Ford began selling the Escape Hybrid in america 4 years after the introduction of the Toyota Prius here, with production continuing through 2012. To switch it, a Focus-derived MPV that had proven itself in Europe was given a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain and introduced as a 2013 model for North America. This was the C-Max Hybrid, and I’ve found one in all those first-year cars in a Wyoming self-service automobile graveyard.
The C-Max was the primary American-market Ford model that was available only as a hybrid, and sales continued through 2018 (after which it was canceled as a result of being insufficiently truck-like).
The concept was that it might compete for sales against the Toyota Prius, with its similar price tag and fuel economy specs.
Just like the Prius, the C-Max had an Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine providing the internal-combustion power. Total output with the 88kW electric motor was 188 horsepower, which beat the Prius and its 134 total horses. There was a plug-in hybrid version called the C-Max Energi as well.
And the 2013 C-Max’s official EPA fuel economy rating, while not quite reaching Prius levels, was excellent: 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway, 47 mpg combined.
Unfortunately for Ford, American C-Max reviewers and buyers quickly found that their real-world fuel economy was lower than those numbers. Much lower. Litigiously lower, in reality.
By the summer of 2013, the EPA had backpedaled on its C-Max mileage rankings, dropping them to 45 city/40 highway/43 combined. Ford sent rebate checks to all 32,000 buyers and lessees of 2013 C-Maxes in america. None of this appeared to hurt C-Max sales an excessive amount of on the time… at first; sales of the 2014 C-Max plummeted a bit later.
The “tall hatchback” MPV body style proved extremely popular with European automobile shoppers in the course of the 2000s and deep into the 2010s, and I documented quite a couple of of those cars during my whirlwind tour of English scrapyards last winter. American automobile shoppers weren’t quite as keen about the sort of vehicle, as may be seen by the chilly reception for the C-Max’s platform cousin, the Mazda5.
No less than the C-Max Hybrid sold higher than the Altima Hybrid and Jetta Hybrid.
Prepare for the Hybrid Games!
All those Prius V-beating fuel economy claims went out the window soon enough.
C-Max says, “Ha!” C-Max says, “Wheee!” Which is what you get, don’t you see?
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
