Ford is looking to shake things up with the 2020 Ford Escape. The American carmaker recently introduced the redesigned crossover, and it will offer a larger interior and more powertrains than before — including two eco-friendly options.
The newest Escape continues to come in four trim levels — S, SE, SEL, and Titanium — but it will also offer a slew of changes to appeal to Canadian drivers.
This crossover arrives with a wheelbase and track that are each 20 millimetres longer, giving consumers more interior space than before. The interior has also received an upgrade, including a classier design that will appeal to more people.
One of the biggest changes to the Escape is its powertrain lineup. The first option is a 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder EcoBoost® engine that puts out 180 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque. A re-engineered 2.0-litre EcoBoost® four-cylinder will also be available, putting out 250 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. Each engine comes with a new eight-speed automatic transmission.
The most notable powertrain is the new hybrid and plug-in hybrid option. These models use the same 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine, combining it with an Electronic Continuously Variable Transmission. The normal hybrid pairs this powertrain with a 1.1-kWh batter that gives it a total system output of 198 horsepower.
For the plug-in hybrid model, this powertrain comes paired to a 14.4-kWh batter that will recharge in 3.5 hours using a 220-volt outlet. It can drive up to 58 electric-only kilometres and produces a total system output of 209 horsepower.
If you’d like to take the all-new 2020 Ford Escape for a test drive, it should be available at Downtown Ford sometime this fall (spring 2020 for the plug-in hybrid).