The 2008, and new 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid vehicles are eligible for the hybrid rebates program in the form of tax credit for up to 3,000 dollars!  These hybrid tax rebates last until the vehicle model has sold at least sixty thousand units, and can be claimed after purchase of the vehicle.  Tax credits are deducted from your income tax, leaving you with less to pay to the IRS at the end of the tax year.

The hybrid tax rebates program is designed to reward those who buy fuel efficient vehicles, with the Ford Escape 2WD having a hybrid tax rebate of 3,000 dollars, while the 4WD model has a rebate of 2,200.  These offers expire in 2010- currently only Toyota and Lexus have gone past the sixty thousand sold units, and thus their hybrid cars are no longer eligible for the hybrid rebates.

  The Ford Escape is what’s known as a ‘full hybrid’ as it can switch between fully electric and fully gas powered.  It features regenerative breaking - where when you break, the energy that is normally wasted is actually captured and helps to recharge the battery system.  This means it loses less net energy than a normally breaking vehicle - where the energy would be expended as heat by the break pads.

The Ford Escape has a 133 horsepower gasoline engine and a 94 horsepower electric engine, and is capable of 102 miles per hour.  It can travel up to nearly two miles on electric alone, and has been shown to go as far as nearly 500 miles on one single 16 gallon tank of gasoline (in a city environment).

The Ford Escape Hybrid has a rating of roughly 36 miles per gallon, and is said to run efficiently, in fact, 75% more efficient, than the non-hybrid Ford Escape.