2008 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD
Motion Potion: The fun everyday guy
The Escape arrived and we piled in for an afternoon of swimming at the pool with friends. Easy to maneuver and small and zippy, with room for three kids in the back with 60-40 split backseats (total seating for five), the Escape lived up to its name for a week filled with normal activities—everything from grocery store trips to a girls’ night out on the town, although Scott elected to pass on this.
It only took a short cruise down our twisty, hilly country road to discover that the fresh design for 2008 not only provided a snappy car-like drive, but was pleasantly quiet with a tad softer ride than cousin Mariner. Ford undertook a variety of changes to improve the interior noise quality over previous model years, including a new acoustic laminate layered between the two glass panels of the windshield, plus increasing the side glass thickness, even adding low profile wipers—they say it makes the Escape 12 percent quieter on highways. Opinion from both kids and adults was unanimous that the noise quotient was even a tad lower than the Mariner.
And forget the lurching shifting of transmissions of old sport utes. The electronically controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) took us around city, country and town with comfort and ease. Once in a while both Christine and Scott felt a hesitation when coasting down hills at about 40 mph (a slightly noticeable transition from hybrid to electric mode), but overall it was like melted butter, with no guilt to boot.
The Enviro-meter: Outperforming SUV paradigms
With the rear seats folded down, the cargo hold swallows over 65 cubic feet of goodies.
With the standard front-wheel drive option, our test drive week’s fuel economy totaled up to 33.1 mpg (with a 500-mile range) on a combination of fast and slow, city and country miles.
Compare that to 22 average mpg for a conventional FWD Escape, with a shorter range of 363 miles on a larger 16.5-gallon tank. According to fueleconomy.gov, the FWD Escape Hybrid’s petroleum oil consumption is about 10.7 barrels of crude annually—compared to 15.6 barrels for the regular FWD Escape. Driving an average of 15,000 miles per year, greenhouse gas emissions for the hybrid come in at 5.7 tons/year, where the regular FWD Escape will total 8.3 tons/year.
Choose the 4WD option and your mileage will drop while your carbon output and oil consumption will rise. The 4WD Hybrid’s mileage drops to an average of 28 mpg, according to fueleconomy.gov. But that’s still significantly better than the standard 4WD Escape at 21 mpg.
The 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid is an Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) that meets strict Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV II) standards and is 99.4-percent cleaner than an unregulated vehicle. And you know what that means—no matter where you’d like to escape to, here’s a hybrid that’ll get you there in style—with a clearer conscience.
When it’s all said & done: The best way to spell vacation
No matter if you’re headed to the beach house, the hunting cabin—or perhaps just a night out on the town, this SUV will get you there with panache. Ford has covered the three Rs in a new way: Recycled, Responsible and Refreshed. And in our book—the alt fuel one, that is—Ford has done its homework. It’s when the details have been attended to and directly treated with care and determination that they come together in a product that brings satisfaction to its users for many years to come—and that’s the total package of the Escape.
Go ahead and leave the guilt at home and grab the keys to the SUV. No need to feel the pinch of your fuel budget or the echoes of your conscience with this set of wheels. And forget the scrape or pinch of deprivation—with the 2008 Ford Escape, we say it’s lookin’ like you really can have your cake and eat it too. And comin’ from two kids who came from Ford-phobic families, that’s high praise. We’ve heard it round town that folks are brand-loyal to the death, sometimes to the point of missing out on some of the best stuff around. We highly recommend you lay your well-intentioned yet out-dated baggage down when it comes time to shop hybrids—especially hybrid SUVs. Keep an open mind and you just may park satisfaction in your garage and keep more cash in your pocket at the same time.
If you buy an Escape, that is.
Pros:
100-percent recycled fiber seat material available
smooth ride and tight handling
super SUV fuel economy
Cons:
slight body roll on sharp corners
back seat space limited
slight transition from hybrid to electric mode noticeable
Rebate & Credit Run-down: Crunchin’ the numbers
Buy the Ford Escape FWD and you’re ready to claim a $3,000 tax credit. This, coupled with the hybrid’s first year’s fuel savings of $686 (compared to driving 15,000 miles in a regular Escape) will negate the $1195 Hybrid Premium package before the get-go, although depending on option package selected, your Escape’s base price could be about $4-5,000 higher than a similar non-hybrid model. Translation: park that Escape in your driveway for 10 years and figure on yearly fuel savings—to the total tune of at least $6,800 (or more) for your kids’ college account.
Choose the 4WD model and your tax credit will drop to $2,200, along with the corresponding dip in fuel mileage, so it’ll just take a bit longer to recoup the expense.
The Escape Hybrid is manufactured at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo.
