Ford goes Electric in Australia – finally: New Ford Escape PHEV coming!

As well as the usual mix of trim levels and the choice of All-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive, Ford are offering something very fresh for Australia when the new Ford Escape hit’s showrooms later this year. Plug-In Hybrid.

Not revolutionary at the industry level – far from it, but a clear sign that Australia’s appetite for change is strong.

Ford has been doing electric for a while – when I was in Detroit in 2016 I saw electric models there, sadly though they didn’t cut the mustard for the Aussie market.

The Escape will also offer a remarkable set of standard driver assistance technologies including:

• Autonomous Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection
• Evasive Steering Assist
• Forward Collision Warning
• Dynamic Brake Support
• Traffic Sign Recognition
• Blind Spot Detection (BLIS)
• Lane Departure Warning
• Lane Keep Assist
• Driver Impairment Monitor
• Tyre Pressure Monitor
• Emergency Assistance
• Cruise Control with adjustable speed limiter

Plus to continue upping their “tech” game the whole range will also feature the following tech as standard:

• FordPass Connect embedded modem with FordPass App compatibility
• Push-button start
• Wireless smartphone charging
• DAB+ radio
• SYNC 3 with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone compatibility
• Voice-command in-built sat-nav with Australian accent recognition and Traffic Management System
• 8.0-inch full-colour touchscreen
• Reversing camera
• Front and rear-parking sensors
• Power windows with global opening and closing via key fob

FordPass will be a big winner for Ford, standing out from the crowd with an app based connectivity system unlike any other in the broader mass market other than the high end euro’s (and even then very few) and Tesla.

The app gives you access to remote vehicle lock and unlock as well as vehicle location. Really cool stuff.

But it’s the PHEV in the line up that gets the headline.

Stump up for the ST-Line PHEV and you get partial leather trim, 10-way adjustable driver’s seat, 10-speaker sound system – and a hybrid drivetrain.

Plug it in at home to charge it up and take advantage of battery-assisted fuel efficiency like you’ve never seen in a Ford in Australia.

There’s a 2.5litre four cylinder engine, along with the electric motor and a 14.4Wh lithium-ion battery which will give you a combined fuel economy figure of just 1.5L per 100km!

The fully electric driving range will be over 50k’s.

It’s all a fair way off, but if the survey’s showing interest in alternate power trains are anything to go by, ford might just have some orders on their hands.

Of course, there’s a price to pay for progress as we keep saying. The PHEV is the most expensive of the six-model line-up at $52,940 with the standard Escape starting at $35,990.

Those fuel savings had wanna be good!

2020 Ford Escape list prices: