Test Drive: 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid

Pretty good article that will hopefully win some customers. I like the stories from the cab companies that have adopted the Escape hybrid as opposed to the Crown Vic. They love them and have put over 100,000 hard city miles on them without failure.

Ford doesn't get the respect they deserve for the Escape hybrid.

 

I've put some miles on a friend's Escape Hybrid and I really like that SUV. I was struck by how smooth and seamless everything is. My Prius sometimes has little "bumps" when it switches between ICE and electric at cruise speed, but the Escape gave me none of that feeling. What was so cool about it is that you could toss the keys to anyone with a driver's license and they would be unlikely to even know you'd given them a hybrid car to drive.

 

There may eventually be two distinct types of consumers for hybrids, not unlike (ironically) SUVs.

Modern AWD/4WD SUVs are either car-based or truck-based, respectively. The smaller car-based SUV with its AWD system is designed to be as innocuous as possible. It is front-wheel drive the majority of the time and when maximum traction is required, manufacturers strive to make the shift from front to rear drive as automatic and unnoticable as possible. In a lot of car-based SUVs, there's nothing from the driver's viewpoint to indicate they're driving anything other than a regular car.

OTOH, large truck-based 4WD SUVs are normally rear-wheel drive and give the driver much more control over the change from 2WD to 4WD. While most offer an automatic system, there is also a switch or lever which provides the driver with manual control over a transfer case (absent in the car-based SUV), in addition to having a 4WD-low range.

Hybrids may break down into a similiar split. On one hand will be the Ford Escape-type, where the manufacturer tries to disguise and integrate the hybrid system and make the driving experience as similiar to any other ICE vehicle as much as possible.

Then there will be the Prius-type, which has unique innovations and puts the hybrid system 'in the face' of the driver, letting them know everything that's going on (and may even allow them to have manual control over which propulsion system is being used).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rudiger @ Aug 12 2006, 08:51 AM) [snapback]302124[/snapback]</div>

There are AWD Truck based SUVs too, you know!!!!

LandCruiser/LX470 and GM Denali/Caddy Escalade are all good example. The LC/LX have a transfer case for high/low as well like car based SUV..... so I don't get the comparisons.... :huh:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dipper @ Aug 12 2006, 08:44 PM) [snapback]302347[/snapback]</div>

Upon what cars are the Land Cruiser/LX470 and GM Denali/Cadillac Escalade based? They are body-on-frame, truck-based, full-size SUVs.

The distinction is simple:

4WD = transfer-case equipped with a user-operable low-range, truck-based, normally rear-wheel-drive. I believe all are full-time 4WD (nothing has manual lock-out front hubs, that I'm aware of), but it's not AWD.

AWD = no transfer-case and no low-range, car-based, normally front-wheel-drive. There may be a user-operable switch to 'lock-in' the torque split, but it's not a low-range.

The examples cited above have transfer-cases and low-ranges so while they might be called 'AWD' by the manufacturer to appeal to more consumers, in reality, they're 4WD systems modified to operate full-time.

It's purely a marketing gimmick. 4WD implies 'truck' (which is accurate) and could turn away some prospective buyers of big, expensive luxury SUVs, so Toyota and GM decided to call their most expensive, most sophisticated full-time 4WD systems 'AWD' in the hopes of fooling some consumers into thinking they're buying a plusher, car-based SUV.

Another way to look at it is Jeep. Until the recently introduced Compass (which uses the same car-based AWD system as the Dodge Caliber), every Jeep had a transfer-case, a low-range, and was normally rear-wheel-drive. Thus, every Jeep could legitimately be called a 4WD.

Unfortunately, while 4WD systems are preferred for legitimate off-road situations ('trail-rated' by the Jeep marketing department), the reality is that car-based AWD vehicles are best for the vast majority of drivers who never venture off-road.

 

When we decided we wanted to check out and probably buy a hybrid, the Escape Hybrid was the first vehicle we looked at. We were trading in a Honda CR-V, and really liked the small SUV - very practical size for us.

Maybe it's because of the inevitable comparison with the CR-V, but the Escape just didn't impress us. And we wanted it to. We went on a test drive with the salesperson, and then went on another test drive without the salesperson. We took turns driving it, checking out the features, playing with the toys, etc. And it was nice ... but just wasn't what we had hoped for.

The next hybrid we drove was the Prius. We placed an order and put down a deposit the same day.