I have been thinking about the Escape. Have people been able to put high mileage on them, say over 100,000 without major rebuilds? Thanks.

 

New York Taxis are going over 300,000 miles without any major problems including the HV battery.

GaryG

 

I believe you. But for the sake of others I work with, do you have a reliable source for that?

 

A quick Goggle search: http://www.hybridcars.com/fleets/tax...ity-25167.html
"Paul Gillespie, San Francisco Taxicab Commission president, said some of his city’s Ford Escape hybrid taxis had passed 300,000 miles of use with no problems."

 

I'm at 109K miles and going strong. No major issues.

 

2006 FEH, purchased Dec 05, 41,000 miles, no problems so far.

The fundamental design of the components is quite simple and well understood. The Transaxle is a planetary gear set, various kinds of these have been in production for vehicles for a century. So long as the traction motor & generator electrical portions hold up I would expect it will have a long life.

Regarding the battery: so long as it gets cycled I would expect it to last also. With a different kind of chemistry submarine batteries (admittedly Pb Acid type) always last longer if they are cycled. So drive your FEH and use that battery, it keeps the chemistry fresh!

I like what I see in mine and the design & engineering appears well done. I am planning on keeping it for a long time. (92 Suburban:373,000 & 01 Mustang Cobra 251,000)

 

Bought 7/06, ready to click 80K. Luv it!

 

Wow, thats like 30K/year. It makes my 1K/Month look really low and I feel like I drive a lot

 

I have an 08 Job 1 Escape and just cross 55K mark. No problems other than standard maintenance and some nice baths. I did not get the Sirius radio and tried to have dealer install after the fact, but have had no luck with getting a module to work. They sub-crontracted and the dealer gave up. But subcontractor says they can produce in 3-4 weeks with an aftermarket company producing one to integrate with the Nav system.

 

And if you have ANY doubts as to how comforting it is to know this, you really *should* go visit New York and take a ride in a Taxi. If you've never ridden in a NYC taxi, it's a bit of a thrill-ride.

We have determined that these taxi's don't actually have 'accelerator pedals'.. they have 'on/off switches' on the floor located where the pedal would normally be located. At least that's how their drivers use them. ;-) NY Taxi Cab drivers either totally mash the pedal to the floor or they slam on the brakes. They drive these cars completely contrary to everything you'll ever read about one *should* drive hybrid to optimize fuel economy.

These cars are really abused. The fact that they log that many miles without any substantial failures says a LOT about them.

I was in NYC last week and asked my Taxi driver how he liked his FEH. He really raved about it. He said it was a great car, he loved it, said it was very dependable, etc. (all the way mashing the pedal to the floor, tail-gating, making turns from the wrong lane, slamming on the brakes, etc.) I realized afterward that I forgot to ask him about his fuel economy. I was _really_ interested to know that since their driving habits are awful.