2020 Ford Escape Hybrid Will Be An Amazing Road Trip Vehicle

When Ford revealed the all-new 2020 Escape, it announced four powertrains without giving us any details on fuel economy. We know the two gas options will be a 1.5-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder with 180 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost with 250 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque. The hybrid options will use a 2.5-liter four-cylinder mated to a hybrid system with a CVT producing 198 hp and there will also be a plug-in hybrid version with an electric driving range of 30 miles.

The gas-powered Escape models are predicted to have a range of over 400 miles while the hybrids are targetting over 500 miles on a single tank. By the time the Escape Hybrid's tank runs empty, your bladder will be full and you will have to take a pee break. Although neither Ford nor the EPA has announced any official fuel economy figures for any of the four powertrains, Autoblog spoke with Ford's Manager of Advanced Electrified Powertrain Systems, Daniel Kok, who gave a rough estimate of the Escape Hybrid's fuel economy ratings.

Kok said the new Escape Hybrid would get "50% better fuel economy than the current [2019] Escape in 1.5-liter EcoBoost form." Since the 2019 Escape is rated at 26 mpg combined, simple math says the new Escape Hybrid will achieve a combined 39 mpg. This is an extremely good number, though it falls just one mpg shy of the 2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. Since this is just an estimate, there's always a chance the official figures could match or exceed the RAV4's. Either way, it easily bests the Nissan Rogue Hybrid's 34 mpg combined figure.