I just ordered a Ford C-Max hybrid.

[recumpence]

Well, as the title suggests, I just ordered a brand new 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid. I do appliance repair and need some cargo space for parts. My work van (2002 Caravan) gets 23mpg if I hyper-mile it. The C-Max is more than twice that mileage (again, if you are very careful). The reports say about 40 to 42mpg if you do not pay attention to your driving or nearly 50mph if you are diligent at hyper-miling. The cool thing is, 60% of my payment is covered by gas mileage savings alone!

Anyway, when I drove one, I was impressed. This is just the hybrid, not the plug-in Energy version. But, the engine only runs 50% of the time while driving. This thing is really entertaining to drive.

I will keep you guys posted when it arrives. It is supposedly in transit and should be here in a week.

We shall see!

Matt

 

[dogman dan]

Well, it was nearly time for something eh? I've had a few caravans myself, and liked them. But my experiences with old ones were not so great. A real bear to put a timing belt into one, or even get at simple things to fix. So good idea to think seriously about replacing a 10 year old one.

Maybe you will see that kind of mileage in daily driving, and maybe not, but for sure you'll see a rather large improvement in your mileage. Plus doging some expensive repairs the caravan has coming.

 

[mr.electric]

I have done a fair amount of Hybrid vehicle repair. The Ford Escape hybrid has been a great vehicle for taxi fleets. I have been really impressed with the Ford Hybrids. Hyper miling does work well on hybrids. You can realistically get 30% higher mileage while hyper miling than when "driving normally"
Enjoy the efficient ride. I'm jealous, I wish I could buy a new Cmax too.

 

[recumpence]

Thanks.

I drive 120 miles per day for work. I spend roughly $600 per month in gas on my Caravan. So, yes, realistically, a minimum of 1/2 the $470 payment will be covered in gas savings alone. Actually, I figure $300 per month less. Of course, I still have the van (for my 17 year old daughter). So, I have insurance and plates to pay for on that car. That adds some cost to owning 3 cars versus two. Of course, she drives much less than I do, so the repairs should not be as bad. Also, much of the major stuff has already been done on it. But, at 180,000 miles, more major stuff is bound to occur.

At any rate, I hate the thought of spending so much on a car. Can I afford it? -Yes.- But, I hate to think that others are out of work or struggling. I asked a friend of mine about that and he said "So, are those others who are struggling any better off if you do not buy the car?" Well, NO. But, it still feels weird. This is not something I am used to in my life. I mean, I build super high-end electric bikes. So, you would think I have expensive taste. But, I do not have $28,000 taste! This freaks me out, to be sure. But, I am making a payment right now (in gas) to OPEC and all I have to show for it is a beater van. This way, that payment nets me a new car while only paying a small amount more than I am paying now. And I have a hedge against rising gas prices (assuming they continue to climb). Also, I plan to make my work parts very easy to remove from the car to make use of it as personal family transportation in the evenings and weekends to keep the miles off my wife's Toyota Highlander. That will prolong the life of her car while increasing the savings from gas mileage available with this new car.

Sorry for the rambling.........

This is just so far beyond my personal experience. Heck, we live in a tiny townhouse. I am not used to buying news cars, especially something so costly.

Matt

 

[TylerDurden]

$240/month in savings / 20 driving days = $12/day, / 160miles = $.075 per mile in savings.

$28K cost / .075 = 373,333.33 miles to make the savings pay for the car, that's 9.3 years @ 40K miles/yr. (And that's using today's fuel prices, not in 5-10yrs.)

"Free" car in under ten years... not so bad.

 

[Spacey]

Crazy thing is my Peugeot 307 2.0ltr Diesil gets 60mpg actual tested running at 65 to 70mph...runs on fairy dust.

