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I have a 2 mile commute to work and if I'm careful I can almost get there on only EV mode. It is fantastic!

The car is not a sportcar but the torque is very nice. Hybrids are primarily set up to coast - so smoothly accelerate up to speed, then back off the accelerator a little bit but keep a steady pressure on the throttle .. on flat land you will see the car switch over to EV mode and coast round like a big electric golf cart for "in town" driving .. With low rolling resistance tires it is possible to get 40MPG without working very hard. The battery capacity isn't very big so you may not be able to go along on EV alone for too long, but I suppose the idea is to even out the RPM on the gas engine and provide a bit of power boost - so it's more like a V6 even though it has a fuel efficient 4 cylinder engine. Hybrid brakes are also typically more sensitive because there are two different braking systems - regenerative braking which shunts friction energy from brakes back into battery and traditional hydraulic brakes to provide more stopping power when necessary. So you can also coast on the brakes to provide an energy boost back into the battery and it won't wear down the brake pads that much because light braking is handled by regenerative system. So Hybrids are great for stop and go traffic. If you choose to use any of these techniques be mindful of traffic around you .. I do practice some of them, but never to the extent where I hypermile and hold up traffic.

Yes, and with more than the normal inverse relationship between how far you plant it, and fuel economy. Find @ptjones Youtube videos to see what all can be done in the name of higher mileage. At a minimum, tire pressures and a grill block are hard to argue with. But here's the thing: this car can be so efficient that you can see real benefit from little things. Tire pressure. Aerodynamic mods like Grill Blocks. No-ethanol Premium Fuel, and of course, driving style. Once you learn "The Hybrid Game," you'll be getting 50's and 60's on a regular basis. I'm driving the new Escape, and the Game is almost easier than C-Max. Stay well, Frank

My 2013 C-MAX has been a good car with no issues (except for dead battery and associated recalls) until 80,000 miles when the check engine light came on and the engine started running rough at idle. The dealer I bought it from said they did something to the computer regards misfires and reset the check engine light ($191.00). Within 15 miles or so the light came back on. I took it back to the dealer and before even hooking the car up to diagnostics said it is not the same problem, and were very belligerent and almost hostile to my pleasant inquiries about what could be wrong. I took the car to another dealer (Colonial Ford in Plymouth, MA) whom I am very happy with regards how they treat me and discuss the issue with me. They have also been very good about keeping the car over night and rechecking to make sure the "fixes" they have made have fixed the issue, but the check engine light continues to comes on and the idle is rough. They have supposedly been on the phone or chat with Ford engineers every day. Over several weeks they replaced a fuel injector, replaced spark plugs, replaced a connector that they thought was corroded and seemed to make the issue occur if they wiggled it, but the issue continues. I dont know what the codes are, but there is apparently something out of tolerance and reporting an issue with one particular cylinder. Next they wanted to replace the head, which I thought made little sense because there are no traditional symptoms of a bad head (no exhaust gas leaks, no oil leaks, no coolant leaks, no funny tappet sounds or anything like that). I asked if maybe the computer or some sensor could be bad or some wires crossed, but they replaced the head (took a week to get parts and a few days to replace it), and then they said they needed to replace or adjust something with the tappets, which indicates to me that the replacement head is probably a used part, so now I have an old major part in my car, AND, of course, it did not fix the problem. Once you tear down/rebuild an engine like this it is never the same. Now they want to replace the whole computer - not sure how long that will take to get the part. Fortunately I bought extended bumper to bumper warranty when I bought the car, so there will supposedly only be a $100 charge to me if and when they ever fix the problem. Ford, and/or my extended warranty is covering a service rental, but I am paying $16 a day for no-worry insurance on the rental (this is Massachusetts, the rental insurance is expensive - car rentals in other states only charge $9 for it. Worth it for a few day rental, but this is now the 4th or 5th week and I cant afford it, but I commute 130 miles a day to work and have to have a reliable car. Although this car has 80,000 miles they are clean highway miles, the car has been serviced regularly at the dealer and is otherwise like new. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and I am at a loss as to what to do. Even if they eventually fix the issue I have no confidence in the car - I wish that Ford would just buy me out of the car or give some special incentive to trade it in for something else. I think Colonial Ford has been straight-up with me and is trying to figure out the issue, but I am starting to wonder if maybe the extended warranty is just a license to perform work that is not needed - is that possible? Suggestions anyone?

Great post, helped me figure this out. In the Energi manual, it states "pull the stalk towards you" [not push the stalk down], which is what was giving me the problem.