Inside, the Hybrid looks and feels much like other Escape models. With its low step-in height, getting into the Escape requires neither a running start nor a trampoline. Once inside, drivers find the white-faced gauges a quick read. Controls are within easy reach and storage room is generous. Deep door pockets, a glove box, a big, covered storage bin and a smattering of cup holders and cubbyholes take care of your carry-ons. My test truck had the optional Audiophile & Navigation system ($1,850). The color display screen is only the size of a baseball card, but it will show either GPS-based navigation information, or a real-time energy flow diagram and fuel economy data. Escape will seat five, and the cargo area behind will hold 28-65.5 cubic feet of cargo, depending on how many seats you elect to fold. That’s enough room to hold a large mountain bike, without removing any wheels. Access to the back is by means of a swing up hatch door, with a window that opens independently. It’s been said that a compromise is a solution to a problem that pleases no one, but Escape Hybrid challenges this notion. It combines a right-size, highly utility vehicle with a level of fuel efficiency that most SUV drivers only dream of. Based on early returns, it looks like people are doing more buying than dreaming. Through the end of the 2004 calendar year, Ford expects to build some 17,000 Escape Hybrids – four times the number that they had originally predicted.
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