I am very good at knowing exactly how to read this car and how it will react to various road conditions, traffic, wind, etc.
I know the C-Max is rated at lower MPG than the Prius. But, it is different in many ways that seem to compliment my driving style, personal bias, and my type of usage. For example, the car will stay in EV mode all the way up to 85mph. It will charge while accelerating. With such a large engine, this is beneficial. I have driven it using acceleration assist, and with acceleration regen and my FE is far better using accelerating regen, then maximizing EV distance using the added AH I gained by regenning under acceleration.
The vast majority of my driving sees 1/3 of the miles with engine running, and 2/3 EV only. In fact, many of my 10 to 20 mile trips show an indicated 25% engine miles and 75% EV only miles.
I believe Ford has their system (at least in this regard) very well figured out.
In an indicated 40,900 miles, I have seen 24,000 EV only miles (oh, and over 1,000 braking regen miles).
Matt