2020 Ford Escape Hybrid Crossover Desert Review

We escaped to the California desert to test the newest crossover from Ford. It's coming up right now on Driving Sports TV. The new Ford Escape looks a lot more like a car than a crossover, and that makes sense considering Ford has axed many of their traditional sedans. The Escape is here to fill that hole, where the rugged Bronco Sport will slot into a more rugged crossover segment, even though it's mechanically very similar to the Escape under the skin. So we called up Ford and said, hey, we really want to test the new Escape on the mountains of Washington State. And they said, how about this, why don't you fly to L.A. instead and test our front-wheel drive hybrid. Yeah. This may not be what our normal viewers hoped for, but hey, let's have an open mind. So I gotta say, Ford may not have made the Escape for me, but they did make it for a lot of potential customers. Our test car is the SE Sport front-wheel drive in Rapid Red Metallic paint. Prices you see it here, $33,085 including destination. Since this is a mild hybrid, it may qualify for tax credits. Check your local area for details. Under the hood is a hybrid powertrain featuring a 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle 4-cylinder engine combined with an electric motor generator for a combined output of 198 horsepower. It channels that power through the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission. EPA rates this setup at 44 miles to the gallon around town and 37 on the highway. Like most hybrids, it is more efficient with stop-and-go city traffic. With a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack stowed beneath the second row, the trunk space is decent for a compact hybrid, 34.4 cubic feet with the second row in place. Fold it down for up to 60.8 cubic feet. Under the false floor is the starter battery and a lot of unused extra space. Moving into the second row, passengers will find a nicely lit space thanks to the panorama sunroof. There's also a fold-down armrest with integrated cup holders as well as USB-C and standard USB sockets. Up front, the cabin leans heavily into a car-like aesthetic. No ruggedized materials, no bulky shifters. This could easily be the inside of a Focus. The seats are power-adjustable at this price point and they also have heat. This thing is really interesting on the inside. It's very different from other crossovers in this class. First off, you have an all-digital instrumentation. It's not very customizable, but the information it does have is very useful. It's very easy to look at and to figure out what's going on. You can see how your gas engine and how your electric motor are working together. And it even changes based on the drive mode selected, with some of the coolest dash animations I've seen. But even with these different modes, the basic information presented is pretty much the same. Because this has the Ford 360 safety system, you can see collision mitigation, lane detection, all that stuff happening very easily. All the safety features can be adjusted on the main 8-inch touchscreen. This car has all the good stuff. Blind spot warning with cross-traffic alert, a reverse camera, adaptive cruise control with lane keep assist, collision mitigation, and a lot more. You can also use voice commands to enter navigation destinations. Navigate to the nearest Starbucks. Alternatively, you can use the screen to enter destinations directly. Of course, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are supported through Sync 3. This gives you direct access to all the music and apps on your device. When enabled, it also changes the voice prompts to use your mobile assistant. Find the nearest Starbucks. You can get the Hybrid with all-wheel drive. This isn't it. This is a front-wheel drive. But if you did option that, it's actually kind of interesting because unlike the RAV4, where they went with an electric motor in the back and a gas motor in the front and no connection between the two, the Ford Escape actually uses a propeller shaft to power the rear wheels, which is a better way to do it given current technology. I think that if you look at it, yes, theoretically having a dedicated electric motor in the back is best. However, in practice, they just don't have as much horsepower as you can get with a combined system. Like I said, this one is not all-wheel drive. It is front-wheel drive only, so we aren't going to take it off-roading. Disappointing. But we can see how this car kind of sits in its space. And honestly, I think most people going for the Ford, because this is going to be really popular like in LA, along with Sunbelt, I think front-wheel drive is a very common option for this type of vehicle. It basically replaces the family wagon. So this particular Escape isn't the cheap one. I mean, you're looking at over $33,000. But you do get a lot. I mean, you get the digital instrumentation. You get the really, really nice nav system. That screen, not huge, but it is very clear and razor sharp. You get the massive panorama sunroof. And of course, it's both gas and electric. So you know, that counts for something. So let's go ahead and take it up into the hills and see how it does. Nobody expects a Ford Escape front-wheel drive hybrid to go like greased lightning, but we're going to give it a try anyway. I'm going to go ahead and set the driving mode to Sport, just to give it the best opportunity for a good result. Complete stop. And three, two, one, go. A little slow to start there. The wheels feel like they're really trying to push some power, though. 