CMAX mpg

[tablyons1]

My C Max has 1996 miles and the best mpg I have gotten is 36.8 mpg. I have driven a Lexus hybrid and my husband and I only vary 1 mpg when we each have driven the Lexus--so I am familiar with a hybrid.
I am extremely disappointed in this mpg on the CMax.
At this mpg I would have considered many other cars. The main reason I bought this car was for the 47 mpg.

Any pointers on getting better MPG on this car? If not do I hear class action?

[MMUK]

There are many factors which affect your MPG. For example, the current temperature / weather, your typical journey distance, local terrain, the type of driving you do (city versus highway), peak speed, etc etc. So without knowing those things, it is impossible to know if the MPG you are getting is good or bad.

[BDC]

Ford hybrids have been failing to meeting EPA estimates since Day 1. Now that people are actually pissed about it (I have been hearing about the Consumer Reports results all over the news this week) something might actually happen. All the magazines tested the old Fusion hybrid as well and found it to be woefully under-performing, but nobody raised a stink about it at the time. Now that there is a precedent set (and now that the government is not actively financing Ford with $20+ billion in DOE loans) there may finally be some comeuppance.

There was lots of speculation and evidence long before the Consumer Reports tests this week that these new Ford hybrids would not meet EPA estimates. New car buyers just cannot take the EPA ratings for granted anymore.

[Draigflag]

I think the op is talking about thier Ford focus Cmax, which in the UK is not a hybrid. I should imagine they have a diesel engine too.

[pb]

According to their profile, tablyons1 is in the US.

[Ciderbarrel]

The Ford C-Max is available in 2 forms: standard hybrid and plug-in hybrid.

http://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/

[Draigflag]

I see. I thought hybrids were supposed to get good fuel economy? Even a non hybrid diesel version in the UK should get 55+ MPG so why all the hybrid technology?

[jostlehim]

Remember there are gallons and gallons - the OP is presumably talking about the EPA estimate of 47 miles per US gallon. This would equate to 56.4 miles per UK gallon. As it is achieving this with petrol, there would be an approximately 17% greater CO2 emission with the diesel for equal mpg.

[Draigflag]

Do you know the C02 emissions in grams per km? I just wondered how hybrid emissions compare to the small diesel cars in the UK.

[TeslaWannabe]

We test-drove the C-Max hybrid a couple months ago, and it did take a bit to get it up the to 47mpg. Even though we'd driven a Prius for years, there is still a learning curve re:feathering the gas, maximizing the regen braking, but it is definitely possible. We've since purchased the C-Max Energi Plug-in hybrid, and, on our 3rd week & 1500+ miles, we are now seeing consistent 80+MPGe. It's just a function of learning the secret handshakes, and getting a feel for it. Also note the dealers are notorious for driving these cars around with drained batteries, and thus skewing the overall numbers. I did have my doubts during the first week or so, but am now loving it. Whispering along at 75mph on electric only is pretty cool (WAY less road noise than our Prius too). I think eventually for us, the Level 2 chargers may actually be worth the expense, attaining full charge in 3 hrs as opposed to overnight (but not at the $1400 retail they're wishing for)...a 40 mile electric range would have been more helpful than the 20+ current range, but evidently we're adapting, as our numbers keep climbing.