Friday Drive with Jann Scott
2022 Ford Escape Hybrid
Aug 23rd
You are starting to see more Ford Escape Hybrids abound Boulder County now because they are available and can be purchased same day or with a very short wait at your dealership. Boulder is a hyper EV and hybrid conscious community and we want anything that smacks of electric now.
The Ford Escape Electric Hybrid was one of the first small SUVs to come out back in the early 2000s. I owned a 2006 Escape hybrid during the last gasoline crisis. Then congressman Polis bought one of the first 2005 Escape hybrids and drove it for years. The early models would run electric for 20 miles at less than 30 mph and got overall 30mpg or 420 miles per tank.
The new redesigned 2020 to 2022 Escape Hybrid gets 44/37 mpg. The hybrid is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder paired with an electric motor and battery; total system output amounts to 200 hp. Zero to 60 in 8.7 seconds. Not bad.
It earns a 5 star NHTSA safety rating which is excellent. It has the most front leg room in its class. I like the non plug-in version for around town , but the plug-in for commutes to Denver . The plug-in, adds a larger 14.4-kWh battery pack and delivers 221 hp. It is also capable of up to 37 miles of electric range, and 105 mpg-e combined driving on gas and electricity or 520 miles on one tank of gas. That’s driving from here to SanteFe for the weekend with fuel to spare.
Prices Range from $31,000 to $41,000 depending on trim levels, powertrains, plugin and dealer markup. I was able to purchase one without much trouble.