New and Improved!

The 2008 Ford Hybrid Does it All

By Bill Moore   Photos by the Author

As you know, speed is relative. Despite having a top speed of 100 miles per hour, you have to weigh the value of the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid on a different scale than that used for measuring, say, a Shelby GT500.

As the world's first hybrid-electric SUV, the Escape Hybrid has continued to improve since its introduction in 2005. All you have to do is take a look at this new version to see that.

And, if you can't see it, Ford's Doyle Letson, chief designer for the Hybrid, is here to tell you: "The goal from the beginning was to make Escape look even stronger and tougher than the original. We raised the beltline to give the profile a strong, modern proportion of sheetmetal to glass. Then, we sculpted the surfaces for a more Ford Tough Truck appearance, making Escape fit nicely in line with Explorer.”

While the word hybrid can be somewhat intimidating, this good-looking little rig fits like an old glove. You sit behind the steering wheel, turn the ignition just like a gasoline-powered version of the Escape, and it hums to life. The 2.3-liter Duratec Atkinson Cycle four-cylinder engine has 16 valves and produces 133 horsepower at 6,000 rpm. The other part of being a hybrid is the 70-kilowatt permanent magnet AC synchronous motor that equates to 94 horsepower. Working together, the gasoline and electrons produce a perky package with enough grunt to surprise you -- if not distort your face with G-forces.

Riding on 16-inch wheels with P235/70R-16 tires, the Hybrid has grip, good stopping ability and carries five passengers while getting 34 miles per gallon in the city and 30 mpg out on the highway. That's a reversal of the normal EPA numbers, but when the Escape is running under 25 mph, it's running on the 330-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery that sits over the rear axle. That battery and all the other hybrid-connected components, have an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

We posed a question to Jason Camp, the Ford fleet manager in Southern California: What happens if you run out of gasoline? Can you run a hybrid on the battery alone to get you to a gas station? Jason's answer was brilliant. He says, "As for running out of gas, I can answer that one . . . sort of. The answer is that it really cannot be answered. There are far too many variables to consider. The gas and electric systems are co-dependent, so at the moment you run out of gas there is no way to say how much electricity is stored in the battery. Telling people that they can drive the vehicle a certain distance on electric only if they run out of fuel is just inviting trouble. For example, it would be like saying that if the gas gauge on your non-hybrid vehicle reads "empty", you still have another gallon of fuel in the tank, so you can make it another 25 miles because your vehicle is rated at 25 mpg. Maybe, maybe not! It's just not a question that can be answered, nor should people be encouraged to think of the battery in this way."

Fearless, we took the Ford Escape Hybrid for a ride through the confusing twists and turns of the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. With the big bridge as a backdrop, we shot the Escape Hybrid with a container ship passing beneath it, heading for our home base of Oakland. And, from atop old naval fortifications, we shot the little SUV from above, and then with rolling hills as a backdrop. At under 25 mph, when only the electric engine was running, we crept up on unsuspecting tourists in Sausalito. Pay attention to that, because when running on the battery, the car is virtually silent to unaware cyclists and pedestrians.

We drove the Ford Escape Hybrid two years ago and liked it, and the newest version is even better. Besides looking better, there's new speed-sensitive steering that improves overall steering feel, and there's a refined chassis for more car-like ride and handling. With a wheelbase of 103.1 inches and an overall length of 174.7 inches, it'll turn in 37 feet. More, it'll even tow a 1,000-pound trailer . . . and comes with 4x4 capability if you need it.

The 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid is the cleanest, most efficient SUV in the world and offers more equipment, more upscale appointments and more standard safety features than ever before -- and it's worth your driving to a Ford dealer to check it out! You'll find the basic model at $25,075, and the one we drove with leather steering wheel, enhanced sound and navigation

systems for a total of $29,825.