Our coverage of the sweet, sweet, sweet deal that is the Nissan Leaf (in Colorado, at least) won’t be overlooked by one blue-oval automaker.
At least for this month, Ford is leasing its 2015 C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid for $159 a month for 36 months with $2,689 down at signing (after $2,750 cash back). The lease covers 10,500 miles a year. That may not be the screaming deal that the Leaf is, especially considering its term, but really — how long would you keep a 2015 electric-ish car anyway?
The leasing deal on the 2015 Ford C-Max Energi was ranked third-best in the country by Kelley Blue Book in their monthly update of the best deals for new cars. The C-Max deal ranked behind $2,000 on the hood to purchase a new Volkswagen Passat (no interest for 60 months) and the Nissan Leaf, which is the best deal in the country for a new car. (We already knew that.)
The C-Max Energi’s MSRP is $32,645 — roughly the same as the Leaf SV — but comes with that all important gasoline engine that is noticeably absent from Nissan’s electric car.
Over the term of the C-Max’s lease you may pay slightly less than the retail price of the Leaf — but you may have to walk away at the end.
“how long would you keep a 2015 electric-ish car anyway”
No longer than the average equivalent Focus or Versa is the road, so 15 years?
If you pick these up in 7-8 years when the battery needs replaced, these could be a nice deal even with battery replacement costs (I figure they will be at 25-30% of original value + battery = decent driver for not alot of money).
Plus by that time, likely the replacement battery will be better than the initial factory battery?
Seeing so much Ford on here all the time has me thinking about a used Flex with Titanium Hearse package.
Good point. These might be nice deals in the future.
“used Flex with Titanium Hearse package”
No, no you want the MKThing I spotted the other day.
http://postimg.org/image/cg5i26pgb/
Cannot view postimg at work! I will have to look later today. While I find the Flex very cool, I think the MKT is very not.
What can you view?
I can view Pasteboard.co, apparently. Most other things fall in the “personal storage” restricted security category.
Hey man, I like, didn’t buy the MkT to be cool. My wife does say that the Lincoln badge somehow has cachet in the Detroit area. Her coworkers want to know how she can afford a giant Lincoln. We live in bizarro world.
http://pasteboard.co/I7SAVhl.png
Round here, I feel like it doesn’t have any cachet. The only peeps I see in Lincolns are old people. Usually modified with sweet landau.
Oh lord’a mercy that’s a huge monstrosity! How’d they even manage that, given then MKT isn’t on a truck chassis!?
Oh, the Lincoln badge has no cachet outside of the Detroit area. The two highest volume Lincoln stores in the US are within 15 miles of each other.
Just to shatter that paradigm, I want an MY90 Continental Mark VII LSC with straight pipes and custom wheels. I will show ya’ll what the Continental Star can do.
I think the Continental could fix that issue right up, if ONLY for the Continental model. The MKS and MKT just need to go away.
I’ll have a MY90 Bill Blass with lace wheels then. Some combo of blue/white over blue/white.
@Corey
Not sure, maybe the unibody is custom (since you NEED to be able to haul)? For the limos, they cut them in half and weld sheet metal in for the sides. FUN FACT: the side impact protection mechanism in an MKT limo is a round steel bar about two inches thick. That’s it!
EDIT: You can keep your Bill Blass, real aficionados know the H.O. 5.0 was only available in L-S-C. Word to yo motha.
Hey, I drive slowly and with DIGNITY AND CLASS. H.O. Hooligan Option can’t cut it.
I think I would request NOT an MKT-L then, if I were limo-ing somewhere. Just give me a 300 or Escalade.
“Hooligan Option”
Hilarious. Yo man I roll with style and class, ya’ll don’t know.
“if I were limo-ing somewhere. Just give me a 300 or Escalade.”
Those are funny names for Panther.
Is it very easy nowadays to find limo companies still rolling Panthers? They’ve got to be about ready to age out.
Nah, I’ve seen OHC Panthers limos north of 400K on the odo. In fact I took a newer stretch three weeks ago from the Louis Armstrong airport to Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
It’s cheaper than the Flex, but Corey likes the styling of the Flex.
I think you need the MKT hearse, just put a back seat in it and remove the coffin rollers.
Eh, I have accepted the fact that once the MkT hits 150K miles or so, I’ll buy a Navigator or Expedition (probably Navigator). By then, the new fancy version will have come out, and I will buy the current version at a great discount.
The availability of used hybrid batteries, relative to the demand for them, from wrecked Escape Hybrids, is so low that eBay asking prices for them are under $1000. The batteries seem to be capable of outlasting the vehicles, due to how carefully the vehicles manage the batteries. Not needing to replace hybrid batteries makes used hybrids good deals, especially since people shy away from them due to $8000 battery replacement myths.
New technology does not necessarily make it feasible to upgrade hybrid batteries. Different battery technologies have very different operating parameters, which don’t match the car’s systems connected to the battery. NiMH is too different from Li-ion, for instance.
Remember that Ford warranties the C-Max Energi’s hybrid system for 8 years and 100K miles. The most likely item you may have to replace out of warranty is the batteries. The rest of the system has been proven to be robust. I wouldn’t expect it to be a common occurrence either. Mostly because it hasn’t been with Ford or Toyota hybrid. However, if you do, chances are that it will just be a few cells and not cost you that much.
There are plenty of 250K+ mile Escape and Fusion hybrids out there.
C-Max, all day. No range anxiety, and no matter what style of grille you want for the front – it has it!
