Ford Escape Hybrid

 

 

 

                                                                                    Ford Escape

The Ford Escape Hybrid, launched in 2004, is a gas-electric hybrid powered version of the Ford Escape sport utility vehicle developed by the Ford Motor Company. Built in Kansas City, Missouri, it is the first hybrid SUV to hit the market. A similar vehicle, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid is sold by Ford's Mercury marque, and a third variation, the Mazda Tribute Hybrid, will be sold by Mazda starting in 2006.

As of 2005, the Escape hybrid system is the most advanced available on the market. Previous hybrids have been smaller, lighter vehicles; substantially more power is required to make such a system work in even a small SUV.

Ford built 17,000 Escape Hybrids in the second half of 2004, four times as many as the company had originally planned to build. Consumer demand has been strong, as it was with the Toyota Prius.



The Ford Escape Hybrid uses technology similar to Toyota's Prius, which required Ford to license a number of Toyota patents. Ford recognized that Toyota's diesel engine designs were also similar to their own, and gave Toyota licenses for their diesel engines in exchange for the hybrid licenses. Both Ford and Toyota state that Ford received no Toyota technical assistance in developing the hybrid powertrain. Aisin AW, a Japanese automatic transmission manufacturer (partly owned by Toyota), supplies the continously variable transmission used in the Escape Hybrid. Sanyo of Japan builds the battery pack.

The disparaging story that Ford simply bought the technology completely from Toyota is without merit and has been denied by all companies involved, although certainly it builds on the ideas Toyota patented.

The Escape Hybrid's 133 horsepower (hp) 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 hybrid is stated to give approximately 75% greater efficiency, and is stated to achieve 33-36 mpg in city traffic and 29-31 mpg on the highway. 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.

The Escape Hybrid meets both California's SULEV and PZEV standards, with tailpipe emissions better than 90% less than the average 2003 new car and zero evaporative emissions.