40, 50, and 60. And the result is 9.31 seconds. Wow, that's slower than a Subaru Forester. And that thing's slow. Huh. Well, the important thing with this vehicle is it actually feels faster, because you have some of that torque off the line. But man, once that gas motor kicks in, yeah, it's really not doing much. Normally, I test 0-60 in a completely empty vehicle. However, today, since I am traveling in Los Angeles in the desert, I actually have about 100 pounds of gear in the back. And my daughter is helping me out, and she's easily 100 pounds, 90 pounds, 80 pounds, a twig. Anyway, we'll do that again. Footnote on the 0-60 time is I am traveling with about 100 pounds of gear in the back. Now, 100 pounds isn't even the equivalent of a full adult in the vehicle. So it's still slow. It probably impacted the 0-60 very slightly, but not in any material way that's going to make this all of a sudden a rock star if you took all the gear out. So just want to make sure that was clear, that that is how the testing was done. Moving on. I also tested to see if the MPG ratings held up in the real world. After all, this is a desert, and it's mostly flat. I set the cruise control to 55, reset the trip, and rolled like this for a good 15 minutes. The EPA tests that I should be getting 37 miles to the gallon in this situation. Actual result, 34.8 MPGs. Of course, a lot of people buy crossovers because, you know, you go off the beaten path every once in a while, and you don't always need all-wheel drive for that if the beaten path you're going on isn't really that complicated. And like out here in the Antelope Valley, there are tons of really great roads to explore. Just be careful you don't accidentally drive into somebody's off-grid compound in the process. Yeah, those are real, and they are out here. The standard Ford Escape has close to 8 inches of ground clearance. I think it's 7.9. This one looks like it has a little bit less, but it's still more than, you know, your hybrid Camry, for example. So if you wanted to bomb down a sandy road, you don't want to, you know, get too in over your head because front-wheel drive can only do so much. But with the right tires, you can go a surprising amount of places, even down a power-line road in the middle of the desert. Just fine. It's fun. There's hundreds of miles of roads just like this that a little crossover with, you know, adequate ground clearance can go down just fine. So do you need all-wheel drive if you live in L.A.? Or even just, you know, anywhere in Southern California? Probably not. Of course, this is loaded with all the safety stuff you would expect at this price range. You do get blind-spot monitors, but on the outside, wing mirrors, which I don't particularly care for them. You do get collision mitigation, you get, of course, a rear backup camera with rear cross-traffic alerts. You know, it's all this stuff. It's basically the greatest hits. Now it does not have the full 360 camera view, although that is an option on top-level trims. Once you kick it over to sport mode, it is a lot more fun to drive. Now it doesn't change the suspension at all, but it does make the motor way more responsive than it would normally be. And the suspension in general is very sporty on this vehicle. It's a little on the tight side, but not rough at all. But it definitely handles the control of, you know, once you get into the corners, it doesn't feel roly-poly. It feels like it is pretty confident, actually. Which, I mean, you look at it, they call it a crossover, but really, I think this just, it's the new-day Focus wagon, really, when you get down to it. It's just a Focus wagon with a little extra ground clearance. And they're calling it a crossover because crossovers are popular. But it's funny how Ford went and got rid of their cars and made their crossovers look like cars, whereas Toyota still sells cars and made their crossovers look like crossovers. Like even more so. Like the new RAV4, it looks so much more rugged and off-road, you're never going to confuse it for a lifted Camry. However, this one, it looks like it's a lifted Focus. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, there's an audience for that, but it's not my thing. And it may not be your thing. And if it's not, you're not going to consider this vehicle anyway. There's nothing here to win you over from all the other options on the market, to be honest. Because the economy is good, but not great. It does have class-leading range on paper, however, with the cruising freeway speed, the practicality of getting that, it seems to dwindle. Especially when you consider that the Subaru Forester with all-wheel drive gets basically the same economy without having an expensive hybrid powertrain. That is kind of the big news here. If you're driving around the city, the hybrid powertrain is definitely going to pay dividends because that's where you get the best economy. So you gotta look, how do you drive? How do you use your vehicle? If you drive in the city, you don't need all-wheel drive, you like the design, and you want something that looks a little less rugged, the Ford, you know, I almost called it a Focus. The Ford Escape is exactly what you're looking for. If none of that really matters to you, and you really just want a rugged crossover that'll get you where you're going regardless of the conditions, you have a lot more options, and I would say that the Escape here falls lower on the options list. I would instead personally consider maybe even the RAV4 hybrid with its excellent powertrain, or even just the Subaru Forester, which gets great gas mileage without needing the expensive hybrid system. For Driving Sports TV, I'm Ryan Douthit, thanks for watching. This has been my look at the Ford, I want to call it a Focus again, but I'm not. It's the Escape, and it's a crossover for people who really just want to buy a lifted station wagon, but they're not into station wagons. Yeah. So, hit that like button, subscribe, we'll see you again right here next week. Thanks for watching.