Details and Specs:
Technical Features: 2.3-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder Atkinson style engine, electronic continuously variable transmission (eCVT), 4-wheel independent suspension, 4-wheel ABS, 330-volt battery and regenerative braking
Safety Features: driver & front passenger dual-stage airbags, side intrusion door beams, safety canopy system, lower anchors & tethers for children (LATCH)
Interior Features: AM/FM/6-CD changer, dual zone electronic auto climate control, power door locks and windows, remote keyless entry w/keypad, Hybrid Premium package with Navigation
Exterior Features: 16” hybrid aluminum wheels, P235/70R16 all season tires
More than meets the eye
Buy the Ford Escape and you get more than just one of the most fuel-efficient SUVs on the planet—you get to opt for an even stronger eco-statement by choosing Ford’s new 100-percent recycled seat material. No slacker in the get-up-and-go department either, the gratifying 155 horsepower from a 2.3-liter, 16-valve four-cylinder engine and electric motor powertrain has EPA fuel economy estimates 34 city/30 highway. With a base front-wheel drive model at $25,740, our test model with the Hybrid Premium Package plus Navigation was $30,820. Ford’s hybrid component coverage of 8 years/100,000 miles makes for one green place to park your fanny.
Initial Impression: Compare another class act
The wide, largely unobstructed cabin leaves plenty of elbow room for long hauls.
Christine: “Coming from a non-Ford lovin' family, I was looking forward to getting some first-hand experience at the wheel of a Ford hybrid. At first glance, I liked the Escape’s fresh style—the exterior grill and lower body side molding in particular—yet the interior was startlingly similar to the Mercury Mariner we recently drove. This would prove to be an interesting contrast and comparison of these two strong contenders in the hybrid SUV segment. Yet I couldn't help but wonder if the Escape would prove to have a distinctive personality from the Mariner?”
Scott: “Having just test driven the ’08 Mariner, I didn’t feel like there’d be any big surprises—I knew they shared the same drivetrain and I was very impressed with the Mariner. Though I’d still scrutinize the Escape’s hybrid underpinnings, I expected it to perform well. What did surprise me though was how taken aback I was by the styling of the Escape. The Mariner is the upscale version in this Ford small SUV family, but I honestly found this vehicle to be more attractive. Perhaps it was the ice blue finish—perhaps it was that big chrome grill. The Mariner was gorgeous, but in a mysterious, darker way. This guy here just looked more every-day appealing to me.”
The Insider’s View: The seat is where it’s at - pop bottles & polyester
Slip into any ’08 Ford Escape and you just might be sitting on salvaged plastic. Every Escape comes with the option to up your eco-factor by turning trash into treasure. And that’s bound to be more fun than recycle day. This is savin' where you least expect it too. According to Ford, this is the first automotive use of 100-percent recycled seat surface, and it saves water, carbon dioxide and electricity over new material. Unfortunately our Escape came with the stone leather trim and leather comfort package—precluding the opportunity for these enthusiastic alt fuel afficionados to get a first-hand look and feel of that innovative new fiber spun by Interface Fabrics, Inc. But we’ve got our fingers crossed on our next Escape Hybrid tester—it certainly fits an alt fuel persona to equip an efficient hybrid with seats made from 100-percent post-consumer material.
Peek into the Escape and see smooth, classy styling and the latest in modern conveniences. Cargo is no problem with a generous 27.6 cubic feet behind the second row seat, expandable to over 65 cubic feet when the back seats are folded down, possible because smart Ford engineers sealed the 330-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack under the rear floor. With the Ice Blue gauge lighting during night-time driving, the interior is not only easy on the eyes, but the gauges are clean-cut and intuitive. We did indeed feel calm, cool and collected everytime we motored around in this set of wheels with the Energy Menu option on—we were able to watch the real-time output of energy usage and fuel economy. Seriously cool.
Fuel-ability: Tops in its class – no need to curse the fuel man
Under most demanding driving conditions, the electric motor works in concert with the internal combustion engine to provide maximum power to propel the vehicle.
So while many an SUV owner may shake his head and want to rip up that fuel bill when it arrives in the mail, there’s no desire to escape here. Really, what could be better than an SUV that can go 500 (or more) miles on one 15-gallon tank?
Under that hood is an efficient four-cylinder engine that utilizes gasoline in an Atkinson cycle for excellent fuel economy in combination with the electric motor. Translation: fast and satisfying acceleration without the fuel-sucking guilt. And just like the Mariner, this full hybrid can run on the gasoline engine, the electric battery, or a combination of both. Regenerative braking keeps the battery pack recharged by catching lost energy during braking and coasting, instead of it being dissipated as waste heat. Yes, the Escape's electric motor works as a generator, grabbing otherwise lost kinetic energy and then storing it in the battery pack.
