charlesd

What % of the manufacturing cost of the C-Max energi do you think the 7.6 kWh battery is, guys ?

IMHO this is irrelevant, the plugin and the non-plugin C-MAX have the same technology behind it. As I said, the losses involved in the regenerative breaking process are always there versus coasting in a mimimun traffic environment, it does not matter that you drive in EV mode only or in EV-ICE mode, you will never recoup the same amount of energy lost during the regenerative breaking process as opposed to just coasting. It's common sense, if you ask me ... Thanks again for your input, I have a feeling I'll actually have to hit the road in order to prove it to him. :)

Hi, guys ! I'm just having a "beef" with my friend, and I'd like your input about it :) I'm saying that if I drive the C-MAX Energi (his car) or any other hybrid at night, when there's the lowest amount of traffic on the road and the highest chances to catch most of the traffic lights on green, I get the best mileage. He says that driving at rush hour and stopping at red lights (on the same route that I'd be driving at night) gives him a better mileage over me. I say I'm right because at night I can coast a lot, he says that he's right because he uses regenerative braking a lot. I'm trying to explain him that no matter how "perfect" the regenerative braking process is there will be losses involved than by just coasting and letting the car use its kinetic energy. Who do you think is right ? Thank you !