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Ford Escape Hybrid - Driving Tips & Tricks

43 messages,  Last post on Jul 25, 2008 at 11:04 PM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Escape Hybrid, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), SUV

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#14 of 43 More reasons to love the Escape Hybrid by hybd4me Feb 14, 2005 (5:45 pm)
The car really is fun to drive around town.   First, I am impressed with the ECV transmission. It is hard to describe. The only word I can think of is "smooth." There is no sense of a shift whatsoever so the car maintains a smooth pull from 0 mph to whatever speed.   Also, you will notice the the near instantaneous torque that you get from an electric engine -- it really feels different from any straight gas car I've driven. And it's not just at low speeds. The electric motor provides some nice kick even on the highway. If you're at 50 mph and want to go to 70, the car will respond instantly with the first response coming from the elctric engine. The gas engine will take some time to rev up and then will jump in after the accleration has started.   Finally -- and this is really cool -- when you release the gas pedal, you will notice in the power meter that the car instantly switches to "regeneration mode" in order to capture the energy from the excess RPMs that a gas engine produces as it slows down.   The power management algorithym (sp?) seems very intelligent - Ford I'm very impressed.
#16 of 43 CVT on the Hybrid, curse or blessing by zadscmc Apr 14, 2005 (4:55 am)
I have both an Escape hybrid and a Honda Civic Hybrid (HCH) with mt.   I cannot get used to the CVT on the Escape, it seems like I am always in "passing gear" revving the motor in excess when trying to accelerate. I can get the vehicle to 33-36 mpg in normal traffic but as soon as I need to accelerate modestly I hear the gas slurping out of the tank. (Boy I wish this thing had a bigger gas tank, too.)   I am by no means a lead foot, does anyone else have this problem?   -C... Replies to this message: stevewa (Apr 14, 2005 7:14 am) cdold (Apr 30, 2005 7:02 pm)
#17 of 43 Re: CVT on the Hybrid, curse or blessing [zadscmc] by stevewa Apr 14, 2005 (7:14 am)
Replying to: zadscmc (Apr 14, 2005 4:55 am) It's doing what it's designed to do. When you accelerate it's revving up to its best efficiency and using any extra energy to recharge your battery.   The Ford and Toyota systems have a completely different design philosophy from Honda.   My advice is "don't worry just drive and be happy". If you look at your overall efficiency it's unlikely that the higher RPMs are having a sigificant negative impact.
#18 of 43 Re: CVT on the Hybrid, curse or blessing [zadscmc] by cdold Apr 30, 2005 (7:02 pm)
Replying to: zadscmc (Apr 14, 2005 4:55 am) " have both an Escape hybrid and a Honda Civic Hybrid (HCH) with mt.    I cannot get used to the CVT on the Escape, it seems like I am always in "passing gear" "   I have 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT, and a 2005 Escape Hybrid 4wd. Even after having the Honda as a introduction to CVT, the Escape did seem like it was revving too easily. I have 8000 miles on the Escape now, and I have just gotten used to it. I let the computer do the work, based on my "throttle" input. (blip the throttle... nada). My overall mileage has gone up. I was getting 26.8, and it's now 27.5. No particular change in driving habits or location.
#19 of 43 Re: [canukvet] by stldriver Jan 30, 2006 (3:13 pm)
I have a 12 month old Escape Hybrid with 13,000 and in November it was like someone flipped a switch. I went from 30+MPG to almost 24 MPG. I asked my local dealer and they haven't a clue. So I emailed Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center. They don't seem to know or care. They responded back with a politically correct version of we don't know and go to your local dealer. St Louis is not nearly as cold as you have it. 25F to 55F has been our winter temp. I also noticed that the breaks are not charging the battery until the car warms up. Maybe this has some effect on the MPG.   Does anyone know where to get real answers about the HEV? Replies to this message: warlok2 (Feb 02, 2006 12:13 pm) canukvet (Feb 18, 2006 2:29 pm) 3screwsloose (Jan 27, 2007 6:26 am)
#20 of 43 Re: [stldriver] by warlok2 Feb 02, 2006 (12:13 pm)
Replying to: stldriver (Jan 30, 2006 3:13 pm) I have a 2006 FEH, bought on January 3rd. I'm in Delaware and the ave temp has been between 30-45 most days. I find that until it warms up (I've seen someone write about the catalytic converter warming up), the hybrid drive won't kick on. I've been averaging 27-29 city and even better on highway. But due to the short trips I make, I don't anticipate getting better 'city' mileage until the spring/summer. Is your's the 4wd version? Mine is fwd.    The brakes don't seem to have anything to do with whether its warmed up or not. It will charge if it is below 50%. The user's manual wrote that the battery likes to stay around 50%. The brakes do depend on how hard you brake. If you brake hard, it bypasses the 'wire' mode and goes into the hydraulic backup, where it doesn't recharge the batteries at all.   Remember not to keep your air settings on any of the orange defrost or max ac settings or your engine will be always on. Those are engine demand settings. Use them while your engine is warming up and you are driving, them turn them down, the escape cabin warms up very quickly...   Hope this helps,   Marcus Replies to this message: canukvet (Feb 18, 2006 2:29 pm) 3screwsloose (Jan 27, 2007 6:26 am)
#21 of 43 Re: [warlok2] by canukvet Feb 18, 2006 (2:29 pm)
Replying to: warlok2 (Feb 02, 2006 12:13 pm) Hey Marcus, Thanks for the response. 2 weeks ago the Little Green Sprout, I bought the Titianum Green with Appearance Package, came to a complete stop in the Shopping Center parking lot. Into the Dealer he went and the trouble codes revealed that the PCM software needed to be updated. Several Technical bullitens had come out identifying the problems. All went well for a week and now the issues have started again. The Electric Motor is to be governed at 1500 RPM when going from electric to gas and mine now jumps back to 2500 even after it has warmed up after 30 kms, which is about 18 miles or so. So back to the Dealer he goes on Tuesday next week and we'll see what they have to say about it. I never run the interior controls in the "Red" Zone but that's great advice. I'll keep everyone posted but anyone else has had the similar type of issues please let me know.   Cheers from Canada!
#23 of 43 Electric Engine not coming on during idling and acceleration by starrfamily6 Oct 04, 2006 (7:49 am)
I purchased a 2007 Escape Hybrid two weeks ago. I have not gotten over 26 mpg in primarily city driving. When I start off in the morning the hybrid engine seems to be working great. At a stop it is running completely off the electric and is assisting well as we accelerate.   After about 20 minutes the engine no longer switches to the full electric mode when idling and does not assist the gasoline engine when accelerating from the stop. The usually lasts the rest of the day.   We have taken it into the dealership several times but they have very little experience with the Hybrid and don't know what if anything is wrong with it. They don't even know if this is normal or not.   Is anyone else experiencing similar performance from their hybrid?

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