The hybrid drivetrain uses a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine in conjunction with electric motors to provide power while keeping emissions and fuel usage to a minimum. Its main competitors include vehicles like the Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Saturn Vue and Toyota RAV4.įord took a bold step for 2005 with the introduction of the very first hybrid-electric SUV. The Escape is more suited to on-road driving than off-roading, due to its light-duty AWD system and unibody construction, and isn't as rugged as some other compact SUVs like the Nissan Xterra and Jeep Liberty. ![]() A more luxurious version is also available from Mercury, dubbed the Mariner.Īppealing to a wide range of buyers, the Escape (and Tribute/Mariner) is intended for those who want the styling and all-wheel-drive capability of a traditional SUV combined with the size, price, practicality and driving characteristics of a midsize car. Called the Tribute, it shares the Escape's basic structure, platform and powertrains. Mazda also sells a version of this vehicle. First-year Escapes suffered numerous recalls, but recent models seem to have the bugs worked out. It quickly became a best-seller thanks to a desirable combination of size, power and ruggedly handsome styling. Unlike conventional vehicles, hybrids achieve better figures in the city because they do not waste power idling and can recover some power when stopping (by using regenerative braking) that would be wasted on a conventional vehicle.Ford introduced the Escape in 2001 to capture buyers in the rapidly growing small SUV segment. The hybrid is said to give approximately 75% greater efficiency, with about 33 to 36 mpg in city traffic, (and has demonstrated it can travel 400-500 miles on a single tank of gasoline in city driving), and 29 to 31 mpg on the highway. The Escape Hybrid's 133 horsepower (99 kW) gasoline engine and 94 hp electric motor combine to give performance similar to the 200 hp V6 engine commonly used in the regular Escape. The frequently stated (and usually disparaging) story that Ford simply bought the Hybrid technology from Toyota is without merit. Aisin AW, a Japanese automatic transmission manufacturer (partly owned by Toyota), supplies the continuously variable transmission used in the Escape Hybrid. ![]() Some hybrid systems use the electric motor only as a temporary booster, for extra acceleration performance, with negligible fuel efficiency improvements in city driving.īoth Ford and Toyota state that Ford received no Toyota technical assistance in developing the hybrid powertrain. Most of the other hybrid electric vehicles have been based on small, lightweight passenger cars - and substantially more power and complexity is required to make such a system work well in even a light SUV. The Hybrid Escape with 155 total horsepower has nearly the same acceleration performance as the conventional 200 hp V6 Escape. When braking or decelerating, the Escape's hybrid system uses regenerative braking - where the electric motors at the wheels become generators - converting the vehicle's momentum back to electricity for storage in the batteries. It is a "full" hybrid electric system - meaning the system can switch automatically between pure electric power (to the rear wheels), pure gasoline engine power (to the front wheels), or a combination of electric motor and gasoline engine operating together, for maximum performance and efficiency at all speeds and loads. As of 2005, the Ford Escape Hybrid system is the most advanced available on the market.
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