The Ford C-max Energi is now allowed to wear the New York carpool lane sticker. Cars with these stickers have access to a 40 mile stretch of the Long Island Expressway for single occupied commuter cars. According to recent studies, workers in New York spend more time driving to and from work than anywhere else in the country. New York’s Clean Pass program recently ruled that the C-Max Energi qualifies for the HOV sticker – this means the upcoming Ford Fusion Energi will likely qualify as well.
The C-max Energi plug-in hybrid qualified because it meets state standards for reduced greenhouse gases an fuel consumption. The C-max Energi met the California Air Resource Board (CARB) standard as a super ultra-low emission vehicle and was also certified by the EPA to offer fuel economy of at least 45 mpg on the highway.
Ford reminds us that the C-max Energi didn’t just meet the CARB standard and the EPA standard, it flew past them with an EPA-estimated 92 MPGe on the highway.
The EPA is investigating whether Ford is falsifying fuel economy figures on the C-max Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid, but the EPA isn’t adding the C-max Energi plug-in hybrid or the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid to that investigation.
