Low Energi: Production Ends on Ford's C-Max Plug-in, With Hybrid to Follow

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

It’s a near-silent swan song for a duo of electrified Ford models. The Ford C-Max, which debuted in late 2012 in both hybrid and plug-in hybrid form, hit its sales peak during its first full year on the market, declining every year since.

As Ford Motor Company shakes up its U.S. production landscape — ironically, to bolster production of trucks and SUVs — the ungainly-looking C-Max is on its way to the cemetery. The automaker has confirmed the ceasing of production of the C-Max Plug-in, with the Hybrid variant to follow in the middle of next year.

The discontinuation, confirmed by Ford in a message to Green Car Reports, comes as Ford gears up the Michigan Assembly plant for future production of the Ranger pickup and Bronco SUV. The $700 million upgrade means the slow-selling C-Max bites the dust, with production of the compact Focus sent to China.

Both models were originally expected to set up shop in Mexico, but Ford’s decision to kibosh its proposed plant saw one model culled and the other sent on a long boat ride.

“Ford C-Max Energi production has ended,” Dan Jones, Ford’s North America Car Communications Manager, told Green Car Reports. “We will continue to make C-Max Hybrid at Michigan Assembly Plant until mid-2018.”

Production of the Ranger is expected to commence at Michigan Assembly in late 2018. As for the automaker’s green cred, there’s newer electrified vehicles in the works, including a fully electric crossover due out in 2020.

The C-Max Hybrid was America’s eighth best-selling hybrid vehicle in October, capturing 3.71 percent of the U.S. hybrid market. Sales of the plugless variant sank over 18 percent over the first 10 months of 2017, even with October sales rising over 33 percent compared to the same month a year prior.

The C-Max Energi, on the other hand, was the fifth best-selling plug-in hybrid in October, making up 8.54 percent of that particular segment. Sales of the plug-in variant sank 16.7 percent, year-over-year, though year-to-date sales are actually up over 20 percent.

Ford’s green twins earned a black eye early in their lifespan. The automaker faced criticism and lawsuits after real-world fuel economy didn’t match the vehicles’ lofty EPA ratings. The regulator was forced to dial back the stated fuel economy of both models, with the hybrid version receiving two haircuts. Combined fuel economy for the latter model fell from 47 mpg to 40 mpg.

Ultimately, the Blue Oval was also forced to hand over some extra green to these early green car buyers, compensating for the extra fuel consumed.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Wheatridger Wheatridger on Nov 13, 2017

    Glad to hear from others with real positive experiences of the car. Long term reliability remains to be seen. The oldest cars, 2013s suffered many recalls and some major transmission failures, most handled under warranty. Personally, I wouldn't buy one of those, but neither would you. Consumer Reports now recommends these as new and used cars. The only US C-Max forum I've found is small enough to read fully in a week or so, which I did, of course. There is no, repeat, no subforum for engine issues. Infotainment problems do arise, as in all cars. There's little talk of battery replacement yet. My new '17 Energi came with zero defects, and my daughter's 50,000 mile 2014 Hybrid has needed no work since purchased in May. Seems like a reasonable risk, for a car that costs about a nickel a mile in fuel and watts. Don't forget the 2017's new surprise feature- you can turn off the center display screen when you're not using it. Every car should offer that distraction-killer, and I was delighted to find mine does (the 2014 doesn't).

  • Jcf2242 Jcf2242 on Nov 10, 2020

    Hello. Bought '17 C-Max SE hybrid with leather in 2020. Great car. On 1,000+ mi trip which included interstate speeds, in town & state roads avg over that trip was 40.5 mpg & that was with 3 passengers in car & 2 carry on bags & some A/C use. Very quiet inside under normal operation, comfortable seats, sufficient power. If you set cruise ctrl on 65 mph and stay in right lane, you can obtain 46 mpg on a 60 mi round trip to work. 42-44 mpg routine on such a trip. & very reasonable cost to buy used. I am very pleased with car overall. No issues with seat comfort as some mentioned. Only downsides: turning radius not as compact as would be expected for this size of car & no spare tire--but I bought one aftermarket. My perspective is, it is a great driving, practical, comfortable, roomy, quiet car, that just happens to get excellent fuel economy.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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