June 26, 2012 at 2:37pm by Justin Berkowitz
Ford is projecting a 47-mpg city fuel-economy rating for its C-Max hybrid, the company announced today. If formal EPA testing agrees, the C-Max—which is scheduled to begin sales this fall—will better the Toyota Prius V, its closest competitor, by three mpg. Since we’re talking about relatively high fuel-economy ratings for both cars, though, a difference of three mpg isn’t all that significant. (This is why Europeans rate fuel economy in the reverse, fuel volume per distance.) Still, for what are essentially mini-minivans, it’s impressive for the C-Max hybrid and Prius V to be moving more than 40 miles on a single gallon of gas. And if 47 is the magic number for the C-Max, it would match Ford’s estimate for the upcoming Fusion hybrid sedan.
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A 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which runs on a more-efficient but less-powerful Atkinson cycle, makes 141 hp; combined with an electric motor, total drivetrain output for the C-Max hybrid is estimated at 188 hp. A plug-in hybrid version, called the C-Max Energi, will be introduced later. Pricing for the C-Max hybrid is a little sketchy still: Ford has said the sticker will start at $25,995, including a $795 destination charge.
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Tags: Ford, Ford C-Max, Ford C-Max Energi, Ford C-Max hybrid, Toyota Prius v |