The holidays are here! With the chaos of Christmas shopping and the seemingly endless holiday parties flooding your calendar, it’s time to start picking away at the little things that eventually add up. That includes frozen cars, jammed parking lots, and shopping bags packed to the ceiling.
Ford Canada identified one key area that most city guys can find useful when they’re zipping around the city. This little recipe can help minimize your stress. It requires three special ingredients.
- 2015 Ford C-MAX Energi
- Apple Watch
- MyFord Mobile
In this article we’re going to show you how to use these three pieces of technology to minimize your stress this holiday shopping season.
Step 1. The 2015 Ford CM-AX Energi
For whatever reason, I can’t look at the word “C-MAX” without seeing “X-MAS”. Which is fitting, because when it comes to getting the gadgets and saving you money, this car was definitely made for it. We’re swapping gas for more gift buying here.This energy efficient compact car includes an advanced high-voltage lithium-ion battery and electric motor with a gasoline engine. It has plug-in capability for a full vehicle charge in 2.5 hours, or if you’re using your 120-volt outlet in your garage, it’ll be 100% in the morning. This electric vehicle is so silent that people won’t even realize there’s a car next to them. Running.
If you’re a battery stats nerd, the car includes a dual-LCD next-generation SmartGauge with EcoGuide, which gives you real-time information to help maximize efficiency. It also includes an air-cooling system for regulating the battery temperature to help maximize battery life.
Beyond the money saving stuff, it does include the familiar SYNC with MyFord Touch for voice control, a rear view camera, and an Intelligent Access Key for the push to start effect.
An area that the C-MAX excels for holiday shopping is the trunk storage, which is not only adequately spacious for a compact hybrid (genuinely unheard of considering the massive battery packs), but it also includes a power liftgate sensor that swings it open when you move your feet below it. Perfect for when you’re carrying gifts and shopping bags. It also has heated front seats and power heated exterior mirrors to keep you toasty between stores.
Step 2. The Apple Watch
Navigation has never gotten easier since the introduction of wearables, and the Apple Watch integration is super apparent. After syncing your watch to your phone, and your phone to the C-MAX via Bluetooth, you’ll be able to receive turn by turn navigation instructions through haptic feedback on your wrist: one buzz means go left, two buzzes means go right. It can also help you check that emergency text without moving your eyes off the road and can take calls very easily. It just makes sense for drivers to wear one if they want to stay connected and safe.
Step 3. The MyFord Mobile App
Lastly, the MyFord Mobile app for iOS and Android allows for complete control over your vehicle remotely. It’s compatible with the C-MAX Energi, and will allow you to monitor its current status and has map features to help you get around town.Getting lost in colossal-sized parking lots isn’t fun, so the app allows you to do three awesome things. It can help you find your car via GPS. It can remote start your car, although it won’t even sound like it’s on (high five to energy!). And it can unlock your doors for you before you walk up to it, or lock it if you’re feeling paranoid while waiting for shoe sizes at The Bay. There’s a bit of a time delay when accessing the remote start and unlock/lock features, but I’m sure that this will be improved as each version of the app is introduced.
Maximize your battery life by using the in-app charging station map feature to find where you can energize the C-MAX when your charge levels appear low on the app. I personally love to energize because it feels a bit Minority Report and it’s also well, free. My experience with the app stutters a bit with this feature as it doesn’t differentiate the charging stations with the Electric Vehicle Only parking spots, which makes navigating your needs a little difficult. But hey, cheers to new app upgrades!
Mix these three ingredients and you’ll have a far more connected holiday season with pre-toasty seats, extra cash saved in your pocket, and a better grasp of your car and the road!
