2005 Ford Escape Hybrid Handling & Road Test

Toyota, beware--the Escape's batteries run down rather quickly in hilly going. Depending on driving styles, most editors reported running out of electrical assist one-half to two-thirds of the way up our 2.7-mile mountain road course, and when relying solely on the low-revving, low-compression 133-horse engine, progress becomes downright deliberate. Similarly, the 4WD Escape crawled eagerly up our steep, loose-dirt hillclimb for about 50 feet, with the hammer down, before grinding to a halt when the battery juice was gone.

Running the mountain road course in the downhill direction (starting off with a completely depleted battery pack) revealed a curious non-linearity in the Escape's low gear "engine braking" and braking with the pedal. The computer controller tried hard to maintain at least a medium state of battery charge, so there was considerable off-throttle low-gear deceleration when the batteries were recharging, and small brake applications provoked deep regenerative braking. But halfway down the hill, the batteries reached full charge, and the amount of retardation dropped off markedly by either means. The Toyota Prius's braking algorithms are a bit better resolved.

Steering and handling, by contrast, were remarkably unremarkable. There wasn't a single complaint about the electric power steering, which is high praise for the system's programmers. While the hybrid hardware adds a lot of weight to the Escape (roughly 375 pounds by Ford's scales), its mass is well distributed, and the chassis and tires are upgraded to cope, so the car corners quite comfortably.

The price starts at $26,970 with front drive, $28,595 with all-wheel drive, which is steep for a compact soft-roader, even when considering the level of technology and equipment on board and Ford's admission that the price is somewhat subsidized. What cheeses us is that the computer screen allowing the driver to monitor fuel economy and power flow isn't standard, as it is on the Prius, but part of an $1850 navigation and audio package. Let's face it--with 9.6-second 0-to-60 acceleration and iffy off-roadability, the fun in this truck is in monitoring and maximizing fuel economy. Of course, our testers may have seen things differently: Our three tanks of road-trip and off-road driving averaged 25, 13, and 17 mpg. Granted, such duty isn't a hybrid's long suit, and one staffer reports logging 30 mpg on a city trek.

The Escape impresses with its ability to ride, drive, and generally behave like its conventional brethren with only a slight compromise in cargo space (a raised floor to clear the battery pack eats up 1.7 cubic feet of total cargo space), in max towing (1000 pounds instead of 1500), and in off-road capability. As such, it's a terrific small wagon that comes up just a bit short measured against the SUV yardstick.