Got a New Truck This Week (Ford Escape Hybrid)

[mechman600]

Nice. I've wanted an Escape Hybrid for years. The thing that held me back is that they cannot tow at all. I need to be able to tow a small trailer (~850 lbs loaded with my motorcycle) because I don't have a pickup truck.

I am excited to see what you are able to achieve with yours.

[Frank Lee]

My excitement for yet another SUV on the road is somewhat underwhelming. But let's see what she'll do.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by jeff88

Well we ended up buying a new truck.

Truck? You must have posted the wrong pictures, 'cause they don't show a truck.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Cobb

The premium of a hybrid with no improvements in fuel economy or am I thinking of the mariner?

You might be thinking of a recent Nissan...

---

Congrats on the Escape. The hybrid system makes fuel-saving driving more entertaining than the average car, in a nerdy way. You'll have fun.

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by mechman600

Nice. I've wanted an Escape Hybrid for years. The thing that held me back is that they cannot tow at all. I need to be able to tow a small trailer (~850 lbs loaded with my motorcycle) because I don't have a pickup truck.

Not rated to tow isn't the same as not being able to. I've seen several posts of people towing with them. 850lbs shouldn't be a problem on flat land.

Jeff- I never got around to doing any more than max sidewall and removing the roof racks. My city commute didn't give me much motivation to pursue any aeromods. I think a belly pan would help a lot, its pretty filthy aerodynamically under there.

The Escape uses an eCVT and atkinson-like engine, same idea as the Prius. However, while the Prius will kill the ICE pretty much whenever you take your foot off the gas under 40mph, the first few years of the Escape need more convincing (slightly tapping the brake). The later years were programmed to act more like the Prius in this regard.

[Daox]

I assume she is mostly a city driver. There is no way that you'd be able to get that kind of mileage on the highway with it.

[payne171]

I looked on fueleconomy.gov and compared hybrid to not. 4WD hybrid Escapes got about 35% better fuel economy than their non-hybrid 4WD counterparts. FWD Hybrids were 40% better than FWD non-hybrids. In both cases I used automatic 4 cylinders for an apples to apples comparison, and the numbers were the average of real world users submissions. I think you were thinking of the Toyota SUVs. Lexus and Toyota Highlander (mechanically the same vehicle) were much worse, at best only boosting mileage from about 21 to 25 mpg. Or perhaps the first gen Honda Accord Hybrid, which basically gave you the fuel economy of a manual 4 cylinder in a big v6 equipped automatic.

[Daox]

Why isn't there a fuel log yet???

[jeff88]

Originally Posted by Daox

Why isn't there a fuel log yet???

As much as I would like it to be, this vehicle isn't actually mine. The person who owned the 4Runner bought the FEH to replace the 4R (I bought it from him, just need to fix the engine). From the time we bought it to about last week, his daughter was in town from college and driving it, so I haven't had a good chance to put anything into a log. I filled up 5 days ago and am just waiting for the next fuel up to determine mileage, then I'll start the log.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, when I got it, the average MPG according the computer was under 26 (like 25.7 or something). Now everyday, I see anywhere from 27.9 (during morning warm-up, for example) up to my record of 28.9 (only saw that once though). Again those are the average MPG according the computer. It will obviously change depending on what I'm doing at that exact time. But I will take a 2.5MPG increase over "regular" driving!

[jeff88]

Well I guess I spoke to soon! Driving with my mom today, I mentioned how I've seen as high as 28.9, but hadn't seen the average over 29 yet. On our way home, she looked down at the screen at it was 29.3!!! The amazing part is that I'm not trying all that hard to increase my FE. I'm just learning little bits here and there about how best to drive it. The 29.3 was after highway driving, not just street driving in all battery mode.