2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive Page 2
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It will, however, switch on its engine even in EV-Only mode if it’s under heavy load. With five people in the car, just like the Prius plug-in, the engine will switch on to move the car as fast as possible from a standing stop onto a fast uphill freeway on-ramp.
The drive selector offers only two forward modes, Drive and Low. The latter increases the level of regenerative braking; Ford says it’s set up to simulate engine braking for descending hills.
Along with EV-Now all-electric mode and Auto-EV hybrid mode, Ford offers an “EV Later” mode as well that lets drivers maintain whatever state of charge the pack contains and save it for later use.
That might apply to a quiet neighborhood late at night, or be used in a European city with a zero-emission vehicle zone.
Gas mileage vs efficiency
As for statistics, we left downtown San Francisco and made it most of the way up the Marin hills on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge entirely in electric mode.
The gauge said we had covered about 14 miles—and still had almost 3 miles left—when we switched the car into “Auto EV” blended hybrid mode to keep up with fast-moving traffic. That 3 miles vanished quickly, however, and our C-Max Energi behaved like a conventional hybrid C-Max thereafter.
The EPA rating for the Energi's highway efficiency once its pack is depleted, however, is 41 mpg--13 percent down on the C-Max Hybrid's 47 mpg. That's due not only to its higher weight, but to a lower final-drive ratio than the one used in the hybrid version.
Over the course of our 79.7-mile test, which included lots of hills and canyons along the coastal highway, the C-Max Energi logged a blended gas mileage of 62.8 mpg.
That means we used about a gallon of gas during our 66 miles of hybrid running—though the display also informed us that during the total 80-mile trip, we’d spent fully 51.5 “EV” miles with the engine off.
That translates to more than 60 percent of our total travel, and indicates that even with a large amount of freeway driving, the C-Max Energi can spend a lot of time running only on electric power.
And it often does so undetectably. We had to pay close attention to figure out when the engine switched off under many conditions, though a slight change in note indicated when the engine came back on.
The EPA rates the C-Max Energi at 100 MPGe combined in all-electric mode (108 MPGe city, 92 MPGe highway), making it more efficient than the 2013 Chevy Volt by exactly 2 MPGe--and, remarkably, better than the Prius Plug-In by 5 MPGe.
(The Miles-Per-Gallon-equivalent measure looks at how many miles a plug-in car can cover electrically on the same energy content that’s contained in 1 gallon gasoline.)
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Have an opinion?
1) How much does it cost and what is the Fed rebate?
2) Much load bay space is lost to the battery.
3) That 62.8 mpg should be 62.8 mpgBS as in, it is not actually measured on the normal mpg scale but some other scale that has no meaning.
Thanks
John C. Briggs
As for the 62.8mpgBS issue, I don't think this is clear enough for the average reader. These numbers are almost completely without meaning and frankly should be either avoided for very clearly labeled.
The base C-Max Energi stickers at $33,745, while the plug-in Prius base model lists at $32,710. That means that Ford can claim a “net price” that’s $400 lower for the base versions of both vehicles.
$33,745 (C-Max Energi base price) - $3,750 (Fed. tax credit for EVs) = $29,995
$32,710 (Prius plug-in base) - $2,500 (lower fed. tax credit) = $30,210
$30,210 - $29,995 = $215.
$400 difference? Am I missing something?
[hangs head in shame at lack of early-morning basic math skills]
http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f26/battery-cooling-fan-failure-warranty-not-24766/
I blame the repair people and dealers for not properly researching.
Does the Volt not count for some reason?
I wonder how many people are willing to trade more space/lower price for less EV range...
I have two additional question on the Energi,
1) Does it have electric heat? Or does the ICE come on during the EV now mode when you crank up the heat?
2) What is its "performance" comparing to the Volt in acceleration?
And I suspect this is confirmed by the fact that nowhere in any of their material is the charger specified--and they'd likely have said so if they were using the 6.6-kW charger from the Focus Electric.
(1) Yes, it has electric resistance heat of some sort (didn't have time to get full details) and also heated seats. I don't believe the engine comes on when you switch on the heat, though to be honest, I didn't check.
(2) Don't have an answer for that one: We weren't able to do proper timed acceleration tests or side-by-side comparisons. The only comparison car at the Ford event was a Prius Plug-In (not too surprisingly).
That is interesting. Ford really sneaked the C-Max Energi right between the Volt and Prius Plugin.
It has worse MPG than Prius plugin and less EV range than the Volt, but it is cheaper than both.
Or according to Ford Marketing, it has slight better MPG than the Volt, more space than the Volt, but also far more useable EV range than the Prius plugin.
I guess it all depends on how you look at it.
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2013-ford-c-max-energi-first-drive-review
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/phevtech.shtml
Different Kinds of PHEVs
There are two basic PHEV configurations:
Series PHEVs, also called Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs). Only the electric motor turns the wheels; the gasoline engine is only used to generate electricity. Series PHEVs can run solely on electricity until the battery needs to be recharged. The gasoline engine will then generate the electricity needed to power the electric motor. For shorter trips, these vehicles might use no gasoline at all.
Parallel or Blended PHEVs. Both the engine and electric motor are mechanically connected to the wheels..
Calling them PHEV is just too generic... Sure, if you consider "hybrid" as "anything" with two power source. Then just about every ICE can be called hybrids since it has an alternator and starter and it certainly can launch the car for few feet with its 12V starter battery.
One is powered primarily by gasoline engine, the other is primarily by electric motor. Big difference.
MrEnergyCzar
Prius plugins get better MPG b/c it is significantly lighter than the other two. It is also significantly "degraded" in terms of performance to achieve those MPG numbers. wimpy tires, weaker suspension and worse accerlation all help MPG but it doesn't help performance.
If Prius had added the battery pack size as Energi, it would be about 10% heavier, that will translate into a 8-10% MPG loss. That would degrade it down to 45 MPG. Along with a larger tires and more powerful engine to power the extra weight, it would have degrade the MPG down to 40-43 MPG range, just like the C-Max Energi.
Everything is about trade off in the closely competitive auto market.
I am trying to read in between the lines. I think this review is giving Ford C-Max Energi a favor. The test was performed in October-November in San Francisco area, when the average temperatures are 63-69F. I presume the reviewer did not have to run neither A/C, nor heating. In contrast, Mitsubishi i was tested at 90F with A/C and was criticized shorter of EPA range. I am not sure about the conditions for testing plug-in Prius, that is compared unfavorably with C-Max Energi but one should not be biased on the basis of country of the vehicle manufacturing and "liking or disliking" the vehicle size. No comment was made on the cargo area (unless it is buried in the comments section).
I hope GCR makes some efforts to reflect the "real world" true MPG with all those "plug in" EREV/PHEV reviews. If they can, review the EV range with each and every EREV/PHEV and then reiview them again with "extended" or "gas mode". People care to know the "real" MPG in those modes. Auto makers are certainly using it to market to people. It might be hard to do that with Prius Plugin, but with Volt and C-Max Energi, it can certainly do that.
Last time I looked at the door sticker on mine it said "Built with pride in the USA"
That is unless you don't consider the volt a plug in hybrid.
Since it has both electric drive and a gas engine, it most certainly is a hybrid. Just a much better design than any of the others, as it operates as full on electric, and can operate as a series, and a parallel hybrid once the battery is depleted. But then you should know this.
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