By combining a gasoline engine and an electric motor with batteries that are being recharged constantly a hybrid truck offers the most efficient fuel economy of any car on the market today. The main drawback was that most hybrid cars were small and didn’t have a lot of cargo space or horsepower. Recently all this changed with the introduction of the Ford Escape Hybrid. It gets up to 36 miles per gallon. While this may not be as much as some hybrids it certainly can save people a lot of money on gas.

A hybrid truck is something that has the two strengths combined in the form of a gasoline-fueled combustion engine and electric motors. This helps to also do away with the common problems found in trucks that are only one or the other. When it comes to gasoline trucks there is noise, expensive fuel and polluting emissions. Although with a completely battery-powered electric truck there was the problem of short battery life and the issue of plugging it in to recharge it. On a hybrid truck these two parts work together whether it is at the same time or separately. For instance whenever you step on the brakes some of the energy is stored in the batteries. Although if the batteries get too low you can simply run on gas until the batteries are recharged by the combustion engine.

The New Ford Escape or Not?

When Ford first began to enter the hybrid truck industry they didn’t design an all-new truck. Rather it stayed with the proven four-cylinder Ford Escape model and just spent about five years designing the power train to put into it. The Ford Escape already got good mileage without an electric motor since it’s small size allowed it to get about 25 mpg on the highway. So when it comes to looks not much has changed on the Ford Escape hybrid while underneath the hood there were major changes to the Ford Escape.

When driving the Ford Escape hybrid you don’t notice much difference from the driving of a non-hybrid Escape. In fact that is what Ford was trying for when building the new hybrid truck, they wanted to make sure people wouldn’t even realize they were driving a hybrid truck unless someone told them. Despite this there are a few noticeable differences when it comes to driving the Ford Escape hybrid. When the gasoline engine kicks in you may feel a slight shudder. The new regenerative braking system feels slightly different than a normal disc brake system.

Although for these two small shortfalls the Ford Escape hybrid features many benefits that make it one of the better hybrids on the market today. The transmission in a hybrid truck is better then regular trucks. Not only is there better fuel efficiency with a hybrid truck, but there is also a smoother ride thanks to the electronically controlled continuously variable transmission. When you are up shifting or down shifting there is no sudden jolt in the hybrid truck.

For Ford’s first attempt at a hybrid truck they have completed an excellent piece of engineering. The fuel costs are lower and the Ford Escape hybrid is better for the environment than any other truck on the market today. While it may not be as environmentally friendly as other hybrids such as the Toyota Prius it is still an excellent invention since it provides a hybrid that the average family can use with more seating and cargo space than other hybrids. So in the long run it may help the environment more since it allows more individuals to purchase a hybrid truck. The Ford Escape hybrid sells for about $27,000 and went on sale in the United States in the late summer of 2004.