hybridbear

I love the aliens joke! The C-Max is rather alien to most drivers being a hybrid.

One of the reasons that many drivers get lower fuel economy in the FFH and C-Max is because they have more available power making it easy to accelerate quickly, but if you drive reasonably in the C-Max or FFH you'll still get great fuel economy while not being as slow as the Prius. I did a comparison test once of driving a Prius on a set route and accelerating not fast, but at the same rate as I accelerate in our FFH which made the Prius engine really work and I had to have it in "Power" mode the whole time. I then drove the exact same route in our FFH and the Ford got better gas mileage because how I accelerate is at the rate that works well for the Ford but was too fast for the Prius and hurt its fuel economy. I'd suggest trying to drive the Prius as close as possible to how you drive your C-Max and see how the Prius does for fuel economy. My guess is that if you accelerate in the Prius as fast as you do in the C-Max you'll see poor MPGs from the Prius since the Prius engine is so weak.

Ok thanks. Unfortunately the FFH glove box is a different size, about 16 inches wide but the same poor design

This thread from the Fusion Hybrid Forum may help you as it explains about invoice pricing and how dealers make their profits. Being well informed is your best tool in negotiations because then you can protect yourself from being taken advantage of by a slimy salesman. http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/7072-invoice-pricing-explained/

This is why you shouldn't do a test drive around the block. Find a dealer who'll let you do an extended test drive so that you can drive the car on the same streets where you'll use it every day. If your main reason for buying a car is fuel efficiency and you don't verify the fuel efficiency on your route before buying it then shame on you.

Great link! Thanks for sharing. Interesting that the "world" Fusion/Mondeo is only about 80% the same around the world. I remember reading early on that the reason the Fusion has such a long hood is part of the world design to meet European crash test standards. If all the countries in the EU can agree on this stuff you'd think the US could agree with the EU as well. After all the US and UK are the dominant world power right now.

DFSO only happens when the speed is too fast for the ICE to turn off. On the C-Max and FFH this only happens when the car is going more than 62 MPH and the throttle is released. I've verified that this does happen through Engineering Test Mode and the Fuel Counts screen on there. On the older Ford hybrids with lower thresholds for requiring the ICE to stay on this came in to play more than it does now.

Since these cars have DFSO (Decel Fuel Shut Off) the ICE may stay on above 62 MPH but the injectors stop spraying fuel into the cylinders when the ICE isn't needed even though it is technically still on. I don't see how increasing the EV threshold will help. It will take away ICE High mode which has proven very efficient.

Interesting. Maybe they booked it early to meet their goals for June even though you don't have the car yet. I agree with comments above about contacting them about the survey. I wouldn't take the approach of trying to blackmail them though. I would ask about why the survey says that you purchased the car on June 30th and bring up the concerns from another poster about losing warranty days because of this and see what they say. If it turns out that they did something that is going to cost you warranty days or is not approved of by Ford then you can negotiate with them for something in exchange for letting their misbehavior slide.

How many inches wide is it? I wonder if one of these would work in our Fusion Hybrid. Thank you

Sad!! We were just in the lower mainland a few weeks ago visiting family and I was looking for C-Maxes and Fusion Hybrids. We saw a number of Fusion Hybrids but I was surprised that we didn't see a single C-Max. I hope they sell soon :shift: :play:

This is incorrect. The brake score measures the % of the potential energy that could be recovered that you actually recovered. The friction brakes engage at lower speeds. The electric motor has limits to its performance and it is not used to slow the car down at low speeds because the kinetic energy is likely too low to be able to recover much based on the charging losses discussed above. You're exactly right

The EPA test results are 47/47. There is no disputing that...a better question would be: is 47/44 a more realistic MPG rating than 47/47? That I would agree with. But the EPA tests make ZERO claims to be realistic. They're just like standardized tests for schoolchildren. They aren't a realistic measure of intelligence but provide a way to compare students and schools. EPA test results don't claim to be a realistic measure of YOUR MPG, they just provide a tool to compare vehicles and manufacturers.

