July 2005 –

Escape High Fuel Costs in a Hybrid SUV

Fueling up a hybrid vehicle is like getting married. You feel like you shouldn't ever have to do it, but at some point it can no longer be ignored. Having just fueled a 2005 Ford Escape All-Wheel Drive Hybrid at a cost of more than $2.50 per gallon, I crept away from a Shell station on electric power only. How did I know? A real-time pictogram in the dash tells you when you're being propelled by batteries, by the gasoline engine, or by what combination of both. At startup and at speeds below 20 mph, it is not unusual for the Escape to use battery power only.

I wondered how long I could continue this way, tiptoeing along in golf cart mode. Imagine going all day without using any fuel. The implications are staggering.

I decided to run a test. Feathering the pedal, I kept one eye on the power-allocating pictogram and one eye on the road. If I had a third eye, I'd have kept it in the rearview mirror, to watch for flashing lights. This style of driving made me no friends among my fellow motorists, and I thought of "The Straight Story," a John Lynch movie about a guy who makes his way across the country on a riding lawnmower.

Not very long, it turned out, was it possible for me to stay in pure-electric mode. Even with a steady foot on the throttle, the dash showed the gasoline engine kicking in and out seemingly at will. I checked my fuel economy for the 15-minute test period. (Another neat gadget is a resettable MPG gauge.) The result was only 24.3 miles per gallon, which was a bit lower than in normal driving around town.

There are many lessons here, and one is that it doesn't pay to try to beat the system. Not always, anyway. If we Americans could collectively double our fuel economy, for example, I suspect gasoline would quickly go from $2.50 to $5 per gallon. As our miles per gallon approached infinity, so would the price of fuel. Let’s call it the Law of Offsetting Economics, which has many corollaries in everyday life. For every positive development, there is an equal and opposite buzzkill.

Longer, Yet Milder

The Hybrid Escape is what Ford calls a "full" hybrid as opposed to a "mild" hybrid. The latter term, in Ford lingo, is attached with a hint of scorn to "lesser" vehicles such as the hybridized trio from Honda--specifically the Insight, Civic, and Accord. A full hybrid, says Ford, can run on electric power alone at certain times. In the milder poseurs, the electric motor always needs some help from its big brother, the gasoline engine. "Full hybrids are better by far," the company states, and invites you to click here and "find out why." I did the former, but failed at the latter.

The primary purpose of hybrid technology, as I see it, is to increase fuel economy. But operating on straight battery juice--even when you try hard to make it happen, as I did--happens only sporadically. The gasoline engine keeps kicking in, partly to keep the battery recharged. "But that's not driving the vehicle!" some might say.

Whatever. It is silly to differentiate between full and mild hybrids, and confuse people in the process. These are holdover terms from industry, both imprecise, with little value there and none in the passenger car arena. Two GM pickup trucks now offer a special starter motor that lets the engine shut off under certain conditions, to save fuel. Other than that, the truck is fully gasoline-powered. This technology has been called "mild," but clearly it's a whole lot milder than that of a Honda Insight.  But enough on this.

It's been alleged that virtually all recent progress in engine technology development has been "squandered" on horsepower, and not applied to bettering fuel economy. The 1.6 liter four-cylinder engine in a 1981 Ford Escort, as an example, was rated for 68 horsepower. Engines of such minimal displacement are pretty hard to find today. But a specimen such as the 1.5 liter four-banger in the Toyota Echo produces 108 horsepower, which is 59 percent more than the old Escort. Maybe no one begrudges increased power in the econoboxes, but the grab for power has been even greater among muscle cars and trucks.

So it's interesting to see hybrid technology perhaps going that route. Consider the newly hybridized, V6-powered Honda Accord. It's a much quicker car than the gasoline-fueled V6 equivalent from Honda. And don’t be fooled by their identical horsepower ratings. The auto industry still lacks a rating standard for horsepower in hybrids; gas engines and electric motors reach their maximum power at different RPMs, so a single max power spec at a certain speed wouldn't mean much.

Here arrives a corollary of Law of Offsetting Economics. As technology improves, zero-to-sixty times decline. Miles per gallon…we’ll see what we can do. In fairness, the hybrid Accord gets 29 city and 37 highway, versus 21 and 30 for the gasoline V6 Accord.  But the improvement is nowhere near what it could have been, as in the hybridized Honda Civic.

No one will accuse the Escape of showing off in the performance department. It is billed as having the pep of a V6, with four-cylinder fuel economy. That claim is a stretch, but acceleration is acceptable at all speeds, and excellent at low speeds. Electric motors produce the most torque at zero RPMs, which explains why an electric golf cart can jump like a jackrabbit from a standing stop. For the record, the four-cylinder Escape Hybrid is rated for 155 horsepower; a gasoline-fueled V6 version of the Escape produces 200 hp. But again, the comparison is meaningless.

