Photo: IFCAR
Even when it takes an absolute thrashing, the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV is built to endure. Take, for example, a just-retired 2012 model that piled up more than 400,000 miles as a New York City taxi.
The 400,215 miles racked up by this second-generation Escape Hybrid aren’t just any miles — they’re city taxi miles. Think day after day, month after month, year after year of incessant stop-and-go driving in heavy traffic.
The interior of the vehicle shows every bit of that mileage. One seat’s upholstery is split down the middle and another is held together by duct tape. On the front console, the buttons and knobs are heavily worn.
A beat-up cabin is to be expected after hauling thousands of passengers the equivalent of 16 trips around the globe. You might also expect the engine to be worse for the wear, but that’s not the case. The vehicle’s hybrid gas-electric powertrain is still going strong, with the battery and all its other components in excellent shape.
The 2020 Ford Escape: Coming soon to a dealership near you
In fact, the powertrain is in such good condition that Ford brought the not-so-gently-used SUV back to Detroit in order to tout its longevity.
“For skeptics who think that the hybrid technology is something that is new and are cautious of it, it is the fact that we have this vehicle here that shows we have been doing this for a long time,” Ford executive Gitanjil McRoy told Fox 2 Detroit.
The timing is right for Ford to advertise the reliability of its hybrid models. The original Escape Hybrid was discontinued in 2012, but the automaker is bringing back the option for 2020. This fall, taxi companies and regular drivers alike can get 198 horsepower in performance, available AWD, improved fuel economy with the completely redesigned 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid.
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News Sources: Fox 2 Detroit, Ford Authority
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