Sorry for the delay, but a week of rain and drizzle don’t make for very nice pictures. Here’s my new hybrid!

My Escape Hybrid has arrived!

I’ve gotta say that the experience is really cool. At stoplights it’s both satisfying and eerie how quiet it is! I’ve been keeping the heating fan off just to enhance the quiet, even though we’re in a cold snap here in Toronto.

The eCVT has an interesting side effect. Normally, you can “feel” how fast you are going by the speed of the engine. I found myself cruising along at 135km/h (about 85mph), and didn’t realize it since the engine was purring along at about 2000rpm. Gotta watch that!

The Nav system spits out all the information about how power is currently being routed through to the wheels. The energy display is really simple and intuitive. The navigation maps are quite detailed, and it recovers and recalculates quickly if you miss a turn. Entering in addresses is surprisingly easy with the joystick.

Anyway, I’m off for a drive! I’ll post pics and video as soon as I can!

My Escape Hybrid is in! I don’t pick it up until next week, but it’s at the dealership being prepped! Woo Hoo!

I got an email from my dealership today. Their first Ford Escape Hybrid has been delivered. I’m second on the list, and it should be “soon” – whatever that means.

Can’t wait!

You don’t! A Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (HEV) uses both a gasoline engine and an electric DC motor. There are two main facts which make the combination of these two very efficient:

- The DC motor is very powerful, giving alot of torque at low RPM’s, right where a gasoline motor is weakest.

- A gasoline engine uses the most fuel while accelerating, so the DC motor assists at these times.

Basically, the electric motor kicks in to bring the vehicle from a stop. The gas engine starts up at around 40km/h and you run off the gas engine while cruising.

If you need to accelerate, the electric motor will help the gas engine, giving you the feel of a more powerful engine. When you hit the brakes, energy from your momentum is captured and used to recharge the battery.

If this were a perfect system, the motor would accelerate you, breaking would charge the battery an equal amount, and the gas engine would be only used for maintaining speed. Of course, when you add in friction, wind resistance, and a less than perfect battery system, we’re not quite there, but the idea is to get close to that.

I took the plunge! I put in my order for a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid (in Titanium Green of course)! When I take delivery this October, I will have one of only 4,000 being built in North America, and one of about 50 in the Toronto area.

Now that I am commuting significant distances for work through stop-and-go traffic, it’s time to move to a more fuel-efficient car that still offers the cargo space and utility to cart stuff around. I can’t wait!

With gas prices high, and staying high, hybrid electric vehicles are coming into thier own. It started back in 1999 with the Honda Insight, followed closely by the Toyota Prius. Last year, Honda introduced a hybrid version of the Civic and this week, Ford began production on the Ford Escape Hybrid.

This year looks like the turning point for Hybrids, with a hybrid Toyota Highlander and Sienna, as well as the Lexus RX400h coming in the coming months.

I’ll be watching the Hybrid community closely. This looks like the best relief for high gas prices, environmental consciousness and dependance on foriegn oil.