Well, as the title suggests, I just ordered a brand new 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid. I do appliance repair and need some cargo space for parts. My work van (2002 Caravan) gets 23mpg if I hyper-mile it. The C-Max is more than twice that mileage (again, if you are very careful). The reports say about 40 to 42mpg if you do not pay attention to your driving or nearly 50mph if you are diligent at hyper-miling. The cool thing is, 60% of my payment is covered by gas mileage savings alone!

Anyway, when I drove one, I was impressed. This is just the hybrid, not the plug-in Energy version. But, the engine only runs 50% of the time while driving. This thing is really entertaining to drive.

I will keep you guys posted when it arrives. It is supposedly in transit and should be here in a week.

We shall see!

Matt

 

[TylerDurden]

Crazy thing is my Peugeot 307 2.0ltr Diesil gets 60mpg actual tested running at 65 to 70mph...runs on fairy dust.

50mpg in US gallons, eh?

 

[recumpence]

Crazy thing is my Peugeot 307 2.0ltr Diesil gets 60mpg actual tested running at 65 to 70mph...runs on fairy dust.

Well, as the title suggests, I just ordered a brand new 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid. I do appliance repair and need some cargo space for parts. My work van (2002 Caravan) gets 23mpg if I hyper-mile it. The C-Max is more than twice that mileage (again, if you are very careful). The reports say about 40 to 42mpg if you do not pay attention to your driving or nearly 50mph if you are diligent at hyper-miling. The cool thing is, 60% of my payment is covered by gas mileage savings alone!

Anyway, when I drove one, I was impressed. This is just the hybrid, not the plug-in Energy version. But, the engine only runs 50% of the time while driving. This thing is really entertaining to drive.

I will keep you guys posted when it arrives. It is supposedly in transit and should be here in a week.

We shall see!

Matt

That is highway miles. Hybrids max out in town mileage. That is what I need.

 

[Alastor]

Good move man hope you enjoy it to the max.

 

[o00scorpion00o]

I get 64 imp mpg in summer and 62 mpg imp in winter in the MK II Prius. And on winter tyres.

Next car is going to be the Renault Zoe if my job makes me permanent .65 euros a week for petrol is madness.

 

[Alastor]

I get 64 imp mpg in summer and 62 mpg imp in winter in the MK II Prius. And on winter tyres.

Next car is going to be the Renault Zoe if my job makes me permanent .65 euros a week for petrol is madness.

.65 is nothing!Good choice again man

 

[o00scorpion00o]

I get 64 imp mpg in summer and 62 mpg imp in winter in the MK II Prius. And on winter tyres.

Next car is going to be the Renault Zoe if my job makes me permanent .65 euros a week for petrol is madness.

.65 is nothing!Good choice again man

HAHA well spotted ok correction €65.00

 

[countermeasure]

recumpence

Can we get some pictures of what's under the hood?

Please.....

 

[recumpence]

Sure. As soon as I have it.

The car was due to arrive at the dealer yesterday. The dealer told me there is normally a few day difference from the quoted delivery date and the actual date it arrives. So, I would assume it will be here by this weekend.

I will take some pics for you guys when I have it.

Matt

 

[Spacey]

Nope that is average miles worked out from filling an empty tank then writing down the miles done when empty and the amount of fuel needed to fill it back up, it's the only reliable real world way of doing it.

But yes UK Gallons are different from US ones.

Crazy thing is my Peugeot 307 2.0ltr Diesil gets 60mpg actual tested running at 65 to 70mph...runs on fairy dust.

Well, as the title suggests, I just ordered a brand new 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid. I do appliance repair and need some cargo space for parts. My work van (2002 Caravan) gets 23mpg if I hyper-mile it. The C-Max is more than twice that mileage (again, if you are very careful). The reports say about 40 to 42mpg if you do not pay attention to your driving or nearly 50mph if you are diligent at hyper-miling. The cool thing is, 60% of my payment is covered by gas mileage savings alone!