City and town stop-and-go travel in the 20-25 mph range in electric vehicle (EV) mode will give the highest fuel efficiency. Any faster than 25 to 30 mph though—or head for highways or mountains—and the 4-cylinder engine will purr to life. And if you’ve got loads to carry, the Escape will put your mind at ease since it’s the first hybrid to offer towing capability up to 1,000 pounds (when properly equipped).
Initial Impression: Compare another class act
The wide, largely unobstructed cabin leaves plenty of elbow room for long hauls.
Christine: “Coming from a non-Ford lovin' family, I was looking forward to getting some first-hand experience at the wheel of a Ford hybrid. At first glance, I liked the Escape’s fresh style—the exterior grill and lower body side molding in particular—yet the interior was startlingly similar to the Mercury Mariner we recently drove. This would prove to be an interesting contrast and comparison of these two strong contenders in the hybrid SUV segment. Yet I couldn't help but wonder if the Escape would prove to have a distinctive personality from the Mariner?”
Scott: “Having just test driven the ’08 Mariner, I didn’t feel like there’d be any big surprises—I knew they shared the same drivetrain and I was very impressed with the Mariner. Though I’d still scrutinize the Escape’s hybrid underpinnings, I expected it to perform well. What did surprise me though was how taken aback I was by the styling of the Escape. The Mariner is the upscale version in this Ford small SUV family, but I honestly found this vehicle to be more attractive. Perhaps it was the ice blue finish—perhaps it was that big chrome grill. The Mariner was gorgeous, but in a mysterious, darker way. This guy here just looked more every-day appealing to me.”
The Insider’s View: The seat is where it’s at - pop bottles & polyester
Slip into any ’08 Ford Escape and you just might be sitting on salvaged plastic. Every Escape comes with the option to up your eco-factor by turning trash into treasure. And that’s bound to be more fun than recycle day. This is savin' where you least expect it too. According to Ford, this is the first automotive use of 100-percent recycled seat surface, and it saves water, carbon dioxide and electricity over new material. Unfortunately our Escape came with the stone leather trim and leather comfort package—precluding the opportunity for these enthusiastic alt fuel afficionados to get a first-hand look and feel of that innovative new fiber spun by Interface Fabrics, Inc. But we’ve got our fingers crossed on our next Escape Hybrid tester—it certainly fits an alt fuel persona to equip an efficient hybrid with seats made from 100-percent post-consumer material.
Peek into the Escape and see smooth, classy styling and the latest in modern conveniences. Cargo is no problem with a generous 27.6 cubic feet behind the second row seat, expandable to over 65 cubic feet when the back seats are folded down, possible because smart Ford engineers sealed the 330-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack under the rear floor. With the Ice Blue gauge lighting during night-time driving, the interior is not only easy on the eyes, but the gauges are clean-cut and intuitive. We did indeed feel calm, cool and collected everytime we motored around in this set of wheels with the Energy Menu option on—we were able to watch the real-time output of energy usage and fuel economy. Seriously cool.
Fuel-ability: Tops in its class – no need to curse the fuel man
Under most demanding driving conditions, the electric motor works in concert with the internal combustion engine to provide maximum power to propel the vehicle.
So while many an SUV owner may shake his head and want to rip up that fuel bill when it arrives in the mail, there’s no desire to escape here. Really, what could be better than an SUV that can go 500 (or more) miles on one 15-gallon tank?
Under that hood is an efficient four-cylinder engine that utilizes gasoline in an Atkinson cycle for excellent fuel economy in combination with the electric motor. Translation: fast and satisfying acceleration without the fuel-sucking guilt. And just like the Mariner, this full hybrid can run on the gasoline engine, the electric battery, or a combination of both. Regenerative braking keeps the battery pack recharged by catching lost energy during braking and coasting, instead of it being dissipated as waste heat. Yes, the Escape's electric motor works as a generator, grabbing otherwise lost kinetic energy and then storing it in the battery pack.
City and town stop-and-go travel in the 20-25 mph range in electric vehicle (EV) mode will give the highest fuel efficiency. Any faster than 25 to 30 mph though—or head for highways or mountains—and the 4-cylinder engine will purr to life. And if you’ve got loads to carry, the Escape will put your mind at ease since it’s the first hybrid to offer towing capability up to 1,000 pounds (when properly equipped).
Motion Potion: The fun everyday guy
The Escape arrived and we piled in for an afternoon of swimming at the pool with friends. Easy to maneuver and small and zippy, with room for three kids in the back with 60-40 split backseats (total seating for five), the Escape lived up to its name for a week filled with normal activities—everything from grocery store trips to a girls’ night out on the town, although Scott elected to pass on this.
