jmckinley

That was easy. Here's a connector with 175A capacity for $10. http://www.parts-express.com/cat/high-current-dc-power-connectors/1569.

These are made for the car audio guys who use tons of current to power their aggravating zillion watt stereo systems.

I was also thinking about a garage wall mount, keeping in mind that the car will need to be outside to prevent Carbon Monoxide problems. One possibility is just plain old jumper cables, but I haven't seen the car battery location so don't know what might be possible regarding clamps. I think there are some high current quick connectors available, but this will take further research.

Another thought. The C Max car battery is fairly small. If you were really serious about this, it might make sense to hook up a larger battery next to the inverter (again, not mounted in the car) and charge it from the C Max. This might reduce the run cycles on the C Max engine, which would be more efficient. It should run less often, but longer each time it runs.

I read the Prius report. This guy really did a careful, complete analysis. The only problem I saw was he mounted the inverter in the car permanently. If I did this I would keep the inverter out of the car so I wouldn't have to drag around its substantial weight all the time. Also it would cool better outside of the car. Quick disconnects could handle the battery cable issue.

I'm wondering, however, if the C Max would work the same as the Prius regarding the engine firing up as needed to keep the battery charged. Someone who actually has their C Max needs to run a quick experiment using the built in inverter. Plug some small load into it (I think it's only 150 watt capacity), leave the key on and see if the engine fires up from time to time to replenish the battery. If it does, then we're good to go hooking up a bigger inverter.

Some of the OE Nav systems, Chrysler for example, have ways of overriding the safeguards against entering addresses etc above a some low speed threshold like 5 mph. Not necessarily a bad thing, safety wise but a pain if passenger is available to enter a new destination.

Has anyone seen anything about disabling this feature on the Ford Nav system?

I just ordered a C Max for everyday use and to tow behind my motor home. Ford has apparently approved towing it four wheels down, just like they did for the Escape Hybrid and for the Fusion Hybrid. Both Blue Ox and Roadmaster have tow brackets in process but are not selling them yet.

Is anyone else planning to tow a C Max and if so what are your concerns?