Thanks to Mike (sdctcher) and the others for their thoughtful comments.

Of course we're aware of the issues raised in talking about 100 MPG cars (and 500 MPG flex fuel cars) -- we try to include the footnote "plus cleaner, domestic electricity and other fuels" when possible. One good place for a summary of the main issues is the PRIUS+ Fact Sheet.

Here's the quick summary of our goals with Escape:

The non-profit California Cars Initiative is now beginning to explore the feasibility of converting the Ford Escape Hybrid into what is variously called "plug-in" or "gas-optional" hybrid (PHEV or GO-HEV.

That's what we did with PRIUS+, attracting national attention (see http://www.calcars.org/kudos.html). That even led to a private company (http://www.edrivesystems.com) building more advanced version and now planning to seel installed after-market conversions. For the technical details of what we did, the PRIUS+ Fact Sheet (current version is 1.8) has lots of information and pointers to many resources. For the latest developments, subscribe to our free news archive http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calcars-news .

Our fundamental goal is to persuade automakers (of course, including Ford) that there's a market for these vehicles, and that it can be to the company's benefit (as well as society's) to move first to 100+MPG (gasoline) plus electricity GO-HEVs and eventually to 500MPG vehicles -- fueled primarily by electricity for local travel and biofuels for extended range.

We hope to propose to Ford that they cooperate in our efforts and those of many others to offer vehicles first to the public and private fleet market (see http://www.calcars.org/calcars-opportunity.pdf). But we're not yet ready to make formal contacts with the company.

When we started our project on the Prius, we were able to benefit from many long-established online networks of people who had "deconstructed" the car. We then established our own "open-source"-style discussion group (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/priusplus/).

Because the FEH is so new, we're beginning by gathering basic information. We have had some contacts with people who have been involved with the development of the FEH, and Mike Maline, the moderator of the Escape Hybrid Yahoo group, has been very helpful.

We don't yet have our own test vehicle, so we plan to start by checking out privately owned FEHs. If you live in the SF Bay Area and you're in a position to help, please contact me or Ron Gremban, Technical Lead, rgremban@calcars.org. Thanks in advance!