For the 4WD model I drove, the EPA fuel economy was 33 city and 29 highway. I got 28.7 miles per gallon in a two-day mix of city and highway driving. Hybrids can get better fuel economy around town because of their "regenerative braking." When you apply the brakes, forward energy is converted into electrical energy, which helps charge the battery. Another reason for better mileage around town is that on the highway, the gasoline engine often does all of the work.

She's No Lady

With the Escape's continuously variable automatic transmission, there is no gear shifting per se. Merging onto the highway occurs with one continuous thrust, with just a whine and just a slight bump that takes some getting used to, when the gasoline engine kicks in, which is around 25 miles per hour.

The power-splitting pictogram I mentioned is part of an option package that also includes a fancy GPS navigation system. The nav system comes with map data stored on about a dozen CD-ROMs; one for each region of the country. Pop in the CD and you get audible turn-by-turn directions to your destination, while a visual map gives you graphic guidance. The $1,850 package includes upgraded speakers, radio, and CD player.

The map is a bit hard to read, but otherwise, the workings of the onboard nav system are truly elegant. A dreamy synthesized female voice giving me directions blended perfectly, in pitch and tempo, with tuneage emanating from the stereo. "Turn left at the light," she purred, with Lyle Lovett crooning, "She's No Lady, She's My Wife." Another neat onboard feature, a $180 option, is a plug-in A/C outlet that supplies power for laptops and small appliances. Perfect for campers and contractors.

Most SUVs never get off the asphalt, though their ads show them splashing through mud-filled ravines. The Escape--even the tree-hugging hybrid model--is a legitimate SUV in its own rite, with a 60/40 split rear bench seat, comfortable seating for five adults, and a flip-up rear window. If boating is your bag, be aware that the towing capacity of the hybrid is only about 1,000 pounds. Ground clearance is 10 inches, which is more than Ford's bigger Explorer, Expedition, Excursion, or Exterminator.

(Just kidding about the Ford Exterminator. But Chevrolet does have a new, limited edition pickup truck, created in memory of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, called the Intimidator. We do not make this stuff up.)

The Ford Escape Hybrid deserves credit. It was the first hybrid among SUVs, a club that has since expanded to include the Lexus RX 400h (at roughly twice the price of the Escape). And there is nothing incongruous about hybridization in a gas-guzzling class of vehicles. Take General Motors, which has been no great leader in the hybrid world. It has, however, sold hundreds of hybrid diesel-electric transit buses to municipalities. Each one saves as much petroleum as 15,000 hybridized compact cars, GM says. That makes sense to me.

Which brings to mind a TV commercial a few years back, with Paul (Crocodile Dundee) Hogan pitching for the Subaru Outback. Hogan is bewildered as his neighbor boasts about how big his new SUV is. The camera pans to the neighbor's driveway, where we see that the vehicle looks like a school bus. Seems like a corollary to the Law of Offsetting Economics is at work there, but I'll let you dig it out.

2005 Ford Escape All-wheel Drive Hybrid

MSRP: $28,455.  Price as tested: $32,450. Options included side airbags, painted side body cladding, navigation and fuel readout system, leather seats, 110-volt power outlet, cargo cover.

Specifications:

Wheelbase:   103.2 inches
Length:          174.9 inches
Height:           70 inches
Rear axle clearance:   10.0 inches

Seating capacity:     5 adults
Fuel capacity:         15 gallons

Gasoline engine:     I4 engine Atkinson cycle
Displacement:        2.3 liter (138 CID)
Horsepower:           155 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque:                  129 lb-ft. @ 4,500 rpm
Fuel delivery:          Sequential multiport electronic fuel injection
Fuel:                      Regular unleaded
Fuel economy:        33 city/29 hwy.
Transmission:         Electronic continuously variable

Electric motor:        Permanent magnet AC synchronous
Power:                   94 hp @ 3,000-5,000 rpm
Wattage:                400-volt maximum

Front suspension:  Independent MacPherson struts supported by L-shaped lower control arms, coil springs and stabilizer bar.

Rear suspension:  Multi-link suspension with two lateral links and trailing arms.

Front and rear brakes:   Power-assisted, ventilated 4-wheel disc with standard ABS and integrated regenerative braking.
 

Steering:   Rack-and-pinion with electric power assist.
 

For three years, I was the editor of Alternative Fuel News, published by the U.S. Department of Energy.  Write to me at  tom@larocque.biz