2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid in Asheville, NC - $9,000

It takes something special in order to stand out from the pack. In a world where electric and hybrid electric cars are quickly becoming a marquee product for nearly every manufacturer in the automobile industry, you have to really be special to turn heads.

Ford Motor Company understands this. Ford Motor Company built the Ford C-MAX Hybrid.

The C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi get their power through the combination of a gasoline engine and a battery-driven electric motor. When powered by gasoline, the Ford C-MAX Hybrid and Ford C-MAX Energi utilize a 2.0L Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine. The vehicle hybrids offer Ford's next-generation powersplit architecture that allows the electric motor and gasoline-powered engine to work together or separately to maximize efficiency. The engine also can operate independently of vehicle speed, charging the batteries or providing power to the wheels as needed.

In other words, this is a vehicle that has been engineered from the ground up to maximize efficiency, to provide the best performance possible while leaving the lowest footprint possible. It's a car you can feel good about driving.

Of course, you can also feel good just driving it. Given its reliance on battery to keep moving, that means it is quiet and smooth and really just all around pleasant. Oh and it's nice to look at. One thing most designers seem to forget about when making an electric car is to actually make it look like something people want to drive. This is no Italian sports car, sure, but it looks enough like a normal car and not some space pod.

In other words, the Ford C-MAX Hybrid is a car that delivers pretty much everything you could want from a vehicle in its class.