jeffkruse

Ashley, as a prospective CMAX buyer I am glad to see you are helping people out with these issues. More importantly I am glad some of them are following up and posting their experience here. I really want a CMAX but this 12V battery thing has me concerned. You following up helps. Thanks.

Has anyone used calibrated gas cans to see how much gas will fit in the tank when it's completely full?

Or maybe it’s just a matter of semantics. Both are correct, the 0-15 doesn’t reach the minimal BSFC operating region but accelerating past this point charges the battery back up and moves the car up to cruising speed.? 0-15 takes some energy from the battery, so how long do you need to accelerate to put all that energy back. I assume the sweet spot of the ICE can accelerate the car and charge the battery at the same time.?

Wow, thanks for the explanation. This makes sense: - accelerating to 15 MPH doesn't put enough load on the ICE to reach the minimal BSFC operating region - the higher load pushes the ICE closer to the BSFC minima, increasing ICE efficiency The gist of the hypermiling advice is to run the ICE as little as possible, and then with the highest load achievable without discharging the battery, to minimize fuel consumption. But it conflicts with the following post: The Hybrid is optimized to run the engine during acceleration from a stop, and to stop the engine during moderate speed cruising and during deceleration. Trying to accelerate the vehicle slowly in EV mode tends to drain the HVTB (high Voltage Traction Battery) which forces the engine to run during cruise, lowering fuel economy. And then you mention the issue of torque for big-motor/small ICE. So if I comprehend this correctly the small motors and batteries in these cheaper hybrids don’t have the torque a small ICE has but the bigger more expensive EV’s have torque that blows away most ICE’s.?

I just don’t understand. I am planning on getting a C-MAX so I have been reading this forum and all kinds of other stuff on how the Prius and C-MAX work. I am an Electrical Engineer so I like this kind of stuff but what I have been reading just doesn’t make sense to me. Work is work so I don’t understand how 0-15MPH in EV is most efficient. Since these are not plug-ins the energy has to come from the ICE at some point. I have read this thread and still don’t understand what the best way to drive this car is. It seems people are trying to drive in EV mode as long as they can. Doesn’t the ICE have to charge the battery back up? This would make me think the losses of creating the electricity, storing it, then using it again would be so much more than just driving from ICE. I thought there were a few reasons why hybrids are more efficient. The main one was that the ICE could run at its most efficient RPM while creating electricity. I also thought that the ICE could be much smaller because the battery would act as a buffer for peak demand. But reading how people are driving it makes me question how this thing really works. Kind of related is that I would like to see an electric vehicle that could charge its self with a very small generator like a Honda EU2000i. You could have a very small gas tank and have the option turning the generator on during your long trip and keep it on when you stop for lunch. My thought is that the generator couldn’t power the car but would greatly extend its range.

Hi All, I see all these great posts about getting great mileage but how much effort are you doing to get great mileage? These posts give me a lot of hope and I want to do it to (when I get a C-MAX). However, I would also like to know how bad it can be. How about a thread contest on the worst mileage for 500 miles? I would like to see the worst of what I could expect. How low can it go over that distance? Just a thought. Thanks.

Hello, I am a new member and do not have a C-MAX yet. I am planning on moving to Albuquerque in 4 to 8 weeks and will need to buy a car when I get there. I would like a to get a 2014 SE C-MAX in the color blue. Do you think this is possible or will I have to get a 2013? Or will I even have a hard time finding a SE in blue in that time frame? I will need to buy the car within a week or two of ariving. Thanks, Jeff