1. Gas-Electric Powertrain The C-Max Energi combines a pair of electric motors and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine (the same ultraefficient design used in the Toyota Prius). Together, they can push the car to a top speed of 102 mph; the C-Max can hit 85 mph on electricity alone.
  2. Affordable, Compact Battery Engineers gave the C-Max a relatively small 7.6-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, which Ford assembles in Michigan. The Chevrolet Volt, by comparison, runs on a 16-kilowatt-hour battery. As a result, the Energi gets 21 miles of all-electric range to the Volt’s 38—but it’s $10,000 cheaper.
  3. Custom Power Control Using a button mounted on the center stack, the driver can mix and match electric and gas power with three settings: EV Now (electric-only driving), Auto EV (combined gas and electric power), and EV Later (gas engine only).
  4. Breathing Room The five-passenger hatchback has 10 more cubic feet of interior space than the Chevrolet Volt and nearly double the cargo area.
  5. Quick Charger Like Ford’s Focus Electric, the C-Max uses a 6.6-kilowatt onboard charger to fill its battery. Plugged into a 240-volt outlet, the charger fills the battery at a rate twice as fast as the Nissan Leaf, going from empty to full in two and a half hours.

STATS

Power Train: Gas-electric plug-in hybrid Fuel Economy: 108 mpg equivalent Electric-Only Range: 21 Miles Price: From $29,995