It only took a short cruise down our twisty, hilly country road to discover that the fresh design for 2008 not only provided a snappy car-like drive, but was pleasantly quiet with a tad softer ride than cousin Mariner. Ford undertook a variety of changes to improve the interior noise quality over previous model years, including a new acoustic laminate layered between the two glass panels of the windshield, plus increasing the side glass thickness, even adding low profile wipers—they say it makes the Escape 12 percent quieter on highways. Opinion from both kids and adults was unanimous that the noise quotient was even a tad lower than the Mariner.
And forget the lurching shifting of transmissions of old sport utes. The electronically controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) took us around city, country and town with comfort and ease. Once in a while both Christine and Scott felt a hesitation when coasting down hills at about 40 mph (a slightly noticeable transition from hybrid to electric mode), but overall it was like melted butter, with no guilt to boot.
The Enviro-meter: Outperforming SUV paradigms
With the rear seats folded down, the cargo hold swallows over 65 cubic feet of goodies.
With the standard front-wheel drive option, our test drive week’s fuel economy totaled up to 33.1 mpg (with a 500-mile range) on a combination of fast and slow, city and country miles.
Compare that to 22 average mpg for a conventional FWD Escape, with a shorter range of 363 miles on a larger 16.5-gallon tank. According to fueleconomy.gov, the FWD Escape Hybrid’s petroleum oil consumption is about 10.7 barrels of crude annually—compared to 15.6 barrels for the regular FWD Escape. Driving an average of 15,000 miles per year, greenhouse gas emissions for the hybrid come in at 5.7 tons/year, where the regular FWD Escape will total 8.3 tons/year.
Choose the 4WD option and your mileage will drop while your carbon output and oil consumption will rise. The 4WD Hybrid’s mileage drops to an average of 28 mpg, according to fueleconomy.gov. But that’s still significantly better than the standard 4WD Escape at 21 mpg.
The 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid is an Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) that meets strict Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV II) standards and is 99.4-percent cleaner than an unregulated vehicle. And you know what that means—no matter where you’d like to escape to, here’s a hybrid that’ll get you there in style—with a clearer conscience.
When it’s all said & done: The best way to spell vacation
No matter if you’re headed to the beach house, the hunting cabin—or perhaps just a night out on the town, this SUV will get you there with panache. Ford has covered the three Rs in a new way: Recycled, Responsible and Refreshed. And in our book—the alt fuel one, that is—Ford has done its homework. It’s when the details have been attended to and directly treated with care and determination that they come together in a product that brings satisfaction to its users for many years to come—and that’s the total package of the Escape.
Go ahead and leave the guilt at home and grab the keys to the SUV. No need to feel the pinch of your fuel budget or the echoes of your conscience with this set of wheels. And forget the scrape or pinch of deprivation—with the 2008 Ford Escape, we say it’s lookin’ like you really can have your cake and eat it too. And comin’ from two kids who came from Ford-phobic families, that’s high praise. We’ve heard it round town that folks are brand-loyal to the death, sometimes to the point of missing out on some of the best stuff around. We highly recommend you lay your well-intentioned yet out-dated baggage down when it comes time to shop hybrids—especially hybrid SUVs. Keep an open mind and you just may park satisfaction in your garage and keep more cash in your pocket at the same time.
If you buy an Escape, that is.
Pros:
100-percent recycled fiber seat material available
smooth ride and tight handling
super SUV fuel economy
Cons:
slight body roll on sharp corners
back seat space limited
slight transition from hybrid to electric mode noticeable
Rebate & Credit Run-down: Crunchin’ the numbers
Buy the Ford Escape FWD and you’re ready to claim a $3,000 tax credit. This, coupled with the hybrid’s first year’s fuel savings of $686 (compared to driving 15,000 miles in a regular Escape) will negate the $1195 Hybrid Premium package before the get-go, although depending on option package selected, your Escape’s base price could be about $4-5,000 higher than a similar non-hybrid model. Translation: park that Escape in your driveway for 10 years and figure on yearly fuel savings—to the total tune of at least $6,800 (or more) for your kids’ college account.
Choose the 4WD model and your tax credit will drop to $2,200, along with the corresponding dip in fuel mileage, so it’ll just take a bit longer to recoup the expense.
The Escape Hybrid is manufactured at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo.
Details and Specs:
Technical Features: 2.3-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder Atkinson style engine, electronic continuously variable transmission (eCVT), 4-wheel independent suspension, 4-wheel ABS, 330-volt battery and regenerative braking
Safety Features: driver & front passenger dual-stage airbags, side intrusion door beams, safety canopy system, lower anchors & tethers for children (LATCH)
Interior Features: AM/FM/6-CD changer, dual zone electronic auto climate control, power door locks and windows, remote keyless entry w/keypad, Hybrid Premium package with Navigation
Exterior Features: 16” hybrid aluminum wheels, P235/70R16 all season tires
