C-Max Hybrid vs C-Max Energi: Which should you buy?

[zhackwyatt]

I made this calculator, maybe it will help someone make up their mind.

 

http://gocalipso.com/2013/02/plugin-hybrid-energy-cost-comparison-calculator.php#post

 

Enter in Electricity Cost, Gas Cost, One-Way commute miles, and whether you can charge at work or not.

 

It will graph the answer as well as tell you what the cheaper method is.

 

You can also enter in the Purchase price of the Energi and Hybrid and it will tell you how many years until you break even with the C-Max Energi purchase price premium (say that 5 times fast).

[hybridbear]

Awesome tool! Thanks!

[IslandTractor]

I made this calculator, maybe it will help someone make up their mind.

 

http://gocalipso.com/2013/02/plugin-hybrid-energy-cost-comparison-calculator.php#post

 

Enter in Electricity Cost, Gas Cost, One-Way commute miles, and whether you can charge at work or not.

 

It will graph the answer as well as tell you what the cheaper method is.

 

You can also enter in the Purchase price of the Energi and Hybrid and it will tell you how many years until you break even with the C-Max Energi purchase price premium (say that 5 times fast).

This link no longer works.  Should either be updated or this topic should be unpinned.

[Adrian_L]

As with most things in life, it is more complicated than that.  Even if someone told us that the Energi would have been cheaper in car payments and gas, it wouldn't have pursuaded my wife to ignore that micro trunk.

 

Still.........there's an Energi that plugs in at my work parking lot and I covet it daily.

[Marc Smith]

that's one of the things that I did not like either.  its only a few inches...  but as they say.  the difference between Oh...and OOOOHHHH is a few inches.

 

In hindsight.  I probably could have gotten by with the energi on a daily basis  and then used my wifes saturn Vue if I needed the extra space...

 

and it bizarre since there appears to be plenty of space under the floor (Ie outside) were they could have modified the body to accommodate the batteries.  But that would have taken a pretty major redesign of the structure.  Maybe in future models..

[ptjones]

The space was the determining factor for me. As it turns out most of my driving is considered HWY 55+mph (83% Fuelly) it would appear Hybrid gets noticeably better MPG's on the HWY.  My Life Time is 47.3 mpg and Fuelly is 46.3 mpg. :)

 

Paul

[Smiling Jack]

I agree with Paul that the chief considrations are driving pattern and the tradeoff of space vs. plug-in capability.

 

These are individual choices.

 

My driving pattern is such that I get about twice the (gas plus electric) fuel economy with plug-in than I would get without it, and my C-Max Energi has a lot more cargo space than the car it replaced.

 

I had experienced both conventional and plug-in hybrid and also wagon and sedans before getting into the C-max Energi.  For me, both the wagon/utility layout and the plug-in technology were game changers - like color TV.  Once I had experienced them it was hard to even think of turning back.

 

I had considered both the Fusion Energi and the Escape prior to the C-max.  If cargo space had been my top priority, I probably would have gone with the Escape.  If it had been my lowest priority, I would probably gone for the Fusion Energi - now there is a classy ride!.

 

It is difficult to understand the appeal of Plug-in hybrid technology without actualy having experienced it.  (A test drive will not do the trick.  It takes months.)  On the other hand, the loss of space is very easy to see and evaluate.

 

A number of members over on the C-max Energi forum have owned both the C-max Hybrid and theC-max Energi.  These members have experienced the plusses and minuses of both cars.  Check out the discussions over there.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Smiling Jack

[hybridbear]

The space was the determining factor for me. As it turns out most of my driving is considered HWY 55+mph (83% Fuelly) it would appear Hybrid gets noticeably better MPG's on the HWY.  My Life Time is 47.3 mpg and Fuelly is 46.3 mpg. :)

 

Paul

Why do you think that? The EPA ratings are 42/37 for the hybrid and 40/36 for the Energi (http://insideevs.com/ford-reduces-mpg-figures-plug-energi-models-c-max-fusion/). That looks like the Energi has a very minor decrease in highway fuel economy. We've seen no measurable decrease in fuel economy with our Fusion Energi. In fact, the Fusion Energi gets better highway MPG than the Fusion Hybrid with the 18-inch wheels & Goodyear tires.

[stevedebi]

The space was the determining factor for me. As it turns out most of my driving is considered HWY 55+mph (83% Fuelly) it would appear Hybrid gets noticeably better MPG's on the HWY.  My Life Time is 47.3 mpg and Fuelly is 46.3 mpg. :)

 

Paul

Actually, I got about 36 MPG on a recent 1900 mile trip, but I was doing 75 MPH average speed. If you are going on a trip of around 200 miles, you will get over 40 on the road at 70 (I do this trip all the time), because you can use the large battery to assist on hills, and of course you don't need to use gas on the trip to and from the freeway.

 

I'd say the two are about equal on pure gasoline trips - I regularly get in the 50's around town on those few occasions when I run out of HVB and have to go "hybrid" and use gas. But I have been driving a Ford hybrid for 7 years and know how to use the techniques.

 

The main difference is that the larger battery adds 200 lbs to the weight of the car.

