New Ford Escape Features New EcoBoost Engines

The new Ford Escape debuts next month as an all-new C-MAX Hybrid that's twenty-five percent more fuel efficient than today's Escape Hybrid. The vehicle features a powertrain lineup with three fuel-efficient four-cylinder options and will be Ford's first SUV to be available with two fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines.

Ford's 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine, which uses turbocharging, twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT), and direct injection to deliver the performance feel of a larger engine, makes its North American debut in the new Escape. It is expected to deliver even higher highway fuel economy than the current Escape Hybrid, which is EPA-rated at 31 mpg. The new 1.6-liter engine also is expected to deliver better fuel economy than competitors' larger four-cylinder engines.

Ford holds more than 125 patents on EcoBoost technology, a global approach to provide affordable fuel efficiency for millions of drivers that will extend to ninety percent of Ford vehicles by 2013. EcoBoost increases fuel economy up to twenty percent while reducing CO2 emissions by up to fifteen percent.

Next year, Ford launches the C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in vehicles. The next generation of the Escape Hybrid's powertrain moves to the five-passenger C-MAX Hybrid and features the first hybrid transmission and lithium-ion battery system the company is building in-house. The new hybrid powertrain will be available exclusively in C-MAX, and it will deliver a more than twenty-five percent improvement in fuel economy versus the outgoing Escape Hybrid while still offering hybrid customers the five-passenger capability they expect.

The C-MAX Energi targets more than 500 miles of driving range using the battery and engine, more than any other plug-in or extended-range vehicle. It also targets AT-PZEV status and delivers better charge-sustaining fuel economy than the Chevrolet Volt.

Ford launched the Transit Connect Electric small commercial van in 2010 and will launch the all-new Focus Electric later this year. In the most recent J.D. Power survey, the company is ahead in fuel economy in more segments than any other major automaker. Fuel economy is 2.5 times more important to American customers than environmental concerns when it comes to buying a vehicle.

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