MARINA DEL RAY, CALIF. -- Oblivious to the million-dollar mansions flickering past the windows of our Ford Escape Hybrid as we gently cruise through tree-lined Beverly Hills, Jim Padilla locks me with a steely glare.
"How important is this [Escape Hybrid] to Ford Motor Co.? Let me put it this way: Ford is having its annual meeting today and I'm the new COO [chief operating officer]. I'm not there. I'm here."
Padilla, the 57-year-old engineer now in charge of the daily business at all of Ford, is riding shotgun as we put the low-emission, fuel-efficient Escape Hybrid sport-utility vehicle through the stop-and-go rigours of late-afternoon rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles.
Just minutes before, Padilla and I had left Culver City's sprawling Sony Entertainment Studios where we'd had lunch and sat through Escape Hybrid product and marketing backgrounders and headed southwest to Beverly Hills.
From the movie/TV studios of La La Land to "The Golden Triangle" bounded by Santa Monica Boulevard (on the northwest), Wilshire Boulevard (on the south), and Canon Drive (on the east), the driving to and through Beverly Hills toward Malibu is more tedious than glamorous even though you'll see more stretch limos and low-slung Ferraris per square kilometre in these six square miles of gated homes, Rodeo Drive shops and Oscar party-famous restaurants than anywhere else in the world.
As we putter along chatting, I find myself not the least bit interested in star-gazing. Padilla, a soft-spoken but fiercely loyal Ford man, is far more interesting. Though he's more likely to give credit to others than himself, he has been a key player in the impressive but as-yet unfinished turnaround at Ford.
Look at the numbers to date. Three years ago, Ford was a huge money loser: in 2001-2002, it lost $6.45-billion (U.S.). Contrast that with the $1.9-billion profit in this year's first quarter.
There have been noteworthy improvements in Ford quality, too. Again, give some credit to Padilla, who championed thoroughly revamped product launch and manufacturing procedures over the past three and a half years. Even the much-recalled Ford Focus, once the poster child for disastrously poor quality, is now on Consumer Reports' "recommended" list.
Padilla's reward for his work: as part of a larger shakeup of senior management, Ford CEO Bill Ford Jr. gave him a battlefield promotion from running only North America to overseeing Ford's far-flung businesses in every corner of the world -- from Europe and South America, to its growing interests in China.
It's a big job, one involving a scheduled introduction of 40 new vehicles worldwide in 2004, including at least 10 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models in North America. Yet despite his job's enormity, Padilla today is totally focused on the newest Escape, the least profitable (if at all) of the 40, not to mention the most complex vehicle Ford has built at any time in the company's entire 101-year history.
"This [Escape Hybrid] is bigger than a low-volume product [of 20,000 units annually]," Padilla says. "This is a very significant statement from the Ford Motor Co. that we're going to be doing some things differently."
Ford, whose corporate mantra has become "great products, a strong business and a better world," will join the elite hybrid club when the gasoline/electric-power Escape Hybrid hits showrooms in August. Honda and Toyota already sell hybrids with more coming this fall, but Ford has managed to beat all the auto makers from Europe, as well as Detroit rivals General Motors and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group. And Ford is first among all auto makers to sell a hybrid SUV capable of actual, though modest, off-roading.
Ford's timing couldn't be better. With gas prices in Canada hitting $1 (Canadian) a litre and in the Los Angeles area averaging $2.15 (U.S.) a gallon, every driver has fuel economy on the brain.
"We didn't plan that, but I think they [gas prices] will nudge people to think a little more about products like this," smiles Padilla, as we merge onto Route 101 west [the Ventura Freeway], heading toward the twisty bits of rural Topanga Canyon and the famous Mulholland Drive.
All of this is part of our traffic-packed test drive route to Calamigos Ranch in the Los Angeles-area hills. There, we will go up and down some pockmarked dirt trails and feast on an extraordinary view of greater Los Angeles. But along the way we're not causing much of a stir with the local Angelinos.
That's because visually it is hard to tell a conventional Escape from this fancy Escape Hybrid. If you know your Escapes, you'll notice that the Hybrid version has its own stylized front fascia with integral fog lamps and there is a hybrid badge with a green leaf to symbolize enviro-friendliness. As far as the exterior goes, that's it.
Inside you'll find a hybrid-energy usage gauge on the far left of the instrument cluster and if you buy the optional video display/navigation system for the centre console, you'll be able to punch up a digital animation that tells you where and how power is coming and going in the complex hybrid power train. You can also turn on a computer readout that shows continuing fuel economy based on your driving patterns.
Now, if you haul out a tape measure, you will find that compared with a non-hybrid Escape, you have 6 per cent less cargo space behind the rear seat and 1 per cent less when the seats are folded and the cushions removed. The space was eaten up by the 250 D-size nickel-metal-hydride battery pack tucked beneath the cargo floor. The whole thing weighs about 91 kg.
The batteries, which never need to be plugged in because they are charged by the 2.3-litre inline four-cylinder engine and what is called "regenerative" braking, run this hybrid's electric motor. The gas engine has been modified to run on the "Atkinson cycle" to maximize fuel economy at the expense of low-end torque.
