Behind the Escape's rear seat is a capacious cargo hold that provides space for up to eight carry-on suitcases, which ties its crosstown rival, the Chevrolet Equinox. Highly textured cloth seat upholstery is standard, while higher trim levels receive either convincing faux-leather seating surfaces or genuine leather in the top-spec Titanium. The Escape's cabin, while handsomely styled and spacious for both front- and rear-seat occupants, suffers from several low-rent plastic panels, including those on the doors and lower center console. For more information about the Escape's fuel economy, visit the EPA's website. For those seeking the most efficient Escape, look no further than the plug-in hybrid model, which earns fuel economy ratings as high as 44 mpg city in our testing, the Escape PHEV returned 36 MPGe on our highway fuel economy route. Although the larger turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with all-wheel drive is rated for 23 mpg city, 31 mpg highway, and 26 mpg combined, we ended up with a 32-mpg highway result in our testing. We tested an all-wheel-drive model with the turbo three-cylinder and managed an impressive 35 mpg during our 75-mph highway fuel-economy route. It's rated for 27 mpg city, 33 mpg highway, and 30 mpg combined adding all-wheel drive drops those numbers to 26 mpg city, 31 mpg highway, and 28 mpg combined. Fuel Economy and Real-World MPGĪccording to the EPA, the turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder model with front-wheel drive will offer the highest fuel economy estimates among nonhybrid Escape models. During our highway fuel economy testing, we managed 25 miles of highway driving before the battery ran out of juice and the Escape switched to gasoline power. The plug-in hybrid model carries a 11.2-kWh battery pack, which is good enough for an EPA-estimated 37 miles of electric-only driving.

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Tested: Ford Escape PHEV Stretches Every Gallon.

To tackle new competition in the form of the Honda CR-V hybrid and the Toyota RAV4 Prime, Ford also offers two Escape hybrids-one of which is a plug-in-and those powertrains consist of a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and two electric motors which combine to make 221-hp. Both gasoline engines are paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Upgrading to the 250-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder is the compelling choice and was powerful enough to score a 5.7-second result in the same zero-to-60-mph test. The turbo three, while somewhat grumbly and unrefined, provides adequate acceleration and managed to motivate an all-wheel-drive Escape SE to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds at our test track the plug-in hybrid model matched this result. The 2022 Escape offers a wide range of powertrains, starting with a 181-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine that can be had with either front- or all-wheel drive.

The SEL adds plenty of niceties that compact-SUV shoppers will appreciate, including rear parking sensors, memory settings for the driver's seat and exterior mirrors, faux leather upholstery, a remote-start feature, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with heat, a hands-free power liftgate, fog lamps, and roof-rack side rails.

The best value of the lineup is the midrange SEL trim with front-wheel drive.

Ford escape hybrid