Ford’s C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid
Ford C-MAX Energi
Ford has recently talked about its new plug-in hybrid, the C-Max Energi, and how it will be able to reach 85 miles per hour on battery power alone.
The model’s powertrain can be set into three different modes, with a simple push of a button located on the center stack:
EV Now – will run the vehicle exclusively on the lithium-ion battery pack, till it is depleted. The electric-only range is rather small, only twenty miles, but there is a gauge that will display to the driver ways in which to maximize the length of this battery-only range.
EV Auto – this setting will see the vehicle running on a blend of power from both the battery pack as well as its 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine – this is pretty much the typical mode in which all hybrids operate.
EV Later – as you might imagine, this setting will use mainly the power from the four-cylinder engine, thus saving the lithium-ion battery for later. This setting is ideal for driving on the highway, and the battery pack is better left to be used during stop-and-go driving when idling the engine isn’t very fuel efficient.
If we’re to believe the numbers that Ford released about the C-Max Energi, it would mean that they’ve surpassed the range and speed of their main competitor, the Toyota Prius. Also according to Ford the Prius can only travel up to 15 miles and can only reach about 62 mph solely on its battery pack. As it is with many other such things, they should be taken with a grain of salt till we get some actual information from independent testing.
The C-Max uses the same platform used by the Ford Focus and will come in two versions, a conventional hybrid and the plug-in Energi. Both the versions will use the same powertrain, respectively a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 141hp as well as an electric motor, for a total output of 188hp.
The C-Max Energi will go on sale in nineteen markets during this autumn season.
