Battery Distance for 2014 C-Max Energi

[Marty G]

We just bought a 2014 C-Max Energi a few days ago. I have never had any type of hybrid before this car. It is used and has 100,500 miles on it. I was a bit worried about the life of the battery, since I read that they basically last for 80,000 miles and then start getting weaker. The owner talked like the battery may be a tad weaker but way better than buying a new one at like 5 or 6 grand. Well, I charged it up completely yesterday, and then drove almost ALL highway miles to see how far it would go before getting down to 0%. I was very discouraged to find that it only took about 10 miles or less to get down to 0%, and the regular engine came on and did the rest. We drove a total of 20 miles and when I stopped, the dash read that the battery went 8.1 miles and the regeneration was .6 mile. I take it that is pretty bad, correct? We plan to use this little car for longer trips, since my wife and I do concerts and have our little sound system in here. So, I got to thinking that even if the battery went the total 20 miles, it basically would not make much difference at all when we are driving say 100 or 200 miles to get to a concert location. So, 2 questions:

1) Does this mean that my large battery is on its way out, and needs replaced already?

2) Is this car even feasible for long distance driving? (Since I am reading some stories on here about only getting like 30mpg with the Energi on trips)

Thanks so much!

Marty

[homestead]

Sounds about normal.  My son has a 2016 c-max Energi with about 75k miles and he said he gets about 10 miles on the battery.

Car should still get about 40mpg on long trips if you don't drive too fast.

Will do better in the warmer weather.  Winter is hard on hybrid & EV's.

[cr08]

A lot to unpack here:

 

First off, Ford's original 'up to 20 miles' was optimistic and considered the most efficient driving scenario which would be in town stop and go driving. All EVs (PHEV's like the Energi included) are going to be less efficient and have less range in highway driving. In fact it is highly recommended not to drive EV mode on the highway because it stresses the battery and accelerates degradation. Switch to EV Later and save the battery for in town driving/roads under 45-50mph.

 

The range estimate is also just a guess by the system and often referred to as the 'guess-o-meter'. There's many factors that can impact what range it shows and as such is not a reliable indicator of overall battery health. If you want to check the current health, the procedure below is the best way to do so:

 

1) Fully charge the vehicle

2) Drive in EV mode ONLY, avoiding scenarios that can cause the ICE/engine to start. This means no highway driving, avoid cabin heat/defrost as much as possible. The fewer running accessories the better.

3) Drive until the plug-in charge is depleted and it drops back to hybrid operation. Safely stop the car and shut it off.

4) Upon shutting off the car, you will have a trip summary screen show on the dash. the Kwh used number is what you're looking for. 5.5kwh is what is expected brand new from the factory. 4.0 or higher is still in good territory. Doing this will also give you more reasonable 'EV miles driven' in that summary that will be a bit more accurate than your highway driving test.

 

The car is perfect for long distance driving IMHO and I've taken mine on plenty of cross country road trips and love it. But some expectations have to be tempered here. Using EV on the highway is not advisable and you really should run it as a hybrid in those cases. It's also not going to be as efficient as a Prius in hybrid mode. That said in my first hand experience I can easily average 37-40mpg highway with cruise set and following posted speed limits +5mph or so depending on the traffic. Lowering speed will definitely improve that and other owners have documented notable mileage increases doing so.

Edited April 4 by cr08