I know this is an older thread, but we know a lot more about these vehicles with time (some of us have known their capabilities for some time already). The 1/2 ton (1,000lbs) towing capacity is primarily due to the limited torque of the electric motor in reverse. As others have stated, the electric motor is the sole source of reverse propulsion in this vehicle. The towing capacity needs to be rated as the "weakest link", and in this case, the electric motors are only able to motive a 1,000lb capacity in reverse up a 5% gradient. Pulling forward, however, will yield a true (forward) towing capacity similar to (if not greater than*) the gasoline-powered Escape. However, when pulling a load, I would suggest keeping the ICE on by calling for minimal A/C or otherwise "manipulating" that program (void your warranty at your own risk), primarily for the additional contribution in low-end torque. With a steady throttle, the ICE will contribute as soon as it sees the wheels begin to spin. There is no need to "artificially" engage the ICE above about 37MPH. The motor electronics cooling system (MECS) pump will cool the electric motor and the vehicle will not allow you to proceed at a "dangerous" motor temperature. The eCVT temperature is "comfortable" below 195F, and I would also encourage monitoring of this parameter when towing. Your fuel economy will take a significant hit, but installing and towing with even a Class III hitch on this vehicle is very doable with the correct mindset and overall care of your vehicle (and as long as you plan not to have to back your pop-up camper up a hill, because then Bill Ford, Jr. will just laugh).

*I do not work for Ford Motor Company and cannot suggest or endorse the use Ford vehicles in a manner contradictory with their owners manual and warranty stipulations.

Pete Szerszen
Ann Arbor, MI

 

Anyone who drives the FEH down long grades and understands what's going on can appreciate the conservative tow rating.

Even with no trailer, a 3000' vertical descent in, say 7 miles, will exceed the capacity of the regenerative braking system before you're a third of the way down the hill. I'd guess an 800' descent at 8 degree slope at 55mph will fill it up.

When the hybrid battery is full, all braking is done with the mechanical brakes. To delay or reduce the use of the mechanical brakes, and so reduce the wear on them, you can shift into Low early in the descent so the higher engine revs help reduce speed. But compared to regular cars, this engine braking is very weak on the FEH. So on big descents you still end up using the brakes -- even with no trailer or more than one person in the FEH. This happens to me regularly.

Part of safe trailering is to know to use engine braking on long steep descents. Whether you have a manual or automatic transmission. Just like big trucks. Anyone who doesn't know this should never tow down big descents. We've all come across those who rely entirely on their brakes to keep their speed down on such hills. Their brakes end up smoking hot.

The FEH's engine braking being as weak as it is, speed control on long descents can end up dependent on the brakes. If you then suffer a brake failure, you better hope the road has runaway lanes. I believe this is the main reason for the 1000lb towing rating. Yes, the limited electric power to back up is also a factor, but it's not a safety concern like the braking issue.

If you have a brake failure under these circumstances, and you have an '09 or later, applying the reasonably robust rear drum brakes might be enough to avoid disaster. But the small drum brakes used as parking brakes on the disc-equipped pre '09's will be useless as emergency brakes. They'll overheat immediately.

If you find yourself in a situation where the brakes are overmatched, and you realize what's going on early enough, you can get down safely by descending very slowly. This gives the brakes time to dissipate the large amount of heat generated, and again is exactly what big trucks sometimes do.

I almost regularly descend steep rough logging roads in the mountains, with others driving suv's that have low ranges. While they use the low ranges and engine braking to keep speed in check, I'm soon dependent on the FEH's mechanical brakes. As long as I come down no faster than they do in low gear, the brakes have time to get rid of the heat and don't get hot.

The 1000 lb rating is an arbitrary number, sort of a compromise between safety and what people can be expected to be doing with the FEH. As I said above, you can overheat the FEH's brakes even with no trailer and no load. This is true of any car, but the FEH is especially vulnerable to it.

 

XPIRIT beat me to it, but didn't quite sum it up. I believe the rating is primarily because of the brakes. If you add brakes to the tow, I recall some folks towing up to 2.5K successfully. The problem is that you cannot stop the FEH from using the regenerative braking - there is no option for this - and it was not designed for that kind of stress.

