I leased a 2013 Ford Cmax Energi plug in hybrid last December. The lease payments are less than the gas bills on my former toad, a Tahoe plus it weighs 2000lbs less. I tow it behind a Winnebago 43Q Tour mostly from our Oregon base around the western US. At the moment I have not installed supplemental brakes as it seems to stop just as well as when towing the Tahoe which had the Roadmaster air braking system. The Cmax Energi weighs just under 4,000lbs.
The owners manual says it's ok to tow four wheels down but does not say that the 12 volt battery will discharge in 4 hours when towing.....after raising a fuss with Ford they finally suggested to stop every 3 1/2 hours and run the car for 30 minutes...finding that unacceptable, but glad we leased it rather than bought it, we hooked up a 12 volt charge cord from the MH to the Ford 12 volt battery (with a inline fuse) which has worked very well.
The Ford goes 19-23 miles on electric power only plus another 500-600 miles on a 14 gallon tank of fuel in hybrid mode. My Mileage ranges from 45 to 95 mpg with an average of 75-83 mpg. The more you use the plug in only range, the higher your average mpg will be. For us the 20 mile range works surprisingly well. Takes 7 hours of 11amp 110 volt service to fully charge it. When boondocking we have charged the car with our solar roof panels going through our 110 volt inverter.
The Cmax is the right size for a second car, a Fusion Energi would be more comfortable for our only car.
