Ford announces hybrid and plugin-hybrid C-Max MPV

LOL that is just terrible.

Shame on me for thinking Ford would bring the third row variant over. So all they are doing is bringing over another wagon. Somebody wake me up when it's over. And that hybrid version sounds exactly like the Prius V but if the Fusion's price premium is anything to look at this thing will cost more than the V, a vehicle I consider underwhelming anyway.

Meh, so much for the C-Max.

 

It's a prejudice that perhaps I need to get over. We owned Fords growing up. One particular beloved 1967 Mustang...also a Thunderbird for a while...

Some Ford Focus stationwagons....

But I have an admitted prejudice. I have a hard time thinking of Ford, or trusting Ford in the technology or Hybrid arena. Toyota at least has a decade plus of history and commitment with The Prius...

Ford is doing a laudable job...but I just have this fear that if for whatever reason a model didn't immediately sell...it would be abandoned A.S.A.P.....

Maybe,- probably unfair...but I just can't take Ford as seriously as they probably deserve to be taken in this arena....

All their products look interesting and in the case of The Fusion Hybrid have even garnered good product reviews.

I guess the fault is more mine than theirs...

 

Are you comparing Prius prices to Volt's ? Can't do that since Volt has 3 times the EV range.

But it would indeed be interesting to see how Energi will be priced. But the American market will pay more for bigger vehicles - so they can price it $40K and would be considered cheap w.r.t. Volt - if it can do about 40 miles on EV.

 

Volt has 3 times the EV range. Is that a good stand-alone feature for a plug-in-hybrid? It is when we are talking about a BEV, like Leaf.

IMHO, bottom-line, for a car what really matters is efficiency, which Volt has not, in both energy vectors, as tested. We must remember energy prices are coming up, electricity is rated closely to fossil fuel prices variations, and grid emissions are not changing much from actual mix of primary energy for a long time.

 

EV range is the most important stand-alone feature for a plug-in-hybrid. Do the math and you will know why.

 

I do not agree.
Neither GM, that has changed from initial design of the Volt, spending a lot of cash! Remember they have put up the chance of linking the ICE to the wheels, because of very poor MPG at the end. See that? MPG counts for the assessment of a PHEV.

See MPG for PHEVs in the chart? It does count. And when costs for kwh rise, also many "math" is still needed...

Toyota has thought of it before, it is nothing new...EV range has a cost...and it's up to the consumer to support that. Watch carefully for "price"...

 

Your calculations are all skewed. You won't get 4 miles per kWh. Both the Volt and Leaf are rated 0.36 and 0.34 kWh per mile so it is less than 3 miles per kWh.

You also need to include electricity delivery fee, taxes and other fees you see in your utility fees. My rate in NY is 10.3 cents per kWh but after all the fees, it came out to 36 cents per kWh.

 

The grid should be updated to include the effects of heater use, especially now the have data showing the capacity reduction from it (combined with lower due to temperature anyway) really has an impact.
.

 

He should easily be able to beat that if he wants to. He's in Seattle so doesn't suffer the extremes that others would.

However, not everybody will be able to. For EVs A/C and heater use will cause wilder variations from the EPA so the point does stand that you can't simply argue that everybody should get an EV. A better calculation would need a climate graph.

The assumption is probably all-inclusive of marginal cost. Most locations are not that expensive. All in my marginal rate would be about 15.75c/kWh (15*1.05 for the sales tax on use above 750kWh/month although I can't remember whether the sales tax applies to the whole rate or just distribution. ). Also if I were a heavy EV user it would probably be worth switching to a time-of-use rate. I haven't worked that out yet.

 

It is not about beating the EPA numbers. For comparison sake, we ought to use the same EPA numbers. Otherwise, the comparison is invalid.