When I was presented with the opportunity to test drive and blog about a car from Allan Vigil Ford in Morrow, GA, I thought, sure, why not! My husband, Paul, and I have been talking about trading in our 2003 Saturn Ion for a hybrid this summer. The Saturn has done us well but it’s time to upgrade our one-car family with something that suits our needs now; not to mention a healthier option for the environment.
Living in Atlanta means one thing…you own a car. You plan your trips to the store, dinner, meetings, wherever you go around traffic. It’s a reality we live with every day in this city. And as a busy family of four, we do a great deal of driving despite working from home. Paul and I want something that will not only provide the necessary space we need to haul children, two dogs and ourselves around, but provides us with great fuel economy and environmental piece of mind. Enter Ford’s 2013 C-Max Energi, a hybrid-electric you can plug in…at home!
Here are some of the features we loved during our week with the C-Max Energi:
The Energi comes with a charging port and 3-pronged plug. It takes about 7 hours to fully recharge using a 120v outlet or under 2.5 hours using a community charging station or a 240v outlet which comes with at-home charging stations. The rim around the outside of the port illuminates to show you the progress. When recharged, the rim is completely blue.
You can drive up to 62 mph in electric mode! Yes, you read that right. They say owning a hybrid-electric changes the way you drive; making you more aware of how you accelerate, brake, turn, even your speed. It’s hard not to watch the gauges as braking returns power to the battery or see how long you can drive without the gas engine kicking in.
Spacious!
This seemingly compact car on the outside is not so compact on the inside. Ideal for bratty little brothers and annoying big sisters. The “no-touching zone” in the C-Max Energi’s backseat is such a relief. It even comes with a “room divider” (aka arm rest/cup holder). My 5’11”, long-legged husband also loved the spacious head and leg room.
Cargo space holds wide boxes as well as the most delicate of plants.
The backseat is a 60/40 split for those times you need to haul large pieces of lumber, like for our raised-bed vegetable garden.
Love the placement of the gear-shift, steering column gauges and center console. All common sense. Something I’ve always found Ford masters beautifully.
For those vertically-challenged people, such as myself, I found the C-Max Energi to be a wonderful compromise between a sedan and an SUV. It’s compact, easy to maneuver and has great acceleration yet it rides higher up off the ground than most small cars. It’s pretty zippy too; an unusual quality in hybrid-electrics.
These features alone will make Ford a competitor in the alternative-power vehicle market. Shhh…we even test drove another “shall-remain-nameless” hybrid-electric to compare the two cars side-by-side. The C-Max Energi won hands down for our family.
After 7 days of mostly in-town driving, the C-Max Energi had used just over a 1/4 tank of gas. And I mean, JUST over. We averaged about 38-39 mpg. Not bad for two newbies to hybrid-electric driving in Atlanta traffic.
Alas, our week was up and we reluctantly drove the C-Max Energi back down to Allan Vigil.
Thanks to Allan Vigil Ford in Morrow for allowing us to test drive the C-Max Energi! Your wonderful staff was so gracious and helpful, answering all of our questions. Cheers to Allan Vigil Ford for finding our next car!
2013 Ford C-Max Energi
The Lazy Susan 