Ford began selling the Escape Hybrid in the United States four years after the introduction of the Toyota Prius here, with production continuing through 2012. To replace 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 of those first-year cars in a Wyoming self-service car graveyard.
The C-Max was the first American-market Ford model that was available only as a hybrid, and sales continued through 2018 (after which it was canceled due to being insufficiently truck-like).
The idea was that it would compete for sales against the Toyota Prius, with its similar price tag and fuel economy specs.
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 fact.
By the summer of 2013, the EPA had backpedaled on its C-Max mileage ratings, 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 the United States. None of this seemed to hurt C-Max sales too much at 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 car shoppers during the 2000s and deep into the 2010s, and I documented quite a few of those cars during my whirlwind tour of English scrapyards last winter. American car shoppers weren’t quite as enthusiastic about this type of vehicle, as can be seen by the chilly reception for the C-Max’s platform cousin, the Mazda5.
At least the C-Max Hybrid sold better than the Altima Hybrid and Jetta Hybrid.
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Get ready for the Hybrid Games!
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All those Prius V-beating fuel economy claims went out the window soon enough.
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C-Max says, “Ha!” C-Max says, “Wheee!” Which is what you get, don’t you see?
