Get it just right, and you're sometimes rewarded with a "brake coach: 100 percent energy returned" attaboy message. Brake modulation is fine at the top of the pedal's travel but gets a little grabby in the last few feet before a stop. The steering in Normal mode is fine on center but has no buildup of effort as you wind on lock still, it's preferable to Sport mode, which is weirdly stiff and springy. The stiff suspension could do more to isolate bumps, and yet you wouldn't put the Escape on the same sporty plane as the Mazda CX-5. The Escape's chassis tuning isn't as well sorted as the best in class. As a hybrid, it's a relatively raucous 76 decibels under full-throttle acceleration, 3 more than the RAV4 Prime. The powertrain is considerably quieter, though, when operating as an electric. Drivers may want to accept that invitation because-on the highway particularly- the car gathers speed slowly using only battery power. The latter doesn't wake the engine even when the accelerator is floored, although a message in the cluster display will invite the driver to enable the gas engine by hitting the OK button on the steering wheel. In addition to the default mode, which uses gas or electric power as the system sees fit, there's one to conserve battery charge for later (although it won't keep the battery at 100 percent), another that allows the engine to add charge to the battery (this is more effective in stop-and-go traffic than in highway cruising), and a pure-EV mode. The Escape plug-in-hybrid system's multiple drive modes provide a good deal of flexibility. HIGHS: 40-mpg EPA-combined estimate, useful EV range, short stopping distance. The plug-in's estimated 11.2 kWh of usable juice provides a useful 37 miles of EV range, according to the EPA driving at highway speed, we got 25 miles out of it-still a respectable showing, although short of the RAV4 Prime's 32 miles. The regular hybrid is available with front- or all-wheel drive, but the PHEV is front-drive only. Whereas the Escape's base gasoline engine is a 181-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder, the hybrids employ a larger, naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four, which in combination with electric-motor assist is good for 200 horsepower (HEV) or 221 horsepower (PHEV). So, what does the PHEV bring to the party? Like the Toyota RAV4 and the newly redesigned Hyundai Tucson, the Ford Escape can be had as a traditional-style hybrid and a recently added plug-in hybrid (there are also two nonhybrid engines). The Ford Escape became the first hybrid SUV back in 2004, and while the Escape dropped the gas-electric powertrain with its third-generation model, the current fourth-gen Escape offers two kinds of hybrids.
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