Safety

The car has standard dual front air bags, available ABS brakes, electronic brake force distribution and seatbelt pre-tensionners. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) awarded the car 4 out of 5 stars (a good result) for a frontal impact and 3 out of 5 stars (an average result) for the front passengers and 4 out of 5 stars for the rear passengers in lateral impacts. The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) has rated it a "Best Pick" in its category.

Conclusion

Overall, the Escape Hybrid is physically indistinguishable from the regular Escape. The same can be said about the interior. The Escape Hybrid is basically impossible to spot in a shopping mall parking lot. These points are strong selling arguments for many that do not want to stand out in the crowd. There is no period of adaptation required for driving the Escape Hybrid. In fact, if someone was to drive the Hybrid and a V6 Escape back to back without being told which is which, they would probably only say that one felt smoother than the other. They would never know that they were driving a gas-electric vehicle.

Like any attempt to improve our lives and that of the future generation, the Hybrid represents a glimmer of hope especially in the SUV segment. The advantage to this truck is that there are no real compromises. GM introduced a full-size Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid but as far as I understand, the truck is not powerful enough and represents too much of a concession for its target market. Ford has done very well with the Escape and best of all, over the next little while, new Hybrids will be launched such as the Mazda Tribute and, for the US, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid.

Good stuff:
Nice ride
Few if any compromises

Not so good stuff:
Technology is still very expensive
Fuel economy is not fantastic