car.

I can also say this.. having owned several Priuses over the years, I think I'd rather have the C-Max over a Prius and definitely take a C-Max Energi over a Prius Plug-in.

I have to agree with your statement concerning PiP verses Energi's. not that I am happy with a 20 mile range but 9 miles is covers less than 25 % of my needs. it would literally be plugged in all the time.

20 miles would be significant but with a LEAF, I would use the 20 mile EV range in boost mode only for max benefit. (need to since the regular MPG's suck! :lol: ) So the acceleration issues of the Energi would be a non issue.

Either way; the lack of decent plug in options has led me to decide to go the "project" car route. so we see how that goes... stay tuned

 

[malloryk]

Test drove the C-MAX Energi last night in Santa Monica. Really liked it, very nice ride and the interior felt upscale. On a black on black with the 302A package, they quoted me 0 down, $421 a month (including tax, and they rolled in the final two payments on my Leaf and the $395 disposition fee). I passed, but what do you guys think?

 

[adric22]

Test drove the C-MAX Energi last night in Santa Monica. Really liked it, very nice ride and the interior felt upscale. On a black on black with the 302A package, they quoted me 0 down, $421 a month (including tax, and they rolled in the final two payments on my Leaf and the $395 disposition fee). I passed, but what do you guys think?

Was that for a lease or a purchase? How many months?

 

[malloryk]

Test drove the C-MAX Energi last night in Santa Monica. Really liked it, very nice ride and the interior felt upscale. On a black on black with the 302A package, they quoted me 0 down, $421 a month (including tax, and they rolled in the final two payments on my Leaf and the $395 disposition fee). I passed, but what do you guys think?

Was that for a lease or a purchase? How many months?

Lease, for 36 months, 10,500 miles. I probably won't end up buying the car but he was giving me $500 off invoice.

 

[DaveEV]

Lease, for 36 months, 10,500 miles. I probably won't end up buying the car but he was giving me $500 off invoice.

You can do better, it looks like Ford has a lot of dealer incentives on the Energi right now and you should be able to get $1-2k under invoice.

 

[malloryk]

Lease, for 36 months, 10,500 miles. I probably won't end up buying the car but he was giving me $500 off invoice.

You can do better, it looks like Ford has a lot of dealer incentives on the Energi right now.

He mentioned a $5000 dealer rebate and he added another $1000. But good to know, I will shop around!

 

[DaveEV]

He mentioned a $5000 dealer rebate and he added another $1000. But good to know, I will shop around!

Yeah, if you look at TrueCar you can see that transaction prices for the Energi have dropped $2-3k in the last month.

 

[malloryk]

He mentioned a $5000 dealer rebate and he added another $1000. But good to know, I will shop around!

Yeah, if you look at TrueCar you can see that transaction prices for the Energi have dropped $2-3k in the last month.

ok thanks. I think I'm going to wait out my Leaf lease and then look around the beginning of the year.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

10500 miles makes it not an option. For that kind of mileage, the LEAF works fine

 

[malloryk]

10500 miles makes it not an option. For that kind of mileage, the LEAF works fine

mmm not for me. I'm a single car household and there are those days I need the flexibility and the extra range. Stopping to quick charge is too much of a pain. When the infrastructure is built up more, then I'll definitely go back to all EV. That said, I just might end up in a Leaf again. I'm changing my mind every day!