Escape Plug-In Hybrid, The Best of Both Worlds

I have a confession to make, "I think Plug-In Hybrids are the current best solution for reducing the use of fossil fuels".  To find out why I thonk they are the best solution, we have to start with what they are and where they fit into the current options available to new vehicle customers.

Consumers can currently choose to purchase a traditional fuel powered vehicle.  These are considered ICE vehicles.  We will lump diesel and gasoline vehicles togather for this article.  At the other end of the spectrum, we have full Electric Vehicles that completely rely on enegy stored in their battery.  The middle groung is made up of Hybrid vehicles.  These are vehicles that have both an electric motor powered by energy stored in a battery and by an internal combustion engine.  The Hybrid class can be further subdivided into two categoies.  A regular Hybrid, HEV, which relies on energy recovered from braking and from the ICE, engine to charge the battery and a Plug-In Hybrid, PHEV, which can also be charged by plugging into an extranal energy source.

Each option has advantages and disadvantages.  In the case of traditional ICE vehicles the biggest advantages are the lowest cost, the best range and quick refueling times at a vast number of service stations. The downside is they use the most fuel and emit the highest amount of pollutants into the air while driving.  I do realize that the energy stores in an EV's battery came from somewhere and in some cases it is from petroleum products.  In those cases we are just relocating where the emissions are.

A full EV has the advantage of producing no emissions while driving and tend to be the least expensive to operate.  EV's also tend to be quite and are often quick.  Unfortunately, there are downsides to EV's.  The two biggest, in my opinion, are the high cost of initial purchase and limited range.  Going hand in hand with limited range is limited charging options that are always going to take longer than filling up your fuel tank.  The other issue with an EV's range is the significant drop in range experienced in cold weather.  The loss can be as much as 50%. 

A regular Hybrid, HEV, attempts to give you the best of both worlds.  It returns better fuel economy than an ICE vehicle, does not suffer from range issues and is less expensive to purchase than an EV.  The downside is related to electric range.  An Escape Hybrid has a 1.1 KW hour battery.  This will only allow a few KM's of pure electric driving.

An Escape PHEV has a 14.4 KW hour battery and has a fully electric range of up to 60 KM's.  This large battery gives the Escape PHEV much better urban fuel economy than either an ICE vehicle or an HEV.  There are customers who report going weeks without ever having the gas engine start in their PHEV.  This translated into economy of less than 1 L per 100 KM.  So you get incredible economy with a PHEV without the range anxiety of a full EV.  A PHEV is more costly than an HEV but the 2022 Escape Plug-In qualifies for a $5,000 Federal rebate.  

Taking advantage of the Federal rebate means you get the advantage of amazing economy and low emissions while still driving a vehicle with an affordable price.  If you are in the market for a compact SUV and you want to save money on fuel while doing your part to cut down on global pollution, the Escpae PHEV is an excellent choice.  Contact Aspen Ford to shedule your test drive today.