2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, America’s first Prius killer: Motoramic Drives

Over the past 12 years, the Toyota Prius has made hybrid cars a household term and given the carmaker the greenest image of any manufacturer. The competition isn't just sitting on the sidelines and watching the Japanese manufacturer dominate the world's demand for fuel-efficient cars with a growing Prius model line; cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf provide some alternative to help consumers save on energy usage. But no model from Detroit has taken a direct aim at the Prius.

That is, until now. Enter the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, a five-passenger tall hatchback that, like the Prius, will only succeed or fail as a hybrid.

While newcomers tend to challenge incumbents on several levels, Ford hasn't been shy about tacking the Prius head-on with two key features: a cheaper sticker price and better fuel efficiency. At a base of $25,995, the new C-Max Hybrid is $1,300 less than the comparable Prius V. And it carries a 47-mpg city/highway/combined EPA efficiency rating that beats the Toyota Prius V's 44 city/40 highway mark, while offering a range of 570 miles on a single tank of gas.

To get those figures, Ford paired a 2-liter, four-cylinder engine with a a 35-kW permanent-magnet AC motor, a lithium-ion battery pack and a continuously variable transmission. Together, the combined output of 188 hp can propel the 3,600-lb C-Max to 60 mph in about 9 seconds, about a second faster than the Prius V. Those aren't spectacular figures, but the C-Max's innovation may be as much about where it's made than performance alone; like Toyota, Ford builds all of the major C-Max hybrid components in its own factories -- with the C-Max itself assembled in Michigan -- rather than relying on outside suppliers.