Ford C-Max and C-Max Energi

2016 Ford C-Max and C-Max Energi

Ordinary . . . and that's a good thing for a hybrid to be.

Quick-Take Review

Overview: Ford’s C-Max hybrid and its plug-in-hybrid sibling, the C-Max Energi, have been on sale here in the United States since 2013. A decade before arriving stateside, they were introduced in Europe as typical gasoline-powered high-roof wagons. One look at the Maxes’ styling, and you understand they’re aging. Both use the same hybrid powertrain—a gasoline-fed four-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor—but the C-Max Energi’s larger battery, which can be topped up using an external charger, allows for more electric-only driving. The C-Max siblings compete against a range of hybrids: the C-Max hybrid against the Toyota Prius V, and the C-Max Energi against the Prius Plug-In and the Chevrolet Volt. Both Fords stand out by driving and looking more mainstream than other hybrids.

What’s New: Not much, in fact. Since their U.S. debut three years ago, the biggest change to the C-Max pair was Ford’s downgrading of their EPA fuel-economy estimates after customers complained that the figures were unattainable. Ford said the disconnect between real-world efficiency and the EPA figures could be chalked up to the (completely legal) method of deriving the C-Max’s fuel economy from that of the Fusion hybrid, an altogether different car that happens to share its powertrain with the C-Max. Now standard is Ford’s latest infotainment system, Sync 3, which works far better than its old infotainment system. The real news is that sometime soon, likely next year, the C-Max will inherit the European models’ upgraded looks.
What We Like: The C-Max and the C-Max Energi drive very well for hybrids, and they very nearly feel like ordinary vehicles. That’s a compliment. With underpinnings similar to those beneath the fun-to-drive Focus compact sedan and hatchback, the C-Maxes go down the road comfortably and competently. Sporty the Fords are not, but they respond more positively to braking and steering inputs than even the latest Toyota Prius (which is improved in that regard relative to its predecessor) and, again, go about their business with a minimum of weirdness. The gas-electric powertrain pulls well, and the C-Max Energi’s extra electric juice helps quicken its acceleration slightly; in our testing, it went from zero to 60 mph in 7.9 seconds versus 8.8 seconds for the plain C-Max hybrid. The cabin is comfortable, with plenty of headroom and a nice, tall seating position; the dashboard layout is conventional and attractive, with soft-touch materials and easy ergonomics. The fitment of Ford’s new Sync 3 touchscreen display cures one of our bigger gripes with the 2013–2015 C-Maxes, their finicky MyFord Touch setup. Sync 3 mercifully brings with it larger on-screen buttons and easier-to-navigate menus.

What We Don’t Like: The C-Max Energi’s ability to charge up at a public EV charger or at home and then scoot about on electricity alone is great, but the battery runs out of juice quickly, meaning most of the time you’ll be running around in hybrid mode. In a world where the Chevrolet Volt can squeeze 53 miles from its battery before kicking over to hybrid mode, the C-Max’s claimed 19-mile EV-only range (which runs down quicker in reality, where folks use the climate-control system and drive as if they have someplace to be) is doing less and less to justify the Energi’s higher sticker price. And although the C-Maxes’ software was revised for better real-world fuel economy in 2013, we’ve never come close to either C-Max’s EPA-estimated fuel economy (a combined 40 mpg for the hybrid, 38 mpg for the Energi), gathering figures between 32 and 33 mpg. (We’ve seen 44 mpg and 47 mpg in separate tests of the new Prius.) Of course, the EPA’s fuel-economy test has some trouble when it comes to evaluating hybrids, but with the newest Prius returning more than 10 mpg better in our testing, the C-Max’s numbers don’t pencil as well as they once did.
Verdict: Mainstream looks, mainstream driving experience, mainstream fuel economy.