Ford owners sue over MPG claims, 'under-performing' hybrids
A group of Ford hybrid owners in Pennsylvania aren't feeling too fraternal with the Blue Oval, suing the automaker for allegedly overstating fuel-economy figures, Bloomberg News reports.
A group of Ford hybrid owners in Pennsylvania aren't feeling too fraternal with the Blue Oval, suing the automaker for allegedly overstating fuel-economy figures, Bloomberg News reports.
The grain of salt one should take this post with is that Wayne Gerdes is just one man, and that his personal test results may not be applicable to everyone. Still, Gerdes is well-known in the green car community – his Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption in a hybrid and his position as owner of CleanMPG are just two good reasons – so when he and his crew
For October and November, the all-new Ford C-Max sold 8,030 units, making it the highest-selling hybrid vehicle ever in the first two months. The sales significantly surpassed the 7,300 Camry Hybrids that Toyota sold in that car's first two months on the market, back in May and June of 2006. Ford also calculates that C-Max sales are moving three times faster than combined results from the first hybrids on the US market – the Toyota Prius
Ford, and other automakers selling hybrid electric vehicles, may need to place a warning label near the city/highway miles per gallon label on the car's window sticker: "WARNING: Your average fuel economy will be determined by your driving conditions, including speed traveled on highways and how you apply your braking."
The bad news for Ford is that its C-Max Hybrid wagon was solidly beaten by sales of the Toyota Prius V last month. The good news is the C-Max outsold all of Ford's other hybrids in its very first month, hinting that things could get real interesting between the C-Max and V in the future. Ford has been heavily touting the C-Max Hybrid as an alternative to the Prius V, and we're about to get real da
Two new announcements about Ford and its upcoming C-Max line of vehicles arrived today, emphasizing the vehicles' efficiency and electric performance.
The 2013 Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid will offer the lowest sticker price out of any plug-in vehicle in the U.S. market when it arrives later this year.
The U.S. federal tax credit for plug-in vehicles maxes out at $7,500 for cars with batteries that are 16 kWh or larger. The Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid doesn't have that big of a pack, so the most the feds will grant you for buying one is $3,750. Still, the Energi's just-announced price of $33,745 is competitive in the plug-in space, since most people will end up paying $29,995.
The U.S. federal tax credit for plug-in vehicles maxes out at $7,500 for cars with batteries that are 16 kWh or larger. The Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid doesn't have that big of a pack, so the most the feds will grant you for buying one is $3,750. Still, the Energi's just-announced price of $33,745 is competitive in the plug-in space, since most people will end up paying $29,995.
Ford's marketing strategy for its plug-in vehicles is coming into Focus (pun intended): compare, compare, compare.
Ford's marketing strategy for its plug-in vehicles is coming into Focus (pun intended): compare, compare, compare.
It won't only start out cheaper than the Toyota Prius V, it will also be more fuel efficient. Ford is claiming its C-Max Hybrid, which goes on sale later this year, will get 47 miles per gallon.