It may well be that the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid is the perfectly-designed SUV for real world uses - at least until the seven-passenger Toyota Highlander Hybrid makes its way to our roads. But even as a five-man utility vehicle, the Escape Hybrid is a thoroughly capable SUV with a powertrain built for today's boulders: commuting, errands and other types of stop-and-go driving. Price, sadly, is another matter. At a realistic price of around $30,000, the Escape Hybrid may very well end up picking a fight with some bigger, and very different SUVs - think Pathfinder, Pilot, Pacifica and Durango. Boy, that hybrid powertrain better be worth the coin.

It is, if you're committed to more than saving a little at the pump. With the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, you can forget aggressive off-roading, or towing something more than a rowboat thanks to a meager 1,000-lb. tow rating. And forget gunning it at the line. This is not that kind of SUV.

What the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid does, however, is give American car buyers a valid choice on the market. Finally, here is an SUV that saves gasoline, makes driving a more quiet, pleasurable experience and reduces emissions down to nearly zero. For the vast majority of Americans out there, those are benefits hard to pass up, and a choice they may very well be willing to make - finally - even if the sticker is a little higher than they'd like.