They're both retired now and are pushing 70...I got them signed up for the Energi Forum so that I can send them links to topics that will be helpful to them to read. So far they are loving driving gas free! Hahaha yes! We can fit a lot in our Fusion Hybrid, but more bulky items will fit better in the Energi This is their first ever Ford. My dad has owned nothing but Chryslers his whole life and is still very loyal to Chrysler. Our excellent experience with our FFH is what got them interested in looking at a plug-in hybrid and the C-Max. Since they're retired they go somewhere almost every day but rarely drive more than 20 miles in a day. Most of their trips are less than 3 miles in length so the PHEV is perfect for them. In the Chrysler 300M that was replaced by the C-Max they would average about 15 MPG because all their driving is in the city. In the Nissan Murano they still have they get about 13 MPG because all their trips are short city trips. For them the Energi is way better than the C-Max Hybrid because their trips are so short that the hybrid wouldn't get very good gas mileage for them because of how long the ICE runs when it first comes on to warm up. But with the Energi that isn't an issue and they can just drive in EV Now every day and use the electricity from the wall to cool or heat the car before leaving when needed. The C-Max is the only plug-in that is high enough off the ground for them to be comfortable in dealing with arthritis and back pain, the Volt and Leaf are too low, so is the Prius. If we lived in California I think they would have purchased something like a Rav4 EV because that would be more comfortable than the C-Max but Toyota refuses to sell them outside of the CARB states. I have been helping them learn how to use the features both in the car and the MyFordMobile website for PHEV owners. My mom is fairly tech saavy but my dad still refuses to learn how to use a computer or the internet. He really loves the voice commands though because they're easier for him to remember than trying to use the touch screen. My mom has been learning how to use the MFM app on her iPhone to set go times and review their driving history. They both are learning how to see the feedback the car provides and are both averaging around 97% brake score after only 150 miles so far with the car. My dad drove city bus here in Minneapolis for more than 15 years before retiring so he's very quick to adapt to different vehicles and has quickly learned the feel of the brake pedal, steering and accelerator to drive efficiently and he's been averaging over 130 MPGe so far on most of his trips.

Our Fusion Hybrid together with their C-Max Energi

The FFH tank is 13.5 gallons. The info on Ford.com has been wrong since day 1 and has never been corrected. The Energi (both Fusion & C-Max) models have a 14 gal tank. The hybrid (both Fusion & C-Max) models have a 13.5 gal tank. There has been almost no complaining, mostly just observation about how it's hard to fill our tanks. Many of us also have issues with gas pumps shutting off even on the slowest setting. This means that we have to hold the pump on at a very, very slow speed to fill the car. It seems to be a tank venting issue because it doesn't happen all the time and even at the same gas pump it doesn't always happen. I've found that putting the nozzle in and taking it out a few times before beginning to fill allows me to get more gas in. Also, even when the car shows that we've used 10+ gallons the pumps usually click off the first time around 8 gallons and then we're able to add about 2-3 gallons more before the 2nd click off. Hopefully my parents won't have this issue with their C-Max Energi. They should be able to go 2000+ miles per tank of gas. So far they've had their Energi about a week and have burned 1 gallon in 200+ miles of driving.

At a Ford sponsored even a first gen Fusion Hybrid managed over 1000 miles on a tank with some serious hypermiling. We've never heard of this over at the Fusion Hybrid Forum. The FFH has a 13.5 gal tank just like the C-Max. Actually no one at the Fusion Forum has gotten over 700 miles to a tank in the FFH because our tanks seem to be smaller, even though Ford says they're 13.5 gallons. Most of us are seeing 0 DTE after about 11.5 gallons used according to the trip meter, which is a lot less than in the C-Max and rarely do we seem to be able to put in more than about 12.5 gallons even when going many miles past 0 on the DTE

If you press the button so that the lights don't come on with open doors do they turn off?

What was wrong with your C-Max?

The engine radiator may be the only component you see behind the center grille but that doesn't mean it's the only component dependent on that airflow. There are computers, wires and other components that don't have coolant lines running to them but that are dependent on the natural airflow of driving. Anything that blocks the airflow in warm weather could create problems with overheating unbeknownst to you of components that don't have a temp gauge for you to monitor, but that are dependent on the grille being open and having air coming through

Can you please include pictures of how much each type of mat covers? Especially in the front. We've found with the Fusion that each mat is different and some are clearly better than others. I didn't know this when buying the mats for my Fusion and wish that I had bought different ones. I want to help my parents have the tools to make a more informed decision when buying mats for their Energi. Thanks!

You might be happy with your C-Max, but what does she drive?

Just be careful with the temps getting too warm. Does the scan gauge allow you to see the temps of all the other components under there? Such as the AC system, the ECU and other computers that control the car, the temp of MG1 & MG2, etc?

When your battery was first replaced was the date of manufacture the same as the original dead battery? Since Ford got a batch of bad batteries it's possible that the first replacement was also one of the bad ones

Hybrids have lower routine maintenance costs. Beltless engine design means there are no belts to break or have to change (big savings since changing belts often has a high labor cost)Electric water pumps have proven more reliable and less likely to fail than belt driven water pumpsElectric A/C components have proven more reliable and less likely to fail than belt driven A/C componentsElectric power steering doesn't have a hydraulic pump or high pressure hoses to break down and call for expensive repairsRegen braking means that brake pads should easily last 100,000+ milesEV mode saves wear and tear on the engine by running it less which means you don't have to change oil as oftenRunning the engine less also means that you don't have to change the air filter as oftenElectric motors require virtually no maintenance as they are a much simpler machine than an internal combustion engineThe eCVT is much simpler than a regular transmission or CVT and requires virtually no maintenanceAll hybrid components are covered by the 8yr/100,000 mile warranty, including but not limited too: electric motor/generators, HVB, eCVT (also known as the Powersplit Device), etcHybrids not only save you money on gas, but they also save money on maintenance. Pure electric cars have the lowest maintenance costs of all as they basically only need tire rotations for routine maintenance.