Though they are together under the hood up front, the 94-horsepower gas engine and the 70-kilowatt electric motor don't deliver power simultaneously, so the combined horsepower number is less than the sum of the parts: net horsepower of 155.
Still, Padilla and other Ford officials say their Escape Hybrid delivers the performance of the (200-hp) V-6 Escape with 75-per-cent better fuel economy in the city and 50 per cent combined city/highway.
One place where drivers will appreciate the sophistication of the Escape Hybrid is in stop-and-go city driving. When not needed to charge the batteries or provide extra oomph, the gas engine completely shuts down. In electric-only mode, this Escape has a range of up to about five km at a top speed of 40 km/h.
Personally, I found the Escape Hybrid to be a little slower than the V-6 Escape and the whole system worked pretty hard going up long stretches of steep hills. At that point the gas engine is cranking over at nearly 5,000 rpm and the electric motor is fast draining the batteries.
It's the same story when passing on the freeway or when launching from a stoplight. When cruising on the highway only the gas motor may be at work unless more juice is required. In rush hour, you may find yourself in battery-only mode.
No matter what you are doing, the computer brain is monitoring your driving and orchestrating the system accordingly. The result is two engines (gas and electric) working together and separately, depending on driving conditions -- and doing so without any real fuss.
Meanwhile, another piece of fuel-saving technology is at work: the electronically controlled continuously variable transmission, or CVT, which improves fuel economy about 30 per cent, compared with a conventional four-speed automatic. A CVT doesn't have individual gears. Instead it uses either belts on variable-diameter pulleys or, in Ford's case, a set of planetary gears to vary ratios to keep the engine running in its most fuel-efficient range.
The final major fuel-efficiency piece for the Escape Hybrid is an electric power-steering system, rather than a conventional hydraulic system. The difference in steering feel is negligible.
It sounds complex and it is. Yet in most driving the whole package works quite well. There's no noticeable difference in handling between the Escape Hybrid and a conventional inline four-banger version, either -- despite the added battery weight in the rear. For an SUV, it's reasonably nimble and responsive.
Escape Hybrid chief engineer Mary Ann Wright is, of course, happy to hear all this when we arrive at Calamigos Ranch. She says Ford's system is much more efficient and much less intrusive (or bothersome) than the only other "full" hybrid for sale, Toyota's Prius.
Then there is the added Escape Hybrid bonus of the required ground clearance for rutted paths and an available four-wheel-drive system for minor off-roading and all-weather traction (a front-drive version will also be sold).
Together, the whole package makes the Escape what Wright calls a "no-compromise hybrid," one that doesn't sacrifice comfort, convenience or utility in return for better fuel economy.
Of course, there is a price to be paid for all this, and it will be a premium likely in the $5,000 range. Ford has yet to announce final pricing, but expect the front-drive Hybrid to sell for about $35,000 to $36,000, with the all-wheel-drive version going for about $41,000 to $42,000, both fully loaded.
Padilla makes no apologies.
"The costs are more," he says. "Just look at the hardware. Wow, that's a lot of hardware there. That's one big battery. That's one complex electronic control system. Hey, there is regenerative braking. Hey, electric power steering. These things don't come for free."
And with gas prices rising steeply, they are starting to look less expensive with every fill-up.
The savings
Here's how we computed the annual fuel-cost savings with Ford's gas-electric Escape Hybrid, based on a total of 20,000 km driven annually - 55% in the city and 45% on the highway - and on fuel costs of $0.90 a litre.
Ford Escape Hybrid
Total annual mileage: 20,000 km
Total city mileage: 20,000 km x 55% = 11,000 km
Total highway mileage: 20,000 km x 45% = 9,000 km
Total fuel consumption (city): 11,000 km x 6.0 L /100 km = 660 L
Total fuel consumption (hwy.): 9,000 km x 5.0 / 100 km = 450 L
Total annual fuel consumption: 660 L + 450 L = 1,100 L
Total annual fuel costs: 1,100L x $0.90 / litre = $999
Ford Escape V6
Total annual mileage: 20,000 km
Total city mileage: 20,000 km x 55% = 11,000 km
Total highway mileage: 20,000 km x 45% = 9,000 km
Total fuel consumption (city): 11,000 km x 12.4 L /100 km = 1,364 L
Total fuel consumption (hwy.): 9,000 km x 8.5 / 100 km = 765 L
Total annual fuel consumption: 1,364 L + 765 L = 2,129 L
Total annual fuel costs: 2,129L x $0.90 / litre = $1,916.10
Total fuel savings with Hybrid: $1,916.10 - $999 = $917.10
The features
Price: $41,000-$42,000 (estimated)
Gasoline engine: 2.3-litre I4 (DOHC) Atkinson Cycle
Output: 133 hp/129 lb-ft
Electric motor: permanent magnet AC synchronous motor
Output: 94 hp (70 kW)
Transmission: electronically controlled continuously variable transmission
Fuel economy: City, 6.0 L/100 km; highway, 5.0 L/100 km
Hybrid alternatives: Toyota Prius, Toyota Highlander (coming in 2005), Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Accord Hybrid (coming fall of 2004)
Like: Significant fuel economy gain and emissions reduction, pretty much all the utility and comfort of any SUV - hybrid or otherwise
Don't like: Like all hybrids, there's a shudder as the gas engine kicks in; pretty big price premium