[ptjones]

Actually, I got about 36 MPG on a recent 1900 mile trip, but I was doing 75 MPH average speed. If you are going on a trip of around 200 miles, you will get over 40 on the road at 70 (I do this trip all the time), because you can use the large battery to assist on hills, and of course you don't need to use gas on the trip to and from the freeway.

 

I'd say the two are about equal on pure gasoline trips - I regularly get in the 50's around town on those few occasions when I run out of HVB and have to go "hybrid" and use gas. But I have been driving a Ford hybrid for 7 years and know how to use the techniques.

 

The main difference is that the larger battery adds 200 lbs to the weight of the car.

I thought the NRG weighed 300LBS more than the Hybrid.

 

Why do you think that? The EPA ratings are 42/37 for the hybrid and 40/36 for the Energi (http://insideevs.com/ford-reduces-mpg-figures-plug-energi-models-c-max-fusion/). That looks like the Energi has a very minor decrease in highway fuel economy. We've seen no measurable decrease in fuel economy with our Fusion Energi. In fact, the Fusion Energi gets better highway MPG than the Fusion Hybrid with the 18-inch wheels & Goodyear tires.

Can you separate  out Hybrid only operation and what kind of average do you get?  I don't give a lot a credence to EPA numbers, everyone should be getting atleast 47mpg around town now with temps around 80*F.  I'm pushing 60mpg around town and today I went 90miles on the FWY's and average 51mpg with speeds between 50-80mph, mostly 65-70mph.  51-52mpg is my normal average driving the FWY's around Atlanta. :)

 

Paul

[hybridbear]

Can you separate out Hybrid only operation and what kind of average do you get? I don't give a lot a credence to EPA numbers, everyone should be getting atleast 47mpg around town now with temps around 80*F. I'm pushing 60mpg around town and today I went 90miles on the FWY's and average 51mpg with speeds between 50-80mph, mostly 65-70mph. 51-52mpg is my normal average driving the FWY's around Atlanta. :)

 

Paul

No, I don't have a lab where I could do a controlled experiment. The EPA tests are done in a controlled environment. If you do 25% better than EPA MPG in the hybrid you should be able to do 25% better than EPA in the Energi too. Add in the Energi EV miles and you'll do way better. We recently used 2.67 gallons on a 180 mile trip with two charges. That's over 67 MPG! We did about 56 MPGe on the trip. In the FFH we'd usually use at least 1 gallon more. The Energi is definitely the better car if you have an outlet at home & can sacrifice the cargo space. We have no issues with the reduced cargo space in the Fusion Energi.

[ptjones]

That's real good MPG's, but I did get 68.3mpg's on my record run from GA to all over FL in four days of sight seeing 922mi. and 13.5g.  It may be P&G isn't as efficent in NRG with the extra 300LBS.  Around town driving the NRG has a big advantage if you are going short distances, especially under 20 miles. LOL :)

 

Paul

[stevedebi]

I thought the NRG weighed 300LBS more than the Hybrid.

 

Can you separate  out Hybrid only operation and what kind of average do you get?  I don't give a lot a credence to EPA numbers, everyone should be getting atleast 47mpg around town now with temps around 80*F.  I'm pushing 60mpg around town and today I went 90miles on the FWY's and average 51mpg with speeds between 50-80mph, mostly 65-70mph.  51-52mpg is my normal average driving the FWY's around Atlanta. :)

 

Paul

Yes, I believe you are correct, 300.

[hybridbear]

That's real good MPG's, but I did get 68.3mpg's on my record run from GA to all over FL in four days of sight seeing 922mi. and 13.5g.  It may be P&G isn't as efficent in NRG with the extra 300LBS.  Around town driving the NRG has a big advantage if you are going short distances, especially under 20 miles. LOL :)

 

Paul

We didn't do any hypermiling. We were going 65-70 with the AC on. MN also has constant hills, at one point we were 500 feet higher than the elevation at home. We get closer to 30 miles of EV range in the summer.

[ptjones]

I find constantly hilly is automatic hypermiling, that is what I have around here. You ICE up the hill, coast down the hill and EV at the bottom of the hill so ICE is only on about 35% of the time. :)

 

Paul

[markd]

Central Indiana is flat as a pancake, the only hills are the hiway overpasses.

[ptjones]

Central Indiana is flat as a pancake, the only hills are the hiway overpasses.

Sorry, there is always drafting 100ft behind a Semi. :)

 

Paul

[Duken4evr]

Recently bought my wife a pristine red '16 Energi with 35K miles on it for 13.8K out the door with TTL included.  That particular car was actually less than the Hybrids we were seeing.  It had been at a Kia dealer for 3 months and they wanted to unload it.

I wanted the Energi as my wife uses the car for errand running and as a result takes short trips around town that are within the car's EV range.  We have owned it for a month and used a quarter tank of gas  :)   I own a GMC Canyon diesel pickup truck, so the loss of carrying capacity from the battery is of no real concern.  Very pleased with the car so far!  I like how efficient it is and yet how fun it is to drive.

My wife is the one who found the C-Max, as her brother owns a '13 that is used in Los Angeles almost exclusively for commuting, it has almost 200K miles on it now, and is still going strong.  It seems the C-Max likes heavy traffic and rarely going actual highway speed.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Duken4evr