SUVs just aren't as popular as they used to be. Last June, when Ford donated a 2007 Ford Escape hybrid to the Santa Monica Bay protection group Heal The Bay, the SUV sold for $37,000. A year later, the same company gives the same vehicle (well, a 2008 model) to the same group, but this time the auction price is only $33,000. Ford's announcement of this year's auction (available after the jump) says that sales of Ford hybrid SUVs at this annual event have brought in $195,000 since 2004. Five vehicles divided into $195,000 gives an average of $39,000, so the trend is downward.

Heal The Bay has been working since 1985 to "making Santa Monica Bay and Southern California costal waters safe and healthy again for people and marine life." Aside from the annual hybrid SUV donation, Ford also sponsor's HTB's "Beach Report Card," which grades California beaches from Humboldt County to the Mexican border.

Click the 2009 Escape Hybrid for a high res gallery

While we were a bit surprised to see David Cook beat out David Archulata on last night's finale of American Idol, it was the contestants themselves who looked taken aback when they were handed the keys to brand new Ford Escape Hybrids in matching light green. Not that they should have been surprised by the gift, as Ford has done similar giveaways since it started promoting so heavily on American Idol a few years back and announced the prize earlier this year. The matching hybrids were awaiting the pair of Davids on a green carpet outside the arena.

When we were granted the opportunity to test out the next-generation Escape Hybrid, due for the '09 model year, we found it improved in pretty much every meaningful way. Still, having had the current-generation Escape hybrid, like the ones handed to the Davids, in our garage a little while back and finding it to be a pretty nice machine, we know that the two AI finalists will enjoy their new rides.


[Source: American Idol]

At the New York Auto Show last week we had our first opportunity to actually go for a drive in one of Ford's new plug-in hybrid Escapes. Last year Ford announced a partnership with Southern California Edison to build and test twenty plug-in hybrid Escapes. SCE will be using the crossovers in their fleet to evaluate performance, durability and mileage. They will also be testing out vehicle-to-grid technology using the Escapes. For our drive, Chief Engineer Greg Frenette accompanied us on a half hour drive around Manhattan, mostly in stop and go traffic. We also had an opportunity to open it up a bit on the West Side Highway.

The Escape that Ford brought out to Manhattan was the first of the twenty prototypes being built for the program over the next year and a half. According to Frenette as they build the vehicles they will be changing as the company learns from the previous iterations. The current model is based on the 2008 Escape Hybrid with the 2.3L four cylinder. Future vehicles that will be built starting this summer will use the upgrades planned for the 2009 models including the new 2.5L engine. The primary mechanical changes for this unit involves swapping out the standard 2kWh nickel metal hydride battery pack in favor of a 10kWh lithium ion pack along with a charger and a plug mounted in the left front fender. Aside from that, most of the changes are in software with different calibrations to optimize the use of the lithium battery. Continue reading about the plug-in Escape after the jump.


[Source: Ford]

Click image for photo gallery

Did you know that going from a vehicle that's rated at 34/30 mpg to one that gets 21/22 mpg is helping to "fight global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions?" That's what Senator John Kerry's (D-MA) deputy chief of staff, David Wade, would have people believe. Since when is going to a vehicle with 34 percent worse mileage than the one you just had good for the environment? Apparently, Sen. Kerry has decided to get rid of his 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid in favor of the Green Car of the Year, the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. Not to take anything away from the Tahoe, because the 2-Mode hybrid system is a technological marvel and provides shockingly good fuel economy for a vehicle of this size and capability, but this isn't a green switch.

Just in time to better compete with the upcoming Saturn Vue Two-Mode hybrid, Ford is rolling out a series of updates to the Escape and Mariner (and likely the badge engineered Mazda Tribute) hybrids. The big news is an updated 2.5L four cylinder engine that supplants the existing 2.3L unit. The revised engine includes variable cam timing on the intake camshaft, the first such application on the Ford hybrids. The updated engine still runs on an Atkinson cycle and the updates improve performance without degrading the fuel economy. When we tested the 2008 Escape hybrid last year it achieved a real world 30mpg, so that should be maintained.

