2006 Ford Escape Hybrid Reviews
The Ford Escape hybrid version includes gas/electric engine technology to conserve power.
The Escape Hybrid and Hybrid 4WD are equipped similarly to the Limited models. The rear cargo area offers 69.2 cubic feet of space with the rear seats folded down. Pretensioners combined with load-limiting retractors are standard on front-seat belts.
As a full-hybrid production vehicle, the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid is an important technological step for a domestic manufacturer. It's perhaps predictable that the vehicle in question is an SUV, but the Escape Hybrid's collection of computerized vehicle systems is impressive.
With two electric motors complementing the optimized Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine, as well as an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission to sort out the drive mode and ratio through a set of planetary gears, the "2006 Ford Escape Hybrid" needs serious computing. Seven separate microprocessor modules make up Ford's vehicle system controller, which oversees it all.
Ford's navigation system, which also includes an energy-flow display, is the only notable tech option in the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid. Commanding a serious premium over a comparable gas-powered "Ford Escape", our front-wheel-drive 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid came in at $31,080.
The 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid doesn't hide all of its tech in the hybrid drive system but comes closer than we'd like. Ford offers a navigation system as the only real interior electronics option, audio upgrades notwithstanding, and even this modest offering isn't executed very well.
The basic features of the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid's navigation system work well enough, with GPS acquisition happening quickly and most route calculations taking just seconds. At our 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid's $30,000-plus as-tested price, we expected better materials inside. Also due to the navigation system's use of the in-dash CD slot, the six-CD magazine for audio CDs in the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid is under the passenger seat, a seemingly unnecessary concession. The 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid comes with a separate seven-speaker, 320-watt audio package available with a six-CD in-dash changer but only without the navigation system.
On the road, the "2006 Ford Escape Hybrid's" drive system requires no special operation and is mostly transparent to the driver.
Compared with those of the regular front-wheel-drive Escape's four-cylinder gasoline engine, the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid's fuel economy ratings are substantially improved. The regular Escape is EPA rated at 22mpg in the city and 25mpg on the highway, while the Escape Hybrid gets 36mpg and 31mpg, respectively. Ambient interior noise as measured at a constant 60mph was between 70dB and 75dB, depending entirely on the road surface, since at this speed, the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid is in hybrid-drive mode and the engine is quietly turning at just more than 2,000rpm.
The 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid offers standard front dual-stage driver and single-stage passenger air bags, with a passenger-sensing system.
Ford's standard warranty applies to the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid, good for three years/36,000 miles. According to Ford's Web site, the Escape Hybrid's battery pack is warranted for at least eight years/100,000 miles.
Ford may not have been first to market with a fuel-efficient hybrid vehicle, but it was first with a full-hybrid SUV. The highly-praised" Escape Hybrid" compact SUV is a "full" hybrid, meaning it can run on its electric motor only below 25 mph, its gasoline engine only at higher speeds, or the most efficient combination of both, as determined by its sophisticated hybrid system controller.
This remarkable full-hybrid powertrain is a happy marriage of six key components: An efficient 133-hp 2.3-liter Atkinson cycle I-4 engine, a 70-kilowatt electric motor, an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (eCVT) that receives power from the engine and electric motor and routes it to the drive wheels, a second motor/generator for starting the engine, recharging the batteries and helping to seamlessly blend the two power sources, a 330-volt nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) battery pack, and an electronic vehicle controller that monitors system inputs, conditions and demands and manages all vehicle drive, engine starting and battery charging functions.
The Escape Hybrid looks like the gas-powered models...a good thing, since Escape is America's best-selling compact SUV.