As for the "pulling" part, the FEH has a pretty small engine for towing, and the electric assist will not be that useful when towing. So I think the 1K is a pretty good estimate by Ford.

 

I tow my Honda Pioneer SxS that weighs 1400lbs on my 14ft Aluminum trailer that weighs 900 empty and the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid has no problem. Around town it accelerates faster than the ram 1500 that we have but after about 20 seconds it's eases up and you rely on ICE. The tow rating is due to electric reverse only and has nothing to do with brakes or frame. On the high way it runs around 5k rpms goin 70mph pulling that 2300lb rig. All in all a great vehicle and you can't get scared away from the cvt. These SUVs go for a long ways and I have 160k on mine, started towing at 105k miles every know in then

 

Wondering if the 1000# tow rating is for both FWD and AWD

 

That has nothing to do with that, it's about the pulling power of the engine, etc. and I assume braking also.

 

Not to bring back an old thread but i dont think i ever gave feed back on my towing eperience.
2008 FEH AWD Towed a 6x12 total weight was alitleshy of 9k lbs, for trailer and truck combined.
I had a scan gage. An wold stop whenever the trans reached 200 degrees. Going uphill through the cali, i was flooring it and only went about 20-25mph. Going down hill was scary becase thr trailer weight more than the truck. I did try to even the weight more towrds the hitch. I got the stop safely now thing the middle of traffic in arizona or new mexico i dont remeber, and it woulndt go padt like 5mph, thanfully i managed to exit. Went to eat and when i came back it startef right up. With no warnings. I made it safe. now i bougjt an rv whih weigjs 4700 lbs but i dint want to tow it with my feh.

About the reverse it did do it with the trailer fully loaded.
I installed the hitch which was one of the high ratings and torqued the bolts.

The trip was 1800 miles my 🐟 died because it hot in the back seat, and we didnt dide. I beleive i drove 55 mph. Because thats what the uhaul said on its sticker. Ive also towed cars, an i even help a truck get unstuck in the sand at the beach while it was pulling a flatbed trailer with stuff. They all laughed when i hooked up the chains. But i had the last laugj when i got em free.

From my point of view i would say tow at your own discrwtion drive safely and maybe keep it short distance if its too heavy.my feh has 275000 miles on it and its still our go to car for trips and daily use. I have carried soooo many thins on it. I orded some inner tirods and control arms and replaced all 4 shock so i the driving experience ia still smooth. I would like to get colder Ac though for the long trips

 

I tow all the time with my 05 and yes going up hills it really doesn't like it if you push it . No the tyranny on normal driving condition it's fine I've even gone to 3000 pounds no problem bit yes reverse is the issue PERIOD those little electric motors will not give you enough power to push anything up a hill that 3000 pound trailer would not go backward up a hill and I didn't push it I was just curious. My main use is pulling jet skis and backing down a ramp or hill is fine even with a 1500 pound two ski load. It has nothing to do with the breaks or the pulling everything to do with reverse. And yes when going up a hill the engine does hit the red line if you are trying to push it but even without a load the engine hits the red line pushing it going up a hill. I just back down on speed and it doesn't mind pulling a load up the grape vine.

 

The way it is set up going down hill still has regen further down the hill. What happens is that energy is burned off by spinning the engine to 4k rpms. If a person really didn't like that they could tow with trailer brakes which I highly recommend for any towing duty with such a small truck. Make sure you have trailer brakes that have the slider and then just use the slider when it gets going too fast. I would recommend brakes on each axle of the trailer.

 

I will add my 2 cents. I wouldn't recommend towing if you're going up and down some steep grades. A couple years ago we did a road trip through OH and PA. We were not towing but had a full car of people and gear. We were on a highway going up a steep grade. We were flooring it just to maintain speed of 55MPH. I can't imagine the performance if we had a 1000 lbs in tow. This was in a 2009 FEH which had a slight HP bump from earlier models.