Driving the Ford Escape Hybrid

In January, 2007, I purchased a Ford Escapeused on other vehicles in the past and is nothing
Hybrid four wheel drive vehicle. The Escape is anew. But, since I bought this car with the intention
mid sized SUV that is smaller that the Chevyof increasing my fuel economy significantly I
Blazer I had been driving for the past 4 years andwatch this little gauge a lot.
is rated at 31 miles per gallon or about twice theThe most gratifying time is when you are going
15 miles per gallon I was getting with the Blazer.down the street running on battery power with
The four wheel drive system on the Escape isthe gas engine tachometer on zero and the fuel
automatically engaged when needed and unlikeeconomy gauge is all the way over to the highest
many four wheel drive owners I actally need fourfuel economy limit. A little pressure on the
wheel drive to get in and out to the road duringaccelerator and you can watch you fuel economy
the worst winter weather.drop.
Under the hood is a gas engine and an electricThe Escape hybrid system is set to go from a
motor and in the rear of the vehicle is a largedead stop up to 26 miles per hour on the electric
battery that gets charged when you drive andmotor. But, this is variable depending on how
when you brake. Like any new car you can liftquickly you accelerate. A quick acceleration will
the hood and look at what is under there but youstart up the gas motor almost immediately. With
might as well just close it back up because youa lighter touch and a subsequent slower
are not going to do anything other than lookacceleration I have been cruising at about 35 miles
unless you have the thousands of dollars ofper hour before the gas engine starts up.
equipment needed to work on one of theseGoing down hill my speed has gone up to about
engineering marvels.40 miles per hour before the gas engine begins to
You start the car up like any other vehicle byrun. So economy in this vehicle, and really any
turning the key but you do not here the motorother vehicle, is dependant upon how you drive it.
crank and then fire up. There are a couple ofWhat is really apparent when you start to drive in
clicks back in the back and the motor startsa more economic fashion is how fast everyone
running so you head off down the road.else wants to go.
The instrument panel is like any other car with aWhen you want to pass someone or otherwise
speedometer, a tachometer, and a fuel gauge. Inaccelerate the electric motor comes on to assist
addition, there are two more gauges. One is athe gas engine for more power. When you are
needle gauge that tells you when the big batterydriving on the gas engine and you decelerate the
in the back is either assisting the gas engine orsystem charges the battery. Also when you
powering the vehicle on its own. The other gaugebrake the system charges the battery.
is a digital readout that can be changed to showBy the time you come up to a stop light the
various types of information about the fuelmotor is off and you sit there waiting for the light
consumption of the car and the electrical charge into change and you are not burning any gas or
the battery.giving off any emissions or making any noise. I
The most watched gauge, and the one I usuallyhave seen reports of people getting up to 35
have in use, is a series of blocks that light up ormiles per gallon with these vehicles and maybe
darken in real time as your fuel economy goes upwith careful driving techniques I might some day
or down. This type of real time readout has beenbe able to achieve that level of economy.