Ford C-max Energi Forum

I recently ended my lease of a Nissan Leaf and leased a 2013 Energi. After a few years of living with range anxiety I feel like a free man again. I've had the Energi for a week and after just 300 hundred miles, I'm blown away by this car. I'm getting 45 MPG on the freeway and practically a free ride in town. Thanks to forum member Tootrashy4u advice, I'm getting 27 miles in EV only mode when driving in town. My driving is basically 60% city driving and 40% freeway and I drive about 1000 miles a month. With my driving style I'm averaging 80+ MPG.
There's a few things Leaf drivers do to reduce battery degradation and help maintain driving range. Do any of the following things apply to the Energi?

1. It's believed that 100% charging speeds up capacity loss. The Leaf timer even has an 80% charge setting.
2. We recycle the battery cells about once a month by leaving the Leaf hooked up for at least 4 hours after a full charge.
3. We try to avoid parking in the sun when it gets hot out there. Heat is the major cause of battery capacity loss in the Leaf since it has no battery cooling capability.

Driving a Leaf for 2 years gives me the equivalent of masters degree in range management. I'd be happy to share with you how the Leaf's range impaired drivers get the most range out of their glorified golf carts.

The Energi manages its battery pretty well, but there are some tricks out there. Look on the Energi Forum for what to do in the summer. Basically, you will want to charge and use the battery as cool as possible by strategically using the AC when it is hot out. Look for a post called "Suppercharging" (sic) for an explanation. Gary (the poster) lives in Florida and has gone over 30 miles many times. As a Leaf owner, you know well the combination of heat and batteries.

I also heard that there is some advantage to delaying charging as late as possible before you need to use the car, but I haven't experienced it.

As for longterm battery life, mine has given me consistently 5.2 KHW for the 16 months I have had it. Many people report 5.5 on theirs. I am not sure why mine is less but it has stayed the same since I got it and I can easily get the promised 21 miles once the weather stays above 50 or so.

Hi all:

I realize this thread has more than a year since there has been any activity, but this answer from Tdefny does seem to be to my question and what I guess I'm looking for is a bit more information/update that sort of thing.

Like the original poster, I have been driving a leased Nissan Leaf and will be finishing the lease in about 7 months. At that time, I am not sure what I will do, but somewhat high on the list will be looking at used Volts. I think it would be perfect for me, except that it seems like the interior volume is simply too small for some of my needs. This leads me to ask some questions about whether a used Fusion or C-Max Energi might be a good compromise. I want to buy used because I don't want to go through the depreciation on a new vehicle again, whether leasing or financing.

I am in Arizona, and have experienced some of the Leaf battery degradation that has been much discussed (though not awful in my case... only one bar lost so far.) It makes me a bit wary of reassurances about battery life. I think with a Volt I'd be ok because GM put so much into engineering the product and protecting the battery, and left so much room to adjust how much of it is used. Does anyone here know how Ford Energi powertrains are holding up in really hot weather areas? In buying a used Ford Energi PHEV, is there anything to really focus on and look for, whether battery degradation or something else?


(side-note: the

http://www.myfusionenergi.com

forum is unreachable at the time of writing.)

I had a 2012 Nissan Leaf for about 1.5 years and finally gave up on it. permanent Battery degradation in hot weather, loss of range in cold weather. Loss of range when using the heater and air conditioner. Big mistake for me. I bought a new 2013 C-max Energi in May 2014. No battery degradation yet on 11000 miles of driving in Ca. The C-Max Energi has a fan for cooling the battery in hot weather. I'm averaging 112 MPG. Naturally mileage varies with ratio of freeway and in town driving. I'd estimate my driving is 60% city 40% highway. Absolutely no problems. Greatest car i ever owned.

Bernie, thanks for the response, very helpful. I'll try to find this information elsewhere as well, but can you say how the C-Max Energi stacks up as against the Chevy Volt in terms of rear passenger room? My take on the Volt is that it's good PHEV engineering, but no good for me if I ever want to carry people in the back in good comfort.

Heat kills and degrades the HV battery. Sitting in the sun and heat can and will (battery acts as heat sink) increase the battery temperature and degrade the battery especially if the battery is "filled" to and near capacity. Charging in the sun is "bad". Multiple charging episodes during a day can also be bad for HV battery durability. Driving in EV now can also be bad for the HV battery during the summer heat. Monitor the HV battery temperature via a scan gauge II unit or other hardware. Use EV auto and EV later to minimize excess heat. Remove the plastic panel (fold down the rear passenger seat) to allow more exit air flow from the battery compartment.