MSmith1915

600 miles was a possibility, but my wife got cold feet.

Add me to the list of 500 milers.

I looked at my owner's manual (the one that came with the car) and the part numbers for the Low Voltage Battery are BXT-96R-500/BXT-96R-590. I opened the cover in the cargo area to look at the battery and the part number on the battery actually installed in the car is BXT-67R-390. I wonder why the difference from what the manual says and this makes the 12 volt battery considerable less capacity than the BXT-96R-500. Should I ask Ford to put the battery the manual says should be installed?

My C-Max had a dead battery the other morning. I must admit it was self imposed. I had gone out to the car and turned the accessories on to check the mpg reading and forgot to turn it off. I don't think it was on longer than 4 or 5 minutes. When I opened the car door, the center screen had a message that said 'System Off to Save Battery. Please turn ignition off or start engine.' Tried to start with the start button and nothing happened. I hooked up jumper cables and the car immediately came to life and the I was able to start the car. Here's my take on the 12 volt battery. It must be a really small battery with a low amp hour output. The reason the system shut down was to protect the high voltage battery. The high voltage battery keeps the 12 volt battery charged and the Battery Management System will not let the lithium ion batteries deplete to a low level where they could be damaged. That being said, the battery problems we are reading about have to be either the 12 volt battery itself or some system that is not shutting off which drains the the 12 volt battery and the battery management system will disconnect the high voltage battery to protect it. Note: Just looked up the BXT-96R-500 and it has 625 cranking amps (500 at 0 degrees F) and a 90 minute reserve capacity. I looked up my 2004 Ford Escape battery and the specifications look very similar. So, the amp hour output is not any lower than a normal battery. My next guess would be that even in accessory mode, there is a pretty large draw on the 12 volt battery, hence the short amount of time all the systems stayed powered up.

Your C-Max has a pretty sophisticated Battery Management System to control the charging and discharging. Lithium Ion batteries can not tolerate an overcharge or a charge depletion without overheating or suffering some sort of internal failure due to a low charge. The Battery Management System manages all this without user input. Just drive and enjoy and let the computer manage all that under the hood stuff.

It's been a few days since the 13B07 update and my wife has had time to drive the car for those few days. She normally averages 37-38 mpg and the current reading is 41 mpg, a noticeable improvement. I drove it to the gym the other day, 4.6 miles one way and I got 50.2 mpg. I like the update.

Recumpence, what are some of the scangauge codes you use?

Just got 13B07 update today. Went for a short drive and the update seems to be working OK. Initial impression: it does seem easier to average higher mpg. My drive home with a mix of city and highway driving, averaged 48 mpg. The real test will be when my wife gets behind the wheel. She averages about 37 mpg. I'll update in a few days.

I use Gas Cubby on my iPhone. You can keep fuel mileage data for multiple vehicles and also maintenance data and cost. You can store all your stats for each vehicle, i.e. VIN number, insurance, license plate etc. It also has a pretty good reporting feature which you can export to email. Mike

Two things: The pen/tire gauge holder in the glove box. And if you lightly press the turn signal (either direction) you get a few seconds of turn signal for a lane change and not have to worry about forgetting to turn the signal off.

This company, http://www.clearmask.com/about_our_kits.php , has the 2013 C-Max with and without the bumper sensors.

I just accept the fact that the car gallons and pump gallons are not going to be the same. So, for 3 or 4 fill ups, I fill up to what the car says I used. That way my MPG will be the same as what the car calculates. Then, after 3 or 4 fill ups, I'll use about 2 gallons of gas and then top off until the pump clicks to a stop. Usually it's about 1 gallon more than what the car display says. The MPG is pretty low but it's over a small sample of miles, maybe 80 to 100 miles and wont skew your total mileage very much.

Let's all keep in mind that it's the car's computer (an MS Windows system) that is controlling everything. That's why, when you push the start button, you wait until you get the OK To Drive message, unlike a normal car where you can turn the key and throw the shifter into drive/reverse. Basically, the computer is booting up, initializing all the systems, running checks and diagnostics, etc. I to have noticed, sometimes, when I put the shifter into reverse, there is a slight pause before the gears engage to get the car moving. Sometimes you have to give the computer a chance to catch up with what you are demanding of the systems.

I vote for San Miguel beer from the Philippines .

Lift up the cover in the back. On the right side there is a storage compartment, lift the rubber mat up and then lift the plastic cover, that is where the 12 volt battery is located.

Page 95 of the manual: The ambient lighting will switch on when the following conditions have been met: • you switch the ignition on • you switch the headlamps on • the outside ambient light level is low. My understanding is that all conditions must be met.

I have noticed a lot more road grime accumulating on the back of the C-Max than my Ford Escape. I don't think the mud flaps will prevent this. I think the grime is more a function of the aerodynamics of the car, ie there is more negative pressure on the back of the car which causes road grime to get sucked up onto the back of the car.