One of the complaints with the existing Escape hybrid is the brake system. Many drivers don't like the pedal feel and, unlike the conventional models, the hybrids haven't had traction or stability control. That changes for 2009. Ford claims a new brake system improves the blending of friction and regenerative braking. It also adds traction, stability and roll stability control to the package for the hybrids.

The conventional Escape and Mariner also get powertrain upgrades. The 2.5L four cylinder also replaces the 2.3L in the base version and gets the variable valve timing on the intake camshaft. The four gets an increase power from 153hp to 170hp. The up-level 3.0L V-6 gets new pistons, cylinder heads and injection system for a 30hp increase to 230hp. All the Escapes and Mariners also get some minor aerodynamic tweaks as well. Both engines are paired up with a new 6-speed automatic transmission, which, when combined with the engine changes, gives a 1mpg increase to each model while improving acceleration and towing capability. The Ford press release is after the jump.

[Source: Ford]

Back at EVS23, Ford handed over the keys for a plug-in hybrid Escape to Southern California Edison. I've finally had time to edit together the video I shot that day, so watch it already. :)

In the first part of this video (above) we see the PHEV Escape arrive at the Anaheim Convention Center and the official handoff of the keys from Ford to SCE. As you can see, Nancy Gioia, Ford's director of sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs, doesn't answer a lot of questions about the vehicle's battery, but does say that the PHEV uses a 10 kWh battery. Ford's Susan Cischke, senior vice president, sustainability, environment and safety engineering, sat down with AutoblogGreen after the hand-over to talk about the car and the unique (as far as I know) input screen in the vehicle that lets the driver adjust the gasoline and electricity costs so that the cost per trip is accurately displayed during the drive. Very sweet.

Part two of this video will be posted is now available after the break once I finish editing it.

Tonight Show host Jay Leno has gotten attention lately for his cooperation with GM on the turbine powered EcoJet concept last year and more recently an E85-powered Corvette. Leno has always had an interest in alternative power-trains and this week he got to sample one of the first plug-in hybrid Ford Escapes. The PHEV Escape was announced earlier this year as part of a test program with Southern California Edison. After an introduction to the vehicle, Ford engineers left the car with Leno for an overnight test. Hopefully Ford will drop one by the ABG garage soon.

[Source: Ford]

This past week Ford has been running ads touting the fact that their Escape Hybrids have been particularly popular among pandering presidential candidates in this extended campaign season. A big part of the allure of the Escape is surely due to the fact that it has been the only American branded full hybrid vehicle available. Odds are however, that the likes of Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama would much rather be chauffeured around in something with more stretch out room. Now that the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon Hybrids are about to be released, how long will it be until most of those candidates make the switch?

Knowing a good opportunity when it smells one, Ford has launched a new advertising campaign for the Ford Escape hybrid. The print ad highlights the fact that many of the current crop of presidential candidates are tooling around America in Escape hybrids (when they're not flying, of course), and so Ford is calling the SUV "The Candidate's Choice." The ad is limited to Capital Hill publications (CongressDaily AM, CQ Today, Roll Call, The Hill and Politico), but you can see it by clicking the "campaign button" above.

None of the slight environmental benefits that driving an Escape hybird vs. a standard Escape or even a freakin sedan are enough, though, to make us forget that SUVs have screwed up what it means to drive a hybrid. Still, I like the recycled plastic waste woven into the interior fibers. As for the politicians inside? My question is: why would Ford want to be associated with some of these characters? There's a good reason the ad or the press release posted below doesn't name any candidates by name, I'm sure.

Related:

• Clintons to drive electric SUV
• Barack Obama swaps his hemi for a hybrid
• Will Fred Thompson drive around America in a pickup truck for his campaign?

[Source: Ford]