energicolo

Just took my 2013 Energi in the dealership to fix a bad wheel bearing and went ahead with the 150K transmission fluid change a bit early (I'm at 127K miles). They said the old fluid looked good--no metal shavings, etc. That's a huge relief, as I really enjoy the Energi and would like to keep it for several more years while new PHEV and EV options come down the line.

On 6/17/2021 at 9:51 PM, NRGTi said:

Thanks for that correction, Billy. Today I did my 50,000 mile test. I got 4.3 KWh out of the HVB, which works out to a 26% loss in capacity. That's not the good news I hoped for. Overall, though, the car still give exceptional economy. After the HVB was gone, it still scored in the high 40s mpg on the rest of my fast freeway trip in 95 degree temperatures. The overall fuel use, reset 10K ago when I changed tires, still hovers around 60 mpg. 

This suggests that the car might have only 50% HVB capacity at eight years old. I'll deal with that at the time, but for now, this is still of of the most efficient cars I could get. 

My Energi battery had degraded to just over 4 kWh after about 90,000 miles (6 years). Finally I saw the tips from some battery gurus on the old Energi forum (raj in particular), including leaving a smidgen of charge in the battery at all times, avoiding hot-sun charging, etc. Now that I'm at 125,000 miles and 8 years, the rate of depletion seems to have slowed--I'm now just under 4 kWh. So that's a hopeful sign.

I've got a 2013 C-MAX Energi. For whatever reason, dealers can be nervous about working on this vehicle. It's worth checking around. I've also had good luck with a trusted local Ford/Mazda repair shop for a couple of things that would have been far more expensive at the dealer.

I've got a 2013 C-MAX Energi. For whatever reason, dealers can be nervous about working on this vehicle. It's worth checking around. I've also had good luck with a trusted local Ford/Mazda repair shop for a couple of things that would have been far more expensive at the dealer.