2023 Ford Escape Interior and Cargo

The choice of interior colors for the Ford Escape Base trim is restricted to a single one: Ebony Black cloth. The Active features a higher grade of cloth available in both Ebony Black or Space Gray; when the latter color is specified, the gray color is applied to the seat faces, center console, upper door cards, and lower dashboard. The ST-Line, ST-Line Select, and ST-Line Elite are all Ebony Black inside and get sportier front seats with heavier bolstering in a vinyl/cloth combination with red stitching, while the Platinum's seats are covered in perforated ActiveX leatherette in a choice of Ebony Black or the same Space Gray two-tone color scheme as the Active.

The decent cabin space does not come at the expense of utility, and the cargo space of the Ford Escape is fully class-competitive, with a maximum of 37.5 cubic feet available behind the second row (34.4 in the hybrids) with the sliding second row in its foremost position and 65.4 cubes of trunk volume behind the first row (60.8 cu-ft in the hybrids). It would have been even better if the rear seats folded totally flat, but they don't.

Interior oddments space is generous thanks to spacious door pockets front and rear with bottle holders, a glove compartment, and a large lidded storage cubby in the center console. There are two cupholders in the center console - complete with tabs in them to prevent beverage containers from tipping over - and six cupholders in total strewn about the interior across both rows on the base car (eight cupholders from the Active and up). Ahead of the center console is a place to store your cellphone and overhead is a sunglasses holder. The Active and up get a front passenger seatback pocket.

The Ford Escape is more generously equipped for the new model year, and some of the standard features found from the base model include cloth upholstery, single-zone climate control, selectable drive modes, a compass, an eight-inch digital gauge cluster, USB ports, and a sliding second row that splits in a 60/40 ratio. More standard driver assists are fitted this year, and all trims get the Ford Co-Pilot360 driver-assistance suite with forward-collision warning, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and blind-spot monitoring. The higher you go up the trim levels, the more you get, including alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, push-button start, a wireless charging pad, power seats, heated front seats, leatherette upholstery, parking sensors, and adaptive cruise control. Options on all trims include items such as a head-up display and a panoramic vista roof.

The infotainment system has been totally overhauled for the new model year and benefits from a new electrical architecture and next-generation Ford Sync 4 infotainment software that is cloud-connected and features over-the-air updates. The lower four trims all get an eight-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, two USB ports, and a six-speaker audio system. The Active, ST-Line, and ST-Line Select trims additionally get SiriusXM and two rear USB ports while gaining optional access to the larger 13.2-inch touchscreen display with navigation, a setup that is standard on the Platinum and ST-Line Elite. A ten-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system is optional on the Active, ST-Line Select, ST-Line Elite, and Platinum.