copyboy,

OK, a block heater won't do it for you then. I can't use it either, as I too park on the street.

It surprises me a bit that you don't get better mileage on a 7 mile commute. But it seems to be the worst possible combination. A relatively short commute and first downhill, then flat, then uphill.

I had about 6 miles to work for a while. I went by bicycle instead of using the car, when the weather allowed for it... :-)

Johan Erlandsson

See mileage data for my 00 Prius.
See my environmental performance (still in swedish only, feel free to ask).

hell my 7,800 lb Ford 6.0 PSD got 20 combined and I drove it normal.

If I drove slow I bet I could have upped that slightly.

I don't want to be obstinate, but if you are referring to the mileage numbers on the window sticker, those aren't created by Ford, but are created by the EPA through their strange and incorrect testing method. If you remove the concept of MPG and compare absolute values from your Escape to regular Escapes, you will see that over the life of your Escape, you will probably get much better mileage than a comparable regular Escape. That is the whole point of the EPA testing, not to give buyers a number they will get, but to give them numbers to compare other vehicles with. I'm inclined to believe that even though you may only bet getting 18mpg or so with the type of commute you have, I would seriously doubt that regular Escape drivers are doing the same. In fact they are probably doing much worse. On a cold morning they might be doing 12 mpg. So, you are still ahead of the pack.

It has been said:
Hybrid drivers come in 3 flavors, greenie, techie and cheapie. Pick any 2.
2005 Prius, Melinium Silver over gray, package 5 (AI)

I found this site a couple days ago, and it's more informative than any other I've seen re: the Escape Hybrid, so I was hoping someone might be able to help me out.

The lease on my current car is up in a few months, and I'm tired of seeing 14-15 mpg for my city driving, so I was planning to by the FEH and feel like I was doing something environmentally responsible. But I only put about 8000 miles/year on my car, and my daily commute is about 7 miles each way, mixture of flat and hills. Based on what I've read from some of you, my dreams of doing half of my driving under battery power and scoring mid-30s mpg are unrealistic. If I plan do do most of my highway driving (i.e. family trips) in a different car, how much more environmentally friendly is the FEH than a standard ICE car?

Also, I'm 6'3" and found the driver's seat a little tight during a brief test drive of a V6 Escape -- will I be miserable long term?

Finallly, are there any changes in the 2006 FEH that would make it worth waiting for? The lease terms for the FEH are horrible, so if I get it I'm buying it -- I'd rather wait a bit if there's any technological advantage to it.

Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

You might manage that kind of mileage in a Prius, and certainly could in an Insight. Frankly 6-7 miles each trip is not enough to warm any car up fully...so no matter what you drive you should expect less than optimal economy. As to whether the Escape Hybrid is significantly more environmentally friendly than a conventional car, it really depends what car you are comparing it to. There are a number of conventional cars that are nearly as clean under the right conditions, but there are a whole lot more that are far dirtier.

A pure electric vehicle would probably be ideal for your commute, especially if you're using a different vehicle for your longer distance drives.

Don't think of it as only getting the fuel economy of an ordinary car based on your driving pattern -- because that's wrong. For as poorly as you think your HEV is doing, an ordinary SUV (or an ordinary car) would be doing just that much worse still.

My *other* car is an Audi A6 4.2. It's rated mileage is in the low 20s in the city and mid 20s on the highway. But... when it's cold outside and the car hasn't warmed up, fuel economy is in the LOW TEENS and my instant fuel-economy reads SINGLE DIGIT VALUES when I accelerate (I am NOT a lead-foot -- that's gentle accelration of a very cold engine).

I'm guessing that if your FEH is giving you 18, a comparable non hybrid would be giving you about 12 mpg.

The economy of the FEH is NOT just based on the battery system. The engine fires on the atkinson cycle. It produces a little less HP, but it also consumes a lot less gas to do it. Overall it provides much better economy than a traditional engine. Even when you're on gasoline, you're still burning less fuel than a traditional car.

You can read more about here:

http://www.answers.com/topic/atkinson-cycle

Or just type "atkinson cycle" into Google.

Nope. My other car is a BMW M3 that I drive like a bat out of hell - fast starts, lots of accelleration and decelleration. And I still get 18 mpg with that over the same route I drive my FEH. My FEH is only doing about 4 mpg better overall.

We even just took our FEH on a 500 mile roundtrip down flat-as-a-pancake I-5 and only got 25 mpg.

How much curb weight on the M3? A fair amount less than the FEH, I'm willing to bet.

Some things to consider:

1. Mileage does seem to improve with "break in" period. This may be as much the driver adjusting to the vehicle as vice-versa.

2. If you're frequently going back and forth between the BMW and the FEH you may not be "unlearning" your habits from driving the Bimmer that could be costing you efficiency in the FEH. Driving a hybrid for maximum efficiency is quite a bit different from driving a sports car...

3. How fast were you driving on I-5 when you got 25 MPG? I'd be willing to bet over 70 miles per hour. Speed really does kill MPG.

Hmmm... I get that sort of economy when I drive 70 on the freeway *and* there's a kayak strapped to the roof rack (that tends to to screw up the aerodynamics a bit). I've also noticed poor economy when bucking a headwind (e.g. 20+ miles per hour winds while trying to drive close to 70 on the freeway). Exceptional driving conditioins aside, my freeway mileage is MUCH better. I occasionally get 33mpg (I got that on a trip from Detroit to Kalamzoo and back -- just about 300 miles for the round trip).

I'm wondering if you can think of other reasons for your fuel economy.

In the marine world, every additional 300 rpms of engine speed will DOUBLE the rate of fuel consumption, but only push the boat marginally faster. Driving at high speed will kill fuel economy.

I'm seriously thinking you are either a leadfoot or something is wrong with your FEH. I have a 4wd FEH with just over 1000mi on it so far. The first trip home from the dealer, 70-75 miles per hour with cruise, got me 26.7 mpg. This was moderately hilly terrain in Western VA (appalachians). I have averaged 26-28mpg. This includes several mornings where I drove 2-3 miles to a commuter train station to get to work. Temps were in the 30s-40s.

Really, if you are getting <20mpg something is wrong. I will agree 30mpg is hard to achieve without driving with an egg under the accelerator and you're driving 20+ miles of city type driving. But I can't imagine why you are getting such poor fuel economy.

I think I will be able to avg around 30mpg once the weather warms up and the car breaks in.

Does anybody else smell lemon?

Nate Green