Adrian_L

That's a bit extreme. Besides, content would be diminished by about 80% ;) I have no problem with my statements or ideas being challenged, refuted or attacked. But no member needs to have a hissy fit every time someone disagrees with him.

Seriously? A bounce sheet? I wonder if it works on bird poop...?

I sure like those 7-spoke wheels

Just so we're clear. You're saying that a multimeter reading (after the car has been idle for say 6 hours) of the battery is pointless and when C-max Traveller checked his voltage at 1 a.m. and it was 12.6 that told him nothing? I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, but there are probably 100 or more marine/rv/auto dedicated websites putting out this misinformation. They must be stopped.

Sorry Diesel, I haven't been able to take anything you have written seriously since that bizarre rant against Toyota. Something I learned a long time ago--the thoughtful rarely use overgeneralizations. "All Toyotas are crap!" "Ford mechanics are just parts replacers!". These are not observations of the careful mind. These are observations of the cab driver and the barber who have all the answers and could fix the country if they weren't too busy cutting hair and driving cabs. Let's look at the Toyota rant: These are cars that top customer satisfactions surveys year after year. My mother-in-law has a '98 Corolla---never had a problem. My father-in-law has a '99 Camry--never had a problem. My brother has a Lexus---all he does is change the oil. I'm sure there are alot of folks on the forum with dead batteries who would love to have Toyota's reliability. I think they're boring cars, but that is different than saying they are all POS. When I had an Audi, two mechanics (no make that 3) told me they hated German cars and told their families to buy Honda or Toyota. At no time did I ever report that I knew the cause of the 12v battery failure. If you feel so strongly, take your trickle charger to Michigan. I'm sure the Engineers would love to hear your advice.

An "APPLIANCE"?!? Excuse me while I lie down for awhile with a damp cloth on my forehead.....

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I wasn't comparing Audi to C-max, I was simply pointing out that starting batteries generally last a long time without trickle charging every 3 or 6 months. And if it was beneficial, don't you think it would have become "established wisdom" --i.e. part of service manuals, battery experts maintanence suggestions, tune-up schedules etc. Why not? I'm glad you quoted C-max Traveller: " I also, fortunately, checked it last night when I took the trash out around 1am, and it was still at 12.5v. This morning at 9:30am, the car was dead, and the voltmeter read 5.2v. I had Ford Roadside Assistance come and jump the car" So we have clear evidence that a) the C-max charged the battery correctly and b)it still went dead. I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but that would suggest this problem has nothing to do with SOC. Again, just one man's opinion, and while charging your battery every 3 or 6 months won't do any harm. It won't help much either.

Good points but don't forget you automatically get the SEL trim/model with the Energi. .

RobMax, Just to be clear we're talking 12volt starting batteries. Recreational vehicle deep-cycle batteries are a whole other story and do require special care to keep them happy. I've been tinkering with cars for a long time. I had a quick look in all my service manuals---nothing about "maintaining" or "servicing" your battery with a trickle charger. Then I took a look at a battery-specialist website: nothing there. But they did have a "maintanence" section: clean the terminals, fill up will distilled water. The battery in my Audi A6 was still going strong after 9 years--all I did was drive it regularly. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with putting an intelligent charger on your battery, especially if you don't drive it regularly. But if you do drive it regularly, the alernator (or DC/DC converter) will maintain your battery by topping up the charge. For a new car, it's superfluous.

Good old drugstore rubbing alcohol. Great for taking anything off glass

"Gee honey, you forgot to wake me at 3 a.m. so I can see if my battery is draining". I agree 100%. Ridiculous. Every night, should I disconnect the battery ground strap on my NEW CAR as well?? I can't say enough good things about my C-max, but if my wife gets stranded with her 80 year-old father and our 3 year-old daughter, I'll have more than caustic words for my dealer.

My wife almost started hyperventilating one day. She pushes the starter button and nothing happened. Battery's dead! OMG Call roadside assistance!!!! Turned out she forgot to put her foot on the brake and the SEL will not engage without that. Welcome to the forum. There's one or two Jag lovers around. I've been restoring old VW busses for years--next project will be a Karmann Ghia, Thing or Type 2 (splittie) electric conversion. Adrian Vancouver

Phew. That's a relief. The way I would interpret it.....Ignition on would be when the green "read to drive" icon is on. On my push-button start SEL, you need to have your foot on the brake to get the green icon. If your foot is off the brake, you get accessory mode (radio, fan but no green icon). Push it a second time, it turns off.

Diesel, Diesel.....Diesel. Trust me, there's no evidence in Rob's post that he's not doing correctly. I read the 2014 manual page which is the same as the 2013. The ONLY thing that I can think of is that by not putting your foot on the brake, you're not turning on the ignition (but merely the standby/accessory) and you never get into programming mode.

There seems to be a pattern on this forum. 1) Problem with car stated. Doubts about reliability 2)Response: "I love my C-max and it hasn't had any problems!" How is this helpful or constructive I have yet to figure out. If my hybrid didn't start one day and I had to jump it, take it to the dealer to check it out. No problem. 2nd time it happened--ok, now I'm getting annoyed. But if the dealer can fix it and make me happy. Again, no problem. Third time I'm losing patience. Again, great to hear you love your '13 Energi or '14 Hybrid or whatever, and it hasn't had any problems. That doesn't help me much.

That sums up my initial thoughts. The lady complained of mpgs "in the 20s" in the freezing Indiana winter. No amount of grill covers or highway sweet spots is going to raise that up to 47.

Um........you could get in alot of trouble plugging in your Energi into parking lot 120v outlets. Most strata councils and/or landlords would object to drivers helping themselves to electricty that is communal. It's one thing to plug in your vacuum for 20 minutes...

Sorry to hear the saga. It does appear that you got the runt of the litter. When I bought my C-max, I knew that I would be using it for 95% inner city driving. This is where hybrids shine. Given your (staggering) daily freeway commute, I can't help thinking that a diesel would suit you better, especially in winter.

Good points. To me the size is perfect (I don't think she's a small car by any means) but overweight, to be sure.

I can understand how ICE is handy to avoid writing "Internal Combustion Engine". But IMHO we can all muster up the energy to type ENERGI, no? TTYL

Sorry, what is NRG? Just an abbreviation of ENERGI?

We loved our '83 Olds Cutlass and the thing probably would have gone another 200,000 miles had I not totalled it (Sorry mum) But this is a different time in history. 2018?! I hope to have a pure-electric by then, with a 200 mile range. Or a plug-in hybrid that can hold more than a bag of toilet paper in the trunk. But let's not ring the death-knell just yet. If Ford gets its act together and actually markets the car properly, it might catch on....

We're just on the cusp. A very exciting time in automotive history.

You bet. It got me inspired about Lithium Ion batteries and electric motors. The reasons we didn't buy: 1. Cheap and plasticy feel to the interior 2. Only seats two in the back. Deal-breaker for the missus. 3. Smallish trunk. 4. Felt it was overpriced and zero buying incentives from GM at the time. 5. (minor) Not particularly crazy about exterior design. We test drove the Energi and thought it was a step up in terms of interior refinement, ride quality and quietness. It just felt better. I still think the Energi is an amazing car, but I had to agree with the boss when she looked in the trunk and said "ok, where's the rest of it?"

I'm not sure a big long list of what members paid or what deals they got would be that useful (or interesting to read ;) I suggest you do what my wife and I did: basically find every single dealer selling C-max in a 50 mile radius. Look on their websites. Email them. Ask them for quotes on the model/options that you want. Then go for a few test drives (we drove the Energi once and the Hybrid twice at different dealerships). We eventually got a great deal at our least favorite dealership!