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2020 Ford Escape Hybrid Has Best-in-Class Fuel Efficiency, Rated at 41 MPG

The compact crossover segment is busier than ever before. Fighting for the same piece of the market has forced automakers to come up with more variants than ever, and Ford has shown its competitiveness with the Escape Hybrid.
2020 Ford Escape 20 photos
Photo: Ford
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All-new from the ground up for the 2020 model year, the Escape with the Atkinson 2.5-liter gasoline engine and electric motor is poised to return 41 miles per gallon out on the highway. EPA ratings may not mirror real-world efficiency, but nevertheless, Ford has finally surpassed the RAV4 Hybrid from Toyota.

The one-mile-per-gallon difference between the two nameplates puts the Ford at the top of the segment, but looking at the bigger picture, the Escape Hybrid will depreciate more than the RAV4 Hybrid. It’s also important to highlight that Toyota has a better reliability record in addition to superior after-sales services.

Comparing the Escape Hybrid with the bog-standard specification reveals how much of a difference electrification makes in the automotive industry. The 1.5-liter EcoBoost with FWD can’t do better than 30 miles to the gallon on the combined cycle, and output also favors the hybrid option (200 horsepower in total).

When running exclusively on the gasoline engine, the Escape Hybrid develops 152 pound-feet of torque. That’s more than enough for the compact crossover to hold its own in pretty much every driving scenario except for serious off-roading. Speaking of which, an off-road model based on the Escape will be introduced for the 2021 model year in the guise of the Baby Bronco, also known as Bronco Scout.

A plug-in hybrid version of the Escape will be introduced later on, sharing most of its underpinnings with the Kuga PHEV available in Europe. The highlight is a 14.4-kWh battery that enables the European model to cover up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) without plugging in, albeit only with FWD for the sake of efficiency.

Turning our attention back stateside, the 2020 Escape can be yours from $24,885 excluding destination charge. If you want to swap the 1.5-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder turbo for the Escape Hybrid, make that $28,255.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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