Word: hybrid
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TECH: The first hybrid SUV; a safer kid's seat; stability control...
...TIME's 200-mile test drive of one of the first production models, which is identical to the models consumers are getting, the Escape Hybrid's fuel economy matched or beat its EPA ratings of 36 m.p.g. in the city and 31 m.p.g. on the highway. TIME got 36 m.p.g. in the city and 34 m.p.g. on the highway, according to the dashboard display...
What I have always liked best about hybrids is the complete silence you enjoy when they're running on the electric motor. So it was all the more jarring to hear the gas engine rumble on at unexpected moments. The Escape Hybrid can run solely on electric power when idling and at speeds of up to 25 m.p.h. But unless you accelerate gently, the engine will come on at lower speeds. Also, the engine revved noticeably loudly when I increased speed on the freeway...
...premium for a hybrid, in this case $3,500 more than for a regular Escape, which looks nearly identical. In exchange, you get gas mileage that is nearly twice as good in the city (36 m.p.g. vs. 20 m.p.g.) and 6 m.p.g. better on the highway. And for now, you get a $1,500 tax write-off from Uncle Sam. Do the math, and you quickly realize that you still won't save money overall with a hybrid. But you will spend less time at the pump and drive the most fuel-efficient SUV in America...
That is the quandary facing the U.S. auto industry, particularly General Motors as it wrestles with how much to invest in hybrid gas-electric cars. Over the past year, as gas has hovered around $2 a gallon, hybrids made by Toyota and Honda have gained a small but growing following in the U.S. Though hybrids account for less than 1% of the estimated 17 million new cars to be sold this year, they could make up 3% of the market by the end of the decade and potentially as much as 20%, according to a study by consulting firm Booz...