Anyway, when I drove one, I was impressed. This is just the hybrid, not the plug-in Energy version. But, the engine only runs 50% of the time while driving. This thing is really entertaining to drive.

I will keep you guys posted when it arrives. It is supposedly in transit and should be here in a week.

We shall see!


Matt

That is highway miles. Hybrids max out in town mileage. That is what I need.

 

[recumpence]

Well, I picked up my C-Max today. I have only put about 30 miles on it so far. At this point I can tell you this is a wildly advanced (complicated) car. The "Lifetime" mileage shows 38.1mpg at this point. However, the car had 100 miles on it when I picked it up. My guess is the test drives that it went on were kind of hard on gas. I will reset the lifetime mileage odometer and start from scratch. Also, Ford says to give it at least 2,000 miles before you judge the true mileage because it has to break in and the computer needs to memorize your driving techniques. Oh, also, I have spent much time in the driveway fiddling around with the programming to figure it out. The engine starts from time to time to keep the battery up. This drops the mileage as well. My guess is this thing will average around 43mpg with normal driving. I would think 50mpg is possible, but would be tough to achieve. Of course a number of guys on C-Max forums have commented that their mileage has, indeed, increased to roughly the EPA of 47mpg.

We shall see.

I must say, this car is a far higher-end item than I am used to. I feel like I am driving someone else's car.

Oh, I ran one quick errand in which the engine never started (this is a hybrid, not a plug-in). That was interesting. Of course, when that happens, the next drive requires the engine to run more to recharge the pack. That drops the mileage back down again.

I will keep you guys posted and I will post some pictures of the car and the engine bay when I have a chance.

Matt

 

[dnmun]

way cool. this is like the ideal vehicle for your day job. short trips, but high yearly mileage. should retain resale as fuel climbs, just a realistic applications.

i would recommend you talk to ford and see if they will put you on retainer to sell the car every time you make a house call. really, i am serious. call them. they all sponsor people for twitter feed, advertising is totally changing, the social networking stuff has changed their approach and you would be perfect. i would even bet they would consider you for any future test marketing programs with plug in hybrid designs you can expect within 4-5 years. plus the more people think and see hybrid, the more the acceptance of EV /hybrid integration becomes.

my neighbors have prius's (priusi?) so chevy tracked them down to test the volt. my neighbors are the whole deal with solar panels on the roof, metroverts running major projects downtown and she librarian, we are talking walking tv ads for the volt, and to top it off, his name is "Peter Gun", i kid you not. so chevy tracked him down and gave him a volt to drive for few days, so everybody at work would see him driving the volt. that's what i mean, you are the man they want to hear from.

the other thing you should consider is CNG compressor installations. look into certification and get ahead of the game so you can contract out for home compressor installations of the CNG compressors as more CNG cars move into the major markets.

plus there will be CNG bays at the major delivery firms that will need regular maintenance support. i think that is the future for transportation with diesel making it's move up. LNG is next too. already happening in canada and out west.

 

[recumpence]

Funny you should mention this.......

The salesman was quite adamant about keeping in touch with him about my true mileage because I am a unique user. I drive a huge number of in-town miles and have hyper-miling experience. He was excited about that.

I agree about getting more people interested in hybrids through seeing more of them on the road. In my area, the Prius is one of the most common cars on the road. I know a number of people with them. My father just sold his gen1 Prius with 180,000 miles on it.

Oh, here are some exact numbers for you;

The car cost me $30,385 (I bought the SEL). After discounts from my X-Plan pin and factory rebate at 3.44% interest and $2,500 down, my payment is $513 per month for 5 years. The car will save me a bare minimum of $200 per month in gas, but probably closer to $300 (I am just figuring $200 per month as a worse case). Maintainance savings will offset the higher insurance as well as having 3 cars to insure now. So, I am looking at about $300 per month in additional expense to own this car. However, I just moved my shop to my home. That is saving me $200 per month. Also, my wife's car is nearly paid off (just a few more months on that). That will save me hundreds more per month. So, when all is said and done, I will be money ahead in my budget very soon. I, also, plan to make this car an icon for my business. I will take a picture and post it up on my web site with the explanation that I drive an advanced hybrid to cut cost and help the environment. That will bring me some extra business as well. Beyond that, I will letter it. The last vehicle I had lettered brought me in $200 per month in additional work from people writing my phone number down off the side of the vehicle. In this political and economic climate, this car will draw people to my business.

