Search the Community

I am a new owner (within about a week) of a 2013 C-Max Hybrid SE. I absolutely love it but am realizing there is a lot more to driving a hybrid than I thought. My initial impression was simply that; braking charges the battery, as long as there is battery power the car will have no reason to use gas. It will only switch to a gas engine when you have been unable to charge the battery and do not have enough power. But, over the last few days I took a small trip (about 75 miles) and between the trip there and back and some city driving during, I used about a half a tank of gas. While this is better than what my previous car would have used, I was confused because the battery was about half full the entire time. Why wouldn't it have used the battery instead of gas? I don't know all the terms everyone seems to be using and apparently there is clearly a lot more to owning a hybrid than I thought. Can anyone offer me a SIMPLE breakdown of how the engine vs battery thing works/what I can expect from my car/what I should be doing to get the best gas mileage/anything else I should know...it would be very much appreciated!