2010 Ford Escape Hybrid Review Summaries

What reviewers liked most about the Ford Escape Hybrid:

Operating in front wheel drive under normal conditions, sensors in each wheel detect slip, and channel power rearward as necessary to maintain your grip.

-- AutoSite.com

Its part-cute, part-tough styling is just inoffensive enough to appeal to a wide demographic.

-- Motor Trend

The Escape Hybrid drives like a normal vehicle, with the engine controls deciding when the vehicle should be using electric power, or gas power, or both. All a driver does is drive.

-- MSN Autos

One thing that impressed me was how quiet the cabin is on the freeway �?? with its low-revving engine, and new thicker glass and thicker carpeting, the cabin is very quiet �?? the loudest noise being the tires.

-- Canadian Driver

What reviewers liked least about the Ford Escape Hybrid:

"...the EPA?s estimating for hybrids seems less accurate than their numbers with gas powered vehicles. We averaged 28 mpg?s in a mix of city/country driving in my front wheel drive tester."

-- AutoSite.com

The Escape Hybrid's regenerative brakes provide solid stopping ability, but can be difficult to modulate due to the brake pedal's excessive stiffness at the top of its travel.

-- Edmunds.com

Ford Escape Hybrid Comparisons:

At the back of the vehicle, there's a bit less cargo room than a regular Escape has because the hybrid's electric battery pack, composed of 250 D-sized cells in a sealed unit, sits under the cargo floor. So, while a regular Escape offers 29.3 cubic feet of storage space behind the rear seats and maximum 66.3 cubic feet if the rear seats aren't used by passengers, the corresponding numbers in the hybrid are 27.6 and 65.5 cubic feet, respectively.

-- MSN Autos

Like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, the Escape Hybrid has fairly stiff suspension tuning that makes for a firm ride.

-- Cars.com

Best one-liner about the Ford Escape Hybrid:

And, no, you don't have to plug it in.

-- New Car Test Drive

Bottom line, you don't give up much in the way of practicality when you choose to wear the "Hybrid" badge.

-- Edmunds.com