One thing, though, gas is dropping in price right now. So, the affect on my budget will not be so extreme at this moment. Of course, I am not hoping gas will go up in price. Actually, as gas drops in price, this hybrid becomes even cheaper to run, though the gas savings is not as high. Sheesh, it makes my head hurt thinking about it.........

Matt

 

[o00scorpion00o]

I think Hybrids are too complicated, My prius is at 80K miles and I fear that once the Hybrid warranty expires in 20k miles I could be left with repairs that cost thousands. It is risky.

 

[recumpence]

Yes it is! But, at least in my case, the amount of gas savings adds up very quickly and will offset added repair costs. Most hybrids have proven reliable, however.

I just got in from a drive. I set it for EV plus and EV cruise. I averaged 53mpg on that drive.

This is fun!

Matt

 

[o00scorpion00o]

What kw/hr battery is in it compared to the Prius ?

 

[etard]

Very cool Matt! Please take a pic once you get this baby wrapped and lettered.

 

[recumpence]

It has a 1.7kwh lithium ion pack. The Prius uses nickle metal cells.

Actually, a standard Prius is better on gas than this car. But, I bought this because it is bigger and has ALOT more power. It also handles VERY stout for what it is.

I will take some pics soon.

Oh, my last drive was 42.4mpg just cruising without trying any hyper miling what-so-ever.

Matt

 

[o00scorpion00o]

It has a 1.7kwh lithium ion pack. The Prius uses nickle metal cells.

Actually, a standard Prius is better on gas than this car. But, I bought this because it is bigger and has ALOT more power. It also handles VERY stout for what it is.

I will take some pics soon.

Oh, my last drive was 42.4mpg just cruising without trying any hyper miling what-so-ever.

Matt

Yeah the prius MK II doesn't have much power and a lot less punch compared to my Audi TDI had. Surprisingly though the Prius has very good hill climbing torque at speeds up to 40 - 45 mph.

The bigger battery in the Ford should make for better regen and going down long steep hills and mountains should make much better use of the energy that would otherwise be wasted in the prius with its tiny NiMh as the battery fills up quickly.

The Ford has 180 hp ? I just looked it up, that 60 hp more than the prius but the prius is smaller and lighter.

Still the Prius makes a good commuter car, but I want an full e.v now, No more ICE for me.

Lots of pics would be cool. What colour is it ?

Ford make much better looking cars these days.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I think Hybrids are too complicated, My prius is at 80K miles and I fear that once the Hybrid warranty expires in 20k miles I could be left with repairs that cost thousands. It is risky.

FWIW I'm on my second Prius, both have been rock-solid reliable, with no faults at all. The first one was a 2005 that I owned for three years, then changed to a Honda for a couple of years. The current Prius is a 2010 that I've owned for about 2 1/2 years. I've no plans on changing it any time soon. A former colleague did something like 150,000 miles in his Prius over around 8 or 9 years and had no problems with his, either.

When I bought the current 2010 model I was offered the choice of three years free servicing or the 5 year extended warranty. I opted for the free servicing, as I'm near-certain that the car will be as rock-solid reliable as it's reputation. The other thing in its favour is the low servicing cost, the last Prius was getting a couple of 12,000 miles services a year and the most I paid was around £140, usually they were around £100 a time. Compared to the Merc I had before, I was amazed at just how cheap the Prius was to service, I don't think I ever had a service that cost less than £400 with the Merc.