A Smooth Ride

An environmentally friendly sport-utility vehicle? It's a tree hugger's dream, right up there with a fat-free cheeseburger and a healthy cigarette. So when Ford offered me an early test drive in its 2005 Escape Hybrid SUV, I was, suffice it to say, a tad skeptical.

On its surface, the vehicle looks just like the familiar Escape, with the slight addition of a few cute road-and-leaf badges on the doors and a pair of subtle vents (to aid the battery's thermal-management system) on the back windows. And there aren't many changes inside — two new gauges on the dash and a fun little display that shows when power transfers between the electric motor and the gasoline engine. A novel feature: a 110-volt socket up front — thanks to the supercharged nickel-metal-hydride battery pack tucked under the cargo area — into which, Ford rep Corey Holter says, I can plug "a laptop, a cell phone or a blender"--a cool feature for those margarita tailgate parties.

Holter tosses me the keys, and we cruise Los Angeles' west side. Hmm. Nice pickup. Lots of room. A smooth ride — no wimpy golf-cart feel as in some smaller hybrids. At slow speeds, the quiet gas engine disengages and a virtually silent electric motor takes over. Unless I were blindfolded — not a great idea while driving any car — I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the Escape Hybrid and the gas-only model. But there's one important difference: this green machine averages 35 m.p.g. off the highway--15 m.p.g. more than the regular Escape — proving that dreams sometimes can come true.