What is the sound of the future? In the automotive world, “nothing”. At least that’s the sound if you believe electric cars are the future. It might be the future and I can kind of see it now after spending a week behind the wheel of a 2016 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid.
Although the C-Max Energi isn’t a full-on electric car, it still acts as one for a decent amount of distance, and for my driving needs, the C-Max Energi is as good as an all-electric car.
The Ford C-Max has been on sale in North America since 2012, in European markets it has been on sale for a much longer period of time. In North America, the C-Max only comes as a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid, unlike Europe, where it’s a non-hybrid.
In Canada, the base Ford C-Max Hybrid has a starting price of $25,999, the C-Max Hybrid SEL starts at $31,444, and the C-Max Energi (plug-in hybrid) starts at $31,999.
Our review car was the 2016 Ford C-Max Energi, with a sticker price of $36,729 plus $1,600 destination and delivery, you might be able to get a government rebate (you’ll have to check that for yourself, I’m not sure if this vehicle qualifies as an electric vehicle). Our test vehicle had optional equipment of $4,730, with a big chunk of that going to option Group 303A ($3,695), which included items like premium audio and navigation package, hands-free technology package, power tailgate with hands-free open and close, rear view camera, keyless entry/start/tailgate, parking tech package, and active park assist. The rest of the options were small items, which I’d personally skip on.
The C-Max Energi is powered by a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine, producing 141 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 129 pound-feet of torque. The gasoline engine gets assistance from an electric motor, with a combined total output of 188 horsepower. The C-Max Energi has a bigger battery pack than the non-plugin hybrid, the battery is a 7.3 kWh lithium-ion unit.
The C-Max Energi is able to be driven on electric power alone for up to 33 kilometers and can go up 137 km/h. It takes about 7 hours to fully charge the battery pack on a standard 120 volt outlet and that time is reduced to 2.5 hours on a 240 volt outlet.
As I mentioned earlier, the C-Max Energi is a very good car for my driving needs, because during the week, most of drives are about 20 – 30 km per day. When I test drove the C-Max for a week, during weekdays I didn’t use any gasoline at all, I kept charging the batteries and the range was more than sufficient for me. On the weekends, I drive more and ended up using the gasoline engine. For the whole week, driving with both plug-in and gasoline power, I averaged 2.1 Liters/100 kilometers (112 US mpg), with a total distance driven of 235.6 kilometers. These numbers are based on output from the on-board trip computer.
I’m not sure how exactly the math should work, but I’m going to give it a shot. Electricity charges in Vancouver are $0.0829 per kWh, for the first 1,350 kWh used every two months, and $0.1243 per kWh after that limit. Our household rarely goes over the 1,350 kWh of electricity usage/2 moths. So using the $0.0829/kWh number, the battery is 7.3 kWh, multiplying the two equals $0.605 per charge (again, I’m guessing this is how I’d calculate it), which gives about 33 kilometers of range. So for 100 kilometers driven in electric mode (on multiple charges), the cost to me is $1.83, which is the price of about 1.54 liters of gasoline. So not too bad of a price to pay, if you don’t need to drive more than about 30 km per day.
Also, some of the above electricity was free, as there are some free electric vehicle charging stations in and around the Vancouver area, which I took full advantage of (thank you Tim Horton’s).
Driving the C-Max is not too bad, it definitely drives much better than my wife’s 2006 Civic Hybrid, and drives better than some of the newer hybrids I’ve driven. The C-Max is no sports car, so I’m treating it as such; it is pretty slow in electric-only mode, but in hybrid mode with all the ponies available, it gets up to speed pretty quickly and effortlessly.
Looks-wise, the 2016 Ford C-Max is a pretty decent looking car, it looks like a normal car, unlike some of the electric cars offered by other manufacturers. It shares similar looks to the rest of the Ford hatchback family, slotting somewhere in between the Focus and Fiesta, with a taller roof.
The interior is also very similar to that of other small Ford vehicles. If you’re familiar with Ford vehicles, then you’ll feel right at home in the C-Max. The interior is pretty roomy and with the taller roof, it feels even more spacious than the Ford Focus. There is plenty of room for the front and rear passengers, the rear seat is only good for two people to sit comfortably or three adults really packed in there.
The interior is also pretty quiet, especially in electric mode, all you hear is tire noise at highway speeds, which isn’t too loud. The trunk space is a lot less than the C-Max Hybrid because of the larger battery pack. Another feature you lose because of the bigger battery is the flat rear surface when the seats are folded.
Overall I think the Ford C-Max Energi is a pretty good little car, it didn’t seem as dull as some of the hybrids I’ve driven and I loved seeing the low fuel consumption. The Energi is an especially good car for people that have short commutes, helping them save money by using cheaper electricity. And if you run out of electric juice, the C-Max acts as a normal hybrid, with no range anxiety. Even in normal hybrid mode, it is a pretty fuel efficient vehicle.
So at the end of the day, do you want the extra battery pack of the C-Max Energi or is the C-Max Hybrid a better choice for you? That all depends on your commute and preference, either way, the C-Max is a pretty good effort by Ford.
