2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Review

Name: 2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Review
Brand: Ford

Price Range: $18,999 - $25,990

The 2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid is perfect for daily driving around town without using a sip of gasoline. This compact SUV is also quite comfortable, spacious and loaded with modern tech features. Ponderous handling and lackluster acceleration are its main drawbacks.

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Price & Payment

6 cars

$20,746 avg. price

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2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Review

by the Edmunds Experts

What's new

New Escape Plug-In Hybrid offers an estimated 37 miles of electric range
Part of the fourth Escape generation introduced for 2020

Cost to Drive^{Cost to drive estimates for the 2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid SE 4dr SUV (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid EVT) and comparison vehicles are based on 15,000 miles per year (with a mix of 55% city and 45% highway driving) and energy estimates of $3.20 per gallon for regular unleaded and $0.19 per kWh for electricity in Michigan.}

Monthly estimates based on costs in Michigan

$85/mo

$182/mo

Avg. Midsize SUV

Calculate my fuel costs

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Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Reviews

Owner Reviews

3.7

13 reviews

5(54%)

4(7%)

3(9%)

2(15%)

1(15%)

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Most Helpful Owner Reviews

Big upgrade from the earlier Escape and C-max

Dr. Ed'scape, 08/23/2021

2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Titanium 4dr SUV (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid EVT)

Early days with my new Titanium Escape Plug-in, but really loving it so far. This is an upgrade for me after 8 years of driving the c-max. Big improvement in size, ride, comfort, style, interior room, trunk space and range. The steering is tight and responsive. Minimal road noise. Excellent rage and averaging 35-37 miles all electric with AC on. Charging as advertised with segmented ring … that shows the charge level at a glance when plugged in. The driver display holds a lot of information and is adjustable for different levels of feedback on your hybrid driving. Braking coach tells you how well you regenerated electric back to the battery with each break. Rear seats are much thicker cusioned than the C-max with more leg room as well. There is a space under the floor of the trunk for a spare, but the 12 volt battery is mounted smack in the middle. I think a spare is an option and assume the battery moves to the side in that situation. Minus the spare, there is more room in the spare wheel well around the battery to store tools, my jumper battery, tire compressor and a few other goodies. Infotainment screen is bright and highly visible again big improvement from C-max. Voice recognition for controls is very good. Bluetooth audio for phone calls is excellent through the 10 speaker system. Stereo is impressive, but gone is the CD player (I never used that on the C-max and don't see many anymore. With Pandora, USB stick audio, I guess the cd has gone the way of the 8-track! Gone too is the sd card with navigation. Navigation updates download. The Escape has wifi and can both connect to your home wireless access point to download firmware upgrades and can provide an in-car wireless access point making use of built in cellular data service (fee after 3 month trial) Ford App is an upgrade over the MyFord Sync. Apple play also supported. The screen shows the rear view camera when reversing with guidelines showing your turn radius. There is also a proximity warning visual system surrounding a small image of the car from above showing when you get close to sides and front. Have not tried the parallel park feature as of yet. Build quality is solid. Interior features are heavily plastic but attractive and done well. Overall very pleased so far. A lot of car for the price. I considered the Rav 4 and drove one as a rental. I am liking the Escape better so far for range, mileage and not missing 4 wheel drive here in the south. UPDATE: Just hit my one year anniversary of ownership and 10k miles. Only about 600 of those miles were burning gas, includes only two tanks of gas I am now due my first oil change! Still getting 42-45 miles all electric when driving up to 45 mph and minimal heating or AC. Cannot say enough good things about this car. Update: now at 18 months and still very pleased with the Escape PHEV. The car does well in all weather. For winter months seats heat up quickly and get very warm. Steering wheel heater also nice. I have had no need for any unscheduled maintenance. I have been running the tires at 35-36 pounds and with careful driving manage 44-45 miles all electric when not using heat or A.C.

Awesome car! Fantastic Escape Titanium Plug-in!

Rick, 10/31/2021

2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Titanium 4dr SUV (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid EVT)

I've owned 3 other plug-ins made by a different manufacturer and this is miles above in all aspects. Rides like a sports car, smooth, solid, quiet, right amount of hp, feels and looks like like a luxury finish inside and out. Intuitive dash and controls. Runs great on electric only 37 miles then seamlessly switches over to gas, so no range anxiety. Charges in 3.4 hours in my garage. …

Great fuel economy and range

Average American, 07/01/2022

2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Titanium 4dr SUV (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid EVT)

I have had this for 11000 miles so far I drive 115 miles a day to and from work. I use about 5.5 to 6 gallons of gas a week. I can average 50 miles all electric around town. I drive 70 mph or so on the highway. Very comfortable and I have the Titanium trim with heads up display that is super helpful.

Blown Away

Greybeard, 04/13/2022

2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Titanium 4dr SUV (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric plug-in hybrid EVT)

I've driven a lot of SUV's and CUV's as rentals, this is the first one I've owned - and, my first Ford. (Our last five purchases were a KIA, an Audi, a couple of VW's, and a Honda.). Very impressed by the build quality. The interior materials are above average. Ride/handling is excellent for a vehicle in its class. Transition between gas and electric is very smooth. I'm easily getting …

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2021 Escape Plug-In Hybrid Highlights

Trim:

Base MSRP Excludes Destination Fee	$32,650
EV Tax Credits & Rebates	$4,100 Based on income
Engine Type	Plug-in hybrid
EPA Electric Range	37 miles
Combined MPGe (Electric + Gas)	105 MPGe^{MPGe is the official metric that the EPA uses to measure the efficiency of alternative-fuel (including electric) vehicles. Just like regular MPG shows how far a car will travel on one gallon of gas, MPGe shows how far a vehicle will drive on 33.7kWh of electricity - the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline. Combined MPGe is the combined total of 45% city MPGe + 55% highway MPGe.}
Cost to Drive	$85/month
Total Charging Time (240V)	3.3 hours
Seating	5 seats
Cargo Capacity All Seats In Place	34.4 cu.ft.
Drivetrain	front wheel drive
Warranty	3 years / 36,000 miles

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Safety

Our experts like the Escape Plug-In Hybrid models:

Evasive Steering Assist: Provides additional steering effort to avoid a potential collision if it can't be avoided by braking alone.
Lane Keeping Assist: Alerts the driver when the car starts to drift out of its lane by vibrating the steering wheel and correcting the steering if needed.
Blind Spot Information System (BLIS): Illuminates an indicator light in the side mirror when a vehicle enters the blind spot. Also includes integrated rear cross-traffic alert.

IIHS Rating

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety uses extensive crash tests to determine car safety.

Small Overlap Front Driver-Side Test
Good
Small Overlap Front Passenger-Side Test
Good
Moderate Overlap Front Test – Original
Good
Moderate Overlap Front Test – Updated
Not Tested
Side Impact Test – Original
Marginal
Side Impact Test – Updated
Not Tested
Roof Strength Test
Good
Rear Crash Protection / Head Restraint
Good

2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Review

Price & Payment

2021 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Review

What's new

Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Reviews

Owner Reviews

Most Helpful Owner Reviews

Trending topics

Big upgrade from the earlier Escape and C-max

Awesome car! Fantastic Escape Titanium Plug-in!

Great fuel economy and range

Blown Away

2021 Escape Plug-In Hybrid Highlights

Safety

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