my husband David and I had a chance to test-drive a Ford Escape Hybrid today – meaning a partly gas-powered, partly electric-powered vehicle (a decent sized SUV) that gets great gas mileage and is touted as environmentally friendly.
The technology behind it is interesting, innovative, and impressive from my point of view, since it’s designed to be fully integrated and automatic. There is no maintenance required on the battery pack and it never need be recharged (in fact, it can’t be recharged the way it’s designed) because it is continuously recharged by either the generator motor or by “regenerative braking.”
Apparently they’ve figured out how to convert some of the kinetic potential energy generated by the car’s momentum into electrical energy via a braking system that translates excess energy (usually lost as heat) into storable energy that gets fed back into the battery. Clever idea, that – and your brake pads last longer too, because there’s little or no heat buildup owing to the energy conversion.
Actually driving it was the real test – I’m not a terribly enthusiastic driver at the best of times, and very nearly chickened out. However, the demo was conducted as a duck parade, with a lead car, a follow car, and all us ducks in a row in between, five vehicles at a time. The leader was in contact with all of us via low-power FM radio (much as driver’s ed classes are conducted with multiple vehicles). So when we got to the changeover point (which was something called the Peabody Estate, worth another visit sometime) I hopped into the driver’s seat.
First of all, the feel of it is very similar to driving David’s RAV4, so I was very comfortable right off the mark. The line of ducks on parade got started, and I felt for myself the oddity of starting out on electric power, as the gas engine turns itself off and switches to electric power at low speeds or when stopped. There seemed to be plenty of power when I needed it, such as turning right on a red light to keep up with the rest of the pack. And it was a very, very smooth ride.
My own car is a 5-speed stick Corolla – nothing fancy, but it’s good basic transportation. As a clutch driver I am pretty aware of the engine revs, and the momentary feeling of coasting without acceleration when shifting between gears. I even notice when David’s car shifts itself (David does not unless it does something unexpected). But with this car it’s just one smooth acceleration, with no noticeable jumps or thumps between ranges.
The model we drove had an options package that included a schematic power-flow screen that shows what’s going on under the hood. Also it seemed to be GPS-ready and had a CD player as well.
David’s driving patterns differ radically from mine – he drives at highway speeds almost all the time, so he wouldn’t see as much benefit from the electric motor kicking in, we think. The fuel savings calculator they have is fun to play with, but there’s no way to plug in any value for average speed, and the savings are greatest for lower speeds. And when I put in my estimated MPG, my fuel savings are very, very tiny, because I drive a short distance at a relatively high average speed (not as high as David’s, though).
Still, the environmental advantages are very interesting, and the Escape sales literature at the trade show today touted how a lot of the plastic molded parts are made from recycled materials, which I thought was pretty slick (also the fact that they were marketing to the environmental crowd was a given). They’ve formed partnerships with the National Parks Service and with an organic tea company, too.
As a part of the demo, but before we got to drive the car, there was a scavenger-hunt quiz, so we had to find answers at all of the booths. We missed out on a buffet breakfast (dang!) but made do with snacks from Whole Foods and drinks from Honest T teas. The Ford people weren’t like smarmy salesmen… my last remaining worry was that we’d have to sit down for some kind of sales pitch afterward. However, for the most part their demeanor was that of bright people full of enthusiasm and pride for the product. It turned out to be a fun, smoothly organized event (even though it had to be held indoors due to high winds)((not the driving part, silly)).
We came away from it knowing more about hybrid vehicles, and also I felt a lot of admiration for the efforts Ford was making to be more environmentally aware. I don’t know if David will end up buying the Escape Hybrid for his next car, but it made me really think about the environmental issues and the capabilities of the technology. In the real world, my next car (probably 2 or 3 years down the line) will be a gently used Subaru of some kind, but this vehicle definitely makes it possible to be a guilt-free SUV driver.