Lithium-ion batteries need special consideration. Here's a pdf document that describes the process: http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CGgQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-personal.umich.edu%2F~annastef%2Fpapers_battery%2FACC10BMSsubm.pdf&ei=LbvTUNjnOKjPmgWk64GACg&usg=AFQjCNG2mSKSTFCWo7HGtMOoVi-_eD_78Q&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dGY It's very technical, but here's a synopsis: Lithium-ion batteries need special protection from overcharge and overdischarge, because if the single cell voltage becomes higher than 4.5 V, the production of carbon dioxide, ethylene and other gases will increase temperature and internal pressure, causing severe battery damage or in the worst case cell explosion, while if the voltage goes under 2.4 V, internal chemical reactions cause the cell to irreversibly lose large part of its capacity While different type of batteries are able to self equalize by extended charging (i.e. trickle charging for lead acid batteries), lithium-ions cannot be overcharged, and so a Battery Management System (BMS) has to be used.

And that is why the EPA must have standard tests, so all cars are tested under the same conditions and criteria to arrive at a number that can be compared with other cars.

Looking at specs for both the Prius C and C-Max on http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/topten.jsp (select no on Include electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) vehicles?) brings up some interesting comparisons. The Prius C is classified as a compact - C-Max a large car; Prius C 1.5L engine - C-Max 2.0L; the C-Max has 13 cubic feet more passenger space and 7 cubic feet more luggage space. What I don't understand, is the site calls the Prius C a hatchback and the C-Max a 4 door car. Wonder what they call that thing in the back of the C-Max that opens up? The manual calls it a 'Liftgate', I don't know, maybe that's different than a hatchback? Definition from Wikipedia: A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate

The other day I decided to charge the high voltage battery to 100% (with the ICE). Once it reached all the way to the top of the battery indicator, I then decided to try and keep the charge in the upper half of the indicator. I drove a trip segment of 7.2 miles and the average mpg was 53.6, 3.2 EV miles, and .9 Regen miles. I would probably not recommend this on a regular basis because of the attention required to my Empower display. As the charge approached 90%+, the EV mode wants to kick in and assist the ICE. What you will see is the ICE will be running and the battery will show a discharge. To get the battery to finish charging, you have to really throttle back on the gas pedal and get it as close to the EV threshold without actually engaging the electric motor until you see an arrow above the battery indicator . Very delicate work on the foot and gas pedal, not a lot of room to maneuver. Once I reached about 100%, I would let the car go into the EV mode until I was close to the half-way point on the battery and then force the ICE to start up again. I had some stop and go's along the way and I always accelerated with the ICE, a smooth and gentle acceleration, giving the battery a chance to charge. My finishing charge was very nearly the same as the starting charge which was about 95%. As you can imagine, if I had let the electric motor run toward the end of the trip segment, the mpg probably would have been way up over 60+. Again, this took a lot of attention to the Empower display and you really have to keep an eye out for traffic in front of you. (I'll post some pictures when the forum fixes the picture upload). As a side note, when the battery was approaching 100%, the mpg would increase up to about 45-47mpg at 45mph and then decrease to about 20 mpg when the battery was in a full charging mode at a steady state speed. I am kind of surprised at how much drag the charging system puts on the engine. But, from my experience, the battery seems to charge faster than it depletes (city driving) so I guess this is to be expected.

I think there are just to many variables when one (and many different owners) fills up their car in general and their C-Max in particular. Is the car exactly the same angle/level for all the fill ups? Does the gas pump shut off exactly the same time for all the pumps across the U.S.? Do you give it a couple of extra clicks after it shuts off? Are all the gas pumps in the U.S. calibrated exactly the same? And probably many more variables. Even if you use the same station, same pump, temperature and barometric pressure will affect the fuel density and hence how much gas gets pumped. As an experiment, I think I will only fill up to what the car trip display says I used. Probably do this for a couple of months and then fill up once to when it clicks off and see how much of a difference there is. Will let you all know how it works out.

Jus-A-CMax is correct. The manual is wrong when it says familiar destination locations are reset when the trip information is reset. Familiar destination locations are reset when you reset the Lifetime information.

So what you are saying is that 80% of the drivers who expected 47 mpg driving fast, in hilly country, without thinking much about coasting to a stop or lightly using the brake to recharge the battery, and generally using aggressive driving techniques, maybe should have looked at another car other than a hybrid. I think 'average' driver is in the eye of the beholder. My average is different than my wife's average who will be different than another average driver that jumps off at the light and rushes to the next red light. Many times I'm coasting up to a red light and cars are passing me with the pedal to the metal and then have to slam on the brakes at the red light as I come coasting up next to them. If that upsets them because they can't wait at the red light a few seconds longer, well I've got news for them, they don't own the road and they don't drive my car or tell me how to drive. Maybe $3 or $4+ a gallon for gas is not to expensive for those folks, but it is for me.

Now, now. Let's keep it civil. We're still early adopters on the new C-Max. There are what 15,000 C-Max hybrids on the road? The Prius has over ten years of data and knowledge to draw on. I'll bet the Prius dealer can even give the new buyer some tips on how to get the rated mileage. My sales rep for the C-Max took a crash course in the manual the morning of the day I bought my car. As we get more used to driving our hybrids, we'll learn and pass on those techniques the Prius has had over 10 years to develop. Keep the faith. We'll get there. I love my C-Max. My first 1300 or so miles averaged about 39 mpg. The current tank at over 300 miles is right at 48 mpg. I'm learning and getting better with just some basic techniques, no super hypermiling, just good hybrid driving, driving the speed limit and anticipating my stops (I always check my rear view mirror to see how much I can use the regen for my stops).