This fall when my Santa Fe gets handed down to my kids, I'll be looking for a new vehicle. I was going to get a new(er) Santa Fe, but since they don't have a hybrid model or a flex-fuel capability, I'm venturing to a couple of new dealerships to drive models that I'm less familiar with.
The top two vehicles I'm looking at are the Ford Escape Flex-Fuel Hybrid, and the ubiquitous Toyota Prius.
I'm having trouble finding the Ford Escape Flex-Fuel Hybrid at all, and would be most interested in finding one that is used, with less than 20,000 miles. That might be a tall order this summer as people dump their older SUV's for more fuel efficient vehicles. I have until the end of August to find my vehicle, so I feel pretty good about just shopping around this summer.
I'm not only interested in saving money on gas, but lowering my carbon footprint. These two models have significantly less emissions than regular vehicles. The Ford Escape Flex-Fuel Hybrid also uses E-85, which is 85% ethanol and 15% gas. My ideal goal is to have this vehicle, because my usage of energy in my car would be less than 15% total. If everyone did that, just think how fast we could reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
I've been reading about hypermiling, and have tried some of these techniques in my car, though I don't get the immediate feedback that I would if I owned a hybrid.
I'd be interested in hearing from any Ford Escape Flex-Fuel Hybrid or Toyota Prius owners with feedback on what your MPG is and any other information.
Finding the Ford Escape Hybrid FFV may be a tall order, as it seems they haven't really rolled it out as a regular model yet. Because of that, may be next to impossible to find it used. Since it looks like you have done your homework, I'm sure you are aware that E85 usually drops your fuel economy by 20-30%. But your point about marrying hybrid technology and E85 fuel is still very valid. With that in mind, a FFV plug-in hybrid will be a great tool to wean us off of oil.
I don't drive a Prius, but Consumer Reports gives its real world average mileage at 44 mpg. That's probably closer to reality than what's on the sticker, but it obviously all depends on how you drive.
Posted by: RF | May 26, 2008 9:26 PM | Permalink to Comment