Ford Escape Hybrid: First Gas-Electric-Powered SUV and Ford
Replacement Parts for Its Exceptional Pe
The Ford Escape Hybrid is a fuel-saving, gas-electric
hybrid-power version of small, four-door sport-utility vehicle,
available with front-wheel drive (FWD) or four-wheel drive
(4x4). Its power train has 2.3-liter, four-cylinder gas engine
rated 133 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, 129 pounds-feet of torque at
4,500 rpm; synchronous AC electric motor rated 94 hp from 3,000
to 5,000 rpm; 330-volt battery pack under rear cargo floor;
electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission.
Maximum power output is 155 hp because gas and electric do not
make their maximum power simultaneously.
It has a 2.3-liter, Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine
with a 70-kilowatt permanent-magnet traction electric motor,
regenerative braking and a 330-volt battery pack. The
combination provides performance on par with a V-6. The hybrid
never has to be plugged in because the engine recharges the
batteries, by the electric motor and by heat recovered as energy
during braking.
"The Escape hybrid really "wants" to be an electric vehicle, but
the gasoline engine adds power for acceleration, charges the
batteries and powers the air conditioning," said Mary Ann
Wright, Ford's director of Sustainable Mobility Programs
Unlike electric cars, hybrids never need to be plugged into a
recharger. Regenerative braking recharges the Ford Escape
Hybrid, which converts electric motor into a generator to help
refill the battery pack during stops; and by a recharging system
powered by the gas engine.
Designed to last for the life of the vehicle and can be found
under the Escape's cargo floor, the battery pack, which contains
250 small batteries roughly the size of D cells mounted in
series doesn't infringe on cargo space.
The software and computerized controllers that make everything
work effectively is the key to a hybrid. Small badges identify
the Ford Escape as a hybrid. The instrument panel is a little
different because it contains a gauge that shows when the
electric motor is the source of power and when the gasoline
engine is running. An optional LCD display in the center stack
gives instant and average fuel economy as well as a pictorial
representation of how the power is flowing at any instant.
The Escape's hybrid engine shuts down at rest to conserve fuel.
When driving resumes, the SUV's 70-kilowatt traction motor
generator can launch the vehicle on electric power. When it's
needed, the generator starts the gas engine without the
increased emissions produced when a conventional engine is
started The Escape Hybrid also produces as little as half the
amount of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) as a conventional gas
engine. It produces 97 percent less hydrocarbon and oxides of
nitrogen emissions than vehicles meeting today