The 2013 Ford C-Max Energi adds Ford's first plug-in gas-electric hybrid to a rapidly expanding line of efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles.
The C-Max is built not just to compete with Toyota Prius, the dominant player in this slowly growing but important segment. It was made to outperform Prius in the government-mandated march toward higher fuel economy.
And it does.
The C-Max Energi is more efficient, more powerful, and more fun to drive than the Prius plug-in. It is larger and has a 50-horsepower advantage. Yet it gets better mileage with an equivalent overall EPA average of 100 miles per gallon versus 95 for the Prius plug-in electric. (Electricity is not measured in gallons; a conversion factor is used to translate the fuel economy into miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent. The combined mpge estimate includes a mix of gasoline and electric energy use.)