Also the interior is less offensive, though still not great. I estimate the C-Max has 25% less herpy-derp look than the Leaf.
“no matter what style of grille you want for the front – it has it!”
I laughed at work and people looked at me.
Customer: I really like the styling of the Escape.
Ford Salesman: Well, the C-Max has the grille from the Escape and gets twice the fuel economy
Customer: Yeah, but I really like the Fusion too. It looks sporty and expensive.
Ford Salesman: Well, you are in luck. The C-Max has an industry exclusive two grille look. We give you the Escape grille, and for no extra charge, a Fusion grille too.
LOL
Generally drives us Canadians up the wall when we see advertised U.S. lease deals.
Ford Canada is offering this deal on C Max leases: $0 down, $365 per month for 48 months.
A far cry from the offer mentioned in this article.
And in Canada prices for used cars and fuel are also higher than in the U.S.
We make up for our lower prices with costly insurance, poor wages, rampant racism, political circuses at each election, stupid people, and a general blasé attitude toward other human beings.
Americans get a discount for buying in bulk and paying with the reserve currency. Add a couple hundred million to Canada’s population, and you’ll get the first discount.
I actually took advantage of this deal and am driving a 2015 C-max. The one the lease applies to is far more loaded than the Leaf. Heated Leather Seats, Backup Cam, Upgraded Sony sound system with Ford Sync, etc… Not the most exciting car but for my commute it’s amazing and I’ve driven it for 3 weeks without using any gas. Plus my work has a charging station further decreasing my out of pocket expenses. After I get a few more months of driving it under my belt I’ll post a review.
I’m curious about the costs you’re seeing to charge your car. Can you share?
I’m asking because my local utility will charge .31/kwh, making charging not that much less expensive than just buying gas.
Charging at work is free. Haven’t worked out the numbers on charging at home yet. Checking the forums, it looks like it takes about 8Kwh to charge fully from 0% charge level. Looks like the national avg is about $.12 per kwh so you’re looking at just over $1.00 per charge at home following those numbers. Seems like .31/kwh might be a little steep where you’re living. Maybe you can find a free charging station somewhere?
I gotta jump in on this one. Long time TTAC lurker decloaking.
I have a 2013 C-Max Energi which is basically the same as the 2015. Great car that has worked very well for us. Cost to do a full charge is under a buck. Where I live we have Time-of-Use electricity pricing, so it can range, but it is consistently less than $0.70, even though electricity prices keep rising.
For that, you can squeak out about 40km (25mi) of pure EV driving in the summer, and between 22-26km in the winter (~15 miles). If you’re urban, and most of your trips are short, you barely use gas. (Last summer we did a fill in April, and didn’t do another fill until October, and that’s on a smallish tank). Of course – you can drive far on gas anytime you like.
Bought this car after doing a deep analysis of fuel consumption costs for my 2009 Edge AWD, and figured that leasing it with the incentives here (Toronto), I could basically have a brand new second car for free as the cost of the lease+electricity after rebates is less than fuel on the SUV.
All worked out – if anyone’s serious about the Energi, I can share my spreadsheet with you so you can punch in your own regional electricity prices and driving habits, and run the numbers for yourself.
Very fun to drive, and very well appointed interior. Honestly, a great runabout that has worked out very very well for us.
Dang that’s pretty impressive. Does it include a charging station? Also from what I remember, that means the $7500 tax credit goes to the leasing company correct? You won’t get that low of a payment and then $7500 at tax time.
Correct – the $7500 goes to the leasing company. They send you home with a charger that works with any standard 110 outlet and takes about 8 hours for a full charge. If you want to bump up to a 220 Charging system you’ll need to get the outlet installed and also get an upgraded cable which runs about $500.
The c-max energi only qualifies for ~$4000 federal credit due to the size of its battery
So, which one is pegging the other?
I can’t seem to find this deal on Ford’s website. Any idea how to actually get to it? (I might just be an idiot and missing it).
http://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/2015/incentives/
Not the easiest page to navigate but its there.
Thanks. I just seem to be having some trouble with the site.
When I put in my zip it keeps saying “all fields must be entered”. I’ll have to check on my home computer.
Just keep reentering it. Took me a while for it to work.
Finally got the details- no where near as good of a deal here in Michigan. Same lease parameters (mileage/money down) was a $238 monthly lease payment.
In my area east of Seattle, it doesn’t even show any lease offers.
It just says “Please contact your local dealer for the latest information on our current lease offers.”
Given the high popularity of hybrids and electric vehicles in our area, I doubt I can get as good of a deal as listed above. May have to call and check on that.
“Please contact your local dealer for the latest information on our current lease offers.” was what I got too.
I did and that ~$240/month was what was quoted to me.
I’d be jumping all over it if I could get the deal spelled out here. Would almost be the same cost as driving my 5 y.o. car for the next three years.
I drove and liked most about the C-Max, but it has a weird accel pedal… IIRC it mounts low to the floor and the heel of my shoe hit the floor before the pedal does. Or maybe this is just me?
I’ll have to test on the way home. I had a Focus before it and have a lot of seat time in the Escape, so I am probably used to the pedal location.
I thought Jack was going to give us long term updates on his baby-mama’s C-max. Whatever happened to that? As someone who commutes 10 miles/day round trip and is considering putting solar panels on my roof, the Ford deal would be a pretty compelling option; assuming I can get out of my 2014 Jetta Sportwagen 2.5 lease ~18 months early without taking a bath.