The Ford Escape has long been a favorite of Consumer Reports, racking up accolades that include ranking among the most satisfying compact crossovers on the market, one of the best hybrid crossovers/SUVs, earning recommended status, ranking as one of the most popular new vehicles, and one of the top American models on sale. Now, shortly after Consumer Reports named the Ford Mustang Mach-E as one of the best EVs on the market this spring, the Ford Escape has also made the cut as one of the top hybrid options priced between $35,000 and $45,000, too.
As Consumer Reports points out, hybrids have a lot to offer in terms of both performance and efficiency compared to their pure ICE counterparts, though this isn’t universally the case. Sometimes, hybrids can present buyers with a rather sharp price premium over those regular models, however, which makes this particular list all the more pertinent.
To come up with the best hybrid SUVs on the market that fall within the reasonable range of $35k-$45k, Consumer Reports looked at its overall scores for those models, which take into account owner satisfaction, predicted reliability, road test results, and safety features. Each model on the list is ranked in order of overall score, and in that regard, the Ford Escape landed behind the Toyota RAV4 Prime, Kia Sportage PHEV, Honda CR-V Hybrid, Hyundai Tucson PHEV, and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in sixth place with a score of 70.
The Ford Escape Hybrid earned above average marks for its road test results, though only average in terms of predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. CR praised its impressive fuel economy, steady and composed ride, and nimble and secure handling, though it wasn’t quite as big a fan of its lagging infotainment screen and firm, flat front seats.
We’ll have more on the Escape soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Escape news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
Love my 2023 Escape hybrid platinum, except the seats have an large roll at the back of the seat back, it hits the seating position oddly and is slightly uncomfortable at first. Also, they need to upgrade the interior materials , they are all cheap look g plastic, and can somebody at Ford actually integrate the touch screen into the IP as a seamless extension of the gauge cluster like others do. So I rate the vehicle a 7, but for a couple hundred bucks to make these changes it would be a solid 10
I have no complaints with my 2020 SESport Escape hybrid! It seems to do most everything to my satisfaction with the one exception and that is its too noisy with the engine making really cheap sounds! Fuel economy is terrific!