checkerj

Great thread. Here's what I did instead for my 2013 C-Max Energi w/ 117,000 miles (I drive a lot):

https://www.amazon.com/V-Netik-VK201-All-Season-Radial-Tire/dp/B01DP56VQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475771351&sr=8-1&keywords=vk201

These are 205/55/17 tires, which are the same overall diameter as the OEM ones.  The only difference is they're not LRR and they're thinner (not by much, but enough to offset the MPG to be the same as the LRR 225/50/17 OEM tire).  I got them for about $70 each.  They exceed the load and speed rating (95W) of the OEM tire (93V), so there's no egregious safety concerns. In all honesty, they look like they're meant for the C-Max. 

Looks like Scosche came up with one for 2013-Up Ford Escape and C-Max:

http://www.scosche.com/2013-up-ford-escape-cmax-installation-kit

My experience has been that having the dealership program an extra key should be pretty straight forward.  http://fordcmaxenergiforum.com/topic/1852-replacing-intelligent-access-key/page-2?

It cost me $80 to program an extra key that I bought used on eBay for $35.  It only took an hour to program the extra key, provided I brought all other keys to the dealership. Hopefully this helps.