stolenmoment

Nope, no records. My daily driving is local roads, 45-50mph tops, with occasional highway trips at full highway speeds (don't tell anybody, but I routinely exceed legal limits). The noise was getting noticeable above about 30, enough to annoy my wife.

As a datapoint, the noise on my back tires got noticeable at about 60K. I failed the next state inspection because the belts were showing on the inside corners.

I'm hoping!

Can't fault you on that decision! We're on our second Forester. I'm really hoping that they come out with a BEV or PHEV Forester before my CMax dies!

For the washers, as Plus 3 Golfer says above, you can clean them with a straight pin. I haven't looked at the CMax's, but I've found that if the nozzles are little balls with holes, you can also *aim* them when you've inserted those pins into the holes. That said, my washers only get weak when the tank is about empty.

I've had that same thing happen a couple of times at work. I wear my keyring on a carabiner in a belt loop, but it's always possible that it got wedged in the office chair somehow. And yes, if I park close to the building the fob can hit the car from my cube. I park farther away for the summer; there's only one row in the lot that gets any shade!

I bought used, and I suspect that my camera was pointed at the Sun for a while, it's always washed-out. However, cleaning the lens *does* help.

What's a good rotation pattern for this car?

On the off chance, do you use bluetooth earphones when you're not in the car? My car can't connect to the phone until I power off my earbuds.

For me, the Escape is too big, and my wife's FEH rides like a truck. A PHEV the size/shape/capacity of a Forester with a battery range above 40mi is my target. The 20mi range of my Energi is fine for my daily use, but more range would be even more useful. My wife has extreme range anxiety, so we'll be sticking with PHEVs for a while yet.

I'd vote for the Forester; I'm a fan of Subaru's designs in general. When they produce a PHEV Forester, I'm in.

The first thing that I thought of was whether the liftgate still worked well; perhaps this was a counterweight...

Hmm, that article only talks about rear-wheel-drive hybrids, and is undated. But I'm glad to learn stuff!

Ford pays Toyota for use of the Prius drive train design (elements?).

My wife drives an older Escape Hybrid that I don't particularly like, even though the drivetrain convinced me to look at the CMax. I got a newer Escape as a loaner awhile back, and I like it a lot better, so a plug-in Escape would probably be just fine with me. Hopefully more than 20mi electric range, though!

Very brave of you! Well done! What did that do to the handling?

In other words, a flywheel.

Yeah, that's why I went with the Energi; my commute is well within electric range.

That's too bad; all you need is a 20A 120v socket within about 30' of a parking space.

I'd have a Volt if the backseat could accomodate my 6'2" son. It would let me mostly charge at the free charger at work, having to charge at home on only weekends.

Hmmm, my Energi tells me that I typically get about 20% regained by regen (trip & charge log: 10.3 mi, 2.0 miles from regen). I drive in L after the first mile or so, and generally get 4mi/kWh. This is on gently rolling eastern Mass topography, with the overall run slightly uphill. The homeward (downhill) gets me 2.8 regen miles and 5.25 mi/kWh. I never use N, L lets me control the speed as I wish as I drive one-pedal except for real stops.

I *do* understand the safety aspects of the disconnect. I hope the Kia's recharge button is reachable; for us, the doors won't unlock when the 12v is dead.

1) That's about as good as it gets, although the lugs under the hood are easier to get to for most. 2) Not as far as I can tell. My battery died a year ago Christmas, my Entertainment went dark in the coldest part of this past winter. BTW, the 12v battery should be charged from the alternator whenever you run the car. It is pretty much only used to pull the relays that isolate the HVB from the rest of the works. IMHO it's a design failure to neglect keeping the 12v battery charged while parked, at least while the HVB can still start the ICE. This is doubly true for the Energi models.

I keep asking Ford salescritters why they don't advertise the Cmax, they tell me "It doesn't sell". I ask them "If the F-150 sells itself, why do you advertise it?" I never get a good answer.

Softer tires will be quieter but less efficient. I also love my 2013; I've had it for almost two years now, no regrets. I occasionally have to pull a fuse to reset the audio, but I'm more or less used to the contortions now. I can't find another affordable electric (I have the Energi) with the headroom my family requires.