Follow the hybrid road: Ford Motor Company joins the hybrid revolution with the first American-built full-hybrid SUV

Automotive Industries, June, 2004 by John Peter

There's something strangely fitting about using Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 9 to hold the technical portion of the first Hybrid Ford Escape ride-and-drive. Phil Martens, group vice president, Product Creation, mentioned in his presentation that this is the same studio (previously MGM) where the Wizard of Oz was filmed.

And though there weren't any wicked witches to battle, Ford is still trying to pour water on the hot topic of who's parts are actually behind that curtain, or under the hood, as it may be, of the Escape Hybrid.

Ford continues to deny that there are any actual Toyota parts among the 351 patents that make up the hybrid drivetrain (Ford owns 100 of them), but they do share some of the same technologies, similar enough that Ford felt compelled to pony up the license fees on 21 Toyota patents to quash any possible patent infringement suits.

For example, the Aisin-supplied transaxle is identical in concept to the Prius, though components are rearranged for packaging purposes. The unit has also been nearly doubled in size to achieve the necessary power and electrical capacity needed for the larger SUV.

Ford also admits to the trading of patents on some technologies (Ford reportedly swapped gas-injection technology for the electric-only reverse drive option of the Prius).

Similar parts aside, it's the algorithms that tell the components what to do and when and this is where Ford has given Escape a brain and a heart of its own.

While Prius is still aimed squarely at the environmentally-conscious, Ford's 'No Compromise' approach to Escape (V-6 power /4-cylinder mileage), creates a vehicle that's as much about SUV performance as fuel-sipping economy.

From the driver's seat, the Hybrid Escape doesn't differ much from the non-hybrid Escape. The only visual cues are housed in the IP. To the left is a charge and assist gauge that tells you whether you're charging the battery or using it and the tachometer has a small electric motor icon, below the zero, where the needle drops to when the engine is off and the vehicle is running on electric only.

Buyers who opt for the navigation system get a graphic diagram showing the gas engine, motor and battery inside an outline of a truck with arrows depicting the flow of energy to and from the components. Vehicles without the navigation system have bar graphs that monitor the same functions.

Unlike the Prius, which requires a special set of steps to turn the car on, the Escape starts like a regular vehicle. Turn the key and the gas engine purrs to life--press the brake, put it in drive and press the accelerator.

Prius drivers press their accelerator and the vehicle launches in electric mode with the engine coming on around 20 mph. The Escape will launch in electric mode as well, but only if you're very, very light on the throttle.

In a normal take-off, both electric motor and gas engine are working together to create that 'no-compromise V-6 acceleration' that Ford has dialed into the truck. At a cruising speed of up to 30 mph, the engine will shut off and the vehicle will run on electric only. A click over 30 brings the engine back to life.

The first leg of our trip back from OZ took us not down any yellow brick roads, but consisted of a mileage competition on a five mile loop around Sony Studios. We managed to log 44.7 mpg in our Four-Wheel-Drive Escape by creeping away from stoplights and keeping the vehicle under 30mph, far from what I would consider a normal driving pattern and an annoyance to the commuters on busy Venice Blvd.

Though official EPA testing hasn't been done, Ford is estimating mileage at 35 to 40 city and 30 highway.

From there, we took off at a normal pace for the Calamigos Ranch near Malibu for some offroading. Our 'no-compromise' SUV enjoyed the stop and go cruise through the heart of Hollywood, the type of driving that hybrid's are designed for, but didn't care much for the long stretches of highway driving as we headed up into the mountains.

The 133 hp, Atkinson cycle 2.3L aluminum DOHC, 16-valve 4-cylinder and electric motor were working hard to pull the small truck up the mountain. And though the eCVT transmission is designed to let the gas engine perform at its most efficient, the engine and CVT seemed to be unable to find that 'sweet spot,' the engine wailing at plus 4,000 rpm, the electric motor draining the battery and the mileage readout at 22 mpg. The powertrain seemed to lack a strong top end in city driving as well when it was pushed.

In the world of hybrids, the Escape really showed its courage on the off-road trails at Calamigos. Going where Prius fears to tread, the small, agile SUV easily climbed up and down the rutted dirt horse trails, while the hybrid drivetrain didn't miss a beat.

The Escape SUV benefits from Ford's intelligent four wheel-drive system, which was the option on the vehicle we drove. The fully automatic system requires no input from the driver and uses a computer controlled clutch that engages the rear wheels as needed. Using sensors at each wheel and a throttle sensor, the system sends the exact amount of necessary torque to each wheel, making calculations at the rate of 200 times per second.