Curiosity killed the cat, anyone know what that orange cap to the battery pack leads to or what the purpose is??

Look but don't touch seems to fall under this category.

"I replace your reality and substitute my own."

Isn't that the emergency battery disconnect?

Ford calls this the Service Disconnect in the manual (page 249 for the '08 FEH). I believe if you twist it, it will come out like a key and totally disables the battery pack until re-inserted and locked back into position.

Hopefully, the "Service Disconnect" will only be used during the regular service of your vehicle. FWIW, I ran across training for EMS workers a while back to help them identify precautions to take when an accident involves a hybrid. I believe the ease of access and the bright orange color is intended to aid EMS workers to disconnect the battery in case of an accident.

BTW, nice ride, I haven't seen any MTHs on the road yet.

The MTH was a limited production run based on the Ford Escape Hybrid platform and appears to only have been sold in CA and possibly the surrounding areas. I doubt we'll see many in the Palmetto state.

Total production is 300 units per year, all sold in California.