Are Gas Prices Making You Wince Too – Part 2 - Used Car Guide

Are Gas Prices Making You Wince Too - Part 2:

The first phase of my research was to locate a Ford Escape Hybrid to test. Sounds easy enough but that was a difficult task seeing that it is the top-selling compact SUV in Canada. Although there are about 5 Ford Dealerships nearby my residence I did need to travel to another major city to locate one. So there I was finally staring at a black 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD. The look was pleasantly aggressive. I really like the front-end face-lifts that Ford has given to many of their vehicles. The roof rack was a nice extra to accommodate my kayak. The interior appeared roomy enough for all the gear that I would take along on my kayak adventures. The interior space looked as though it would not be enough for my mountain bike. Here is where I get a rack for up top. I also don't think I could sleep in the back but I guess I can invest in a better tent than my leaky one. So besides the bike and sleeping quarters, I was still impressed. Let's get back onto the Hybrid part of this machine. The dashboard was well laid out and the battery indicator was intriguing. I wanted to know where the 330-volt battery was stored and see it but the sales staff would not let me open the metal cover in the back. My question to the sales staff was how reliable is the battery? The answer given is that it is very reliable and has an 8-year warranty. Ok, so the Escape Hybird looks like a regular SUV and has a battery but how does it drive?

When I started it I heard the typical 4-cylinder gas engine immediately. The sales person stated that the Hybrid had been idle for some time and therefore the batteries would require some charging before coming into use. The sales staff said that it would charge quickly with some driving. The way the battery gets charged is it takes the energy created during breaking and is stored in the battery. I was curious to see how long it would take for me to drive until the charge would be enough. So I ventured out onto the busy streets of Mississauga. At the 6-minute mark of driving time I was shocked at what happened next. While stopped at a red light the engine became so quiet that I was initially alarmed that the vehicle had shut off. Great, stuck in a busy intersection. I began laughing as I pushed on the accelerator pedal (not gas pedal) and the Ford Hybrid punched forward. It was in electric mode, amazing! The engine got so quiet that you would have thought it was off. The dial was also hovering in the small battery indicator section meaning we were operating on electric. Once I began accelerating, the engine went into gas mode again I guess because demand was too much for the battery and needed more charging. Given more time for the batteries to charge fully I would have had more electric driving on these busy streets.

During my short drive I experienced both electric and gas modes. I was very impressed with the performance while in electric mode. The sound and feel was similar to driving a golf cart, a much larger golf cart and with more accessories. I also felt really good about being in electric mode and during that time I was not exhausting fuel and the dirty emissions were practically non-existent.

I must conclude that the Ford Escape Hybrid is a must have for drivers who enjoy SUV's. Like many of us who associated "Hybrid" with "small" now need to change it to "Hybrid" and "functional". Try a Hybrid, save money, and the environment.

Have a comment? Please feel free to contact me at sean.stewart@yourautomarket.com

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