The C-Max Hybrid is robustly versatile, so it lives up to its multi-activity vehicle (MAV) descriptor. During a one-week test drive, the vehicle was performance lively on highway trips and task-orientated on city treks. It’s relevant that a hybrid powertrain can handle the driving tasks (i.e. needed power responses without NVH clatter) in both city and highway trips, and the C-Max met the challenge. Ford’s all-new C-Max Hybrid is quite roomy, thanks in large part to an overall vehicle height just shy of 64 inches. The 104.3-inch wheelbase vehicle provides more than 50 cubic feet of cargo space behind the first seating row and 24.5 cubic feet behind the second row. On the safety side, the standard fare treatments include seven airbags and Sync 911 Assist.

Ford’s next-generation powersplit architecture means the vehicle’s 2.0-liter 4-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine and its permanent magnet AC synchronous motor can function together or separately. The electric motors get power via the 1.4 kWh lithium-ion battery system. Rounding out the powerplant package is a eCVT transaxle. While the C-Max Hybrid handles well from a driving perspective, the vehicle’s brakes are startlingly grabby at times. The vehicle can be equipped with a hands-free liftgate in which cargo access is via a foot-wave under the rear bumper. C-Max Hybrid collects estimated mpg fuel economy of 47 city and 47 highway. C-Max Hybrid SE carries a MSRP of $25,200.