6 - Price
The hybrid version of the Ford Escape is not offered as a single stand-apart trim, which gives the buyer some flexibility if they want to save a few dollars at the time of purchase in addition to saving later at the pump. The version we drove was the Titanium, which carries a starting price of $38,049, but came in at $43,049 with the optional features and with shipping and preparation fees included.
OK, Ford isn’t giving it away. But fuel consumption will make a big difference over the long term, which is not always the case with hybrid models. It's reasonable to expect owners will benefit from a difference of 2.0L100 km on a regular basis, on average. If you drive 500 km per week, that's 10 litres less used up, or between $10 and $15, depending on the price of fuel. Let's figure an average of $50 saved per month, or $600 saved per year. Or let’s be conservative and say you’ll save $500 per year in gas expenditures with the Escape hybrid. You can use this ballpark figure when calculating what each escape trim level offers in terms of price, equipment and consumption (BTW it’s 8.6L/km city, 7.1L/km highway for the regular Escape with 2.0L 4-cylinder engine). It's clear that if you keep the vehicle for more than 4 or 5 years, you'll come out a winner.
Conclusion
Ford has managed to avoid any big mistakes with its redesign of the Escape SUV. We remain cautious, however, as the model need to prove itself in terms of reliability before receiving our seal of approval. A lease should give you satisfaction and, more importantly, time to see if the model lives up to its promises.
Stay tuned for our full review of the 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, coming in the next few weeks.
