60mpg on my Cmax
 

Hey Guys,

Yesterday I had 156 mile day ending at 60.1mpg with my totally stock Ford Cmax.

Do not believe all the negative press about bad mileage with this car. It is truly a matter of how you drive it. :-)

Matt

Wunnerful!
I have a 2010 Fusion hybrid - 55,000 miles & 47.7 mpg lifetime average. Today on my 20 mile commute to work I managed 59 mpg. If you get just enough traffic and warm weather you can do OK.
-mort

The CMax is the only Hybrid I'd consider. It seems to be the most practical one on the market ... certainly the biggest.

I think the reason people say that it doesn't get as good of mileage as EPA says is because they drive it too hard. The same reason that most people can't get EPA rating out of their regular car.

The same reason why most of us get way over the EPA rating ...

The Cmax is smaller than the Prius V, although it does have 3cu ft extra in the cabin the cargo area is 10cu ft smaller.

Thats great to hear. My wife has had her C-Max for a short time and is at 40.4 average so far. The car has about 3,000 miles on it.

What kind of driving did you do during that 156 miles? If freeway I'm assuming you stayed under 61-62 mph as recommended for optimum mileage?

I've only driven her car a few times but its actually fun to drive. We've had little contests who can get the most leaves on the digital readout:D

65% of my driving is in town below 45mph. That is a big part of my mileage.

Let me give you a piece of advice, you will probably get higher mileage on the highway if you drive at 65mph. This is just barely high enough to keep it in ICE mode. The reason for that is, once the battery is 80% charged, the engine will draw far less power to maintain speed. If you set the left side monitor to Engage on the highway, you will see the electric system help the engine climb hills and what-not. But the engine will not shut off. Running on the highway while charging the battery is not the best for high MPG. You definately want to stay above 65 and keep the engine running. You will see what I mean. Let the battery fully charge on the highway above 65mph and your mileage will go up. I get around 44.5mpg at 70mph. Bear in mind, I have 21,000 miles on my car, though. My highway mileage climbed after about 15,000 miles on the clock.

Matt

Matt,

Thanks for that info. 90% of her daily commute is freeway. I just gave her the green light to go faster on the freeways lol, just not too fast:D.

I'm sure there is a "sweet spot" for max possible mpgs on the freeway, so hopefully with your info we can find it.

Thanks,

Rob

The sweet spot is 65 to 70mph as far as expressway driving goes.

Matt

interesting
 

the car seems to be about the same aero wise as other cars that would see improved mpg from 55-60 mph. Is there something about the gearing that makes this car the exception to that rule? I wonder if anyone has a factory mpg vs mph chart to show estimates at different gears.

It is not an aero thing. It is a "When does the hybrid system kick in" thing. The car is not more aero above 60mph, the C-Max drive system functions far better at 65mph than at 60mph. It is not a gearing thing, it is a matter of the 62mph limit for the electric system.

Matt