2022 Ford Escape PHEV Review — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] The 2022 Ford Escape plug-in hybrid EV

[00:03] is the official car of nice guys. You

[00:07] know exactly who I'm talking about.

[00:09] Those sniveling little larval stage red

[00:11] pillers whose niceness is entirely

[00:14] transactional and built around trying to

[00:17] dip their fork in the casserole. They

[00:19] seem caring and compassionate, but

[00:23] underneath it all is a gremlin trying to

[00:25] figure out how to be validated for as

[00:27] little effort as possible. And in that

[00:29] way this car will sell you on the notion

[00:33] that it's sensible, it's safe, it's

[00:35] worthy. But then you give him a chance

[00:38] and what you get is an experience so

[00:40] painfully mid it's like they motorized

[00:44] the sensation of eating chain restaurant

[00:47] chicken wings. I mean it's okay, I

[00:50] guess. But this isn't the mom and pop

[00:53] deli around the corner making lemon

[00:55] pepper wet. Yet in classic nice guy

[00:58] fashion, this doesn't just stop at being

[01:01] blandly undesirable. It's simultaneously

[01:05] needy while oozing entitlement that

[01:08] because it's perfectly acceptable it

[01:11] therefore deserves to be desired. And

[01:14] look, being the safe option has never

[01:17] made anybody's pants shift around, but a

[01:20] nice guy will be out here in these hot

[01:22] streets talking about I can treat you

[01:24] better and then your reward for giving

[01:26] him a chance is being late to every

[01:28] function involving your family. Ford

[01:31] Escape Hybrid. I used to work at Best

[01:33] Buy and also I still work at Best Buy.

[01:36] Now let's watch a bunch of grindset

[01:38] videos with Thomas Shelby in the

[01:40] thumbnail.

[01:44] >> [groaning]

[01:44] >> The mediocrity almost feels intentional.

[01:47] Like Ford executives sat up there in

[01:49] their Michigan mind palace conjuring up

[01:51] how best to create something that evokes

[01:55] nothing. It's like they started from the

[01:57] premise of a car for somebody

[01:59] experiencing their first day on Earth

[02:01] every single day and then started

[02:04] building from there. The Ford Escape

[02:06] Plug-in Hybrid EV is a futuristic car

[02:09] that promises a future of limited

[02:13] participation.

[02:14] The world is overstimulating. People are

[02:16] peopling too hard. The sixth family

[02:19] member this month has a birthday coming

[02:21] up and work is asking you to do stuff

[02:23] again. Well, here you go. Here's your

[02:26] sensory deprivation pod, colorless and

[02:29] mute.

[02:30] We're Ford.

[02:32] We'll break down so you don't have to.

[02:36] It would almost be kind of genius if

[02:39] Ford really did decide to market to the

[02:42] overstimulated by saying, "Here you go.

[02:45] It's your favorite.

[02:47] Less."

[02:48] Except, well, I think there's a lot more

[02:51] going on underneath the surface here.

[02:55] >> And they say nice

[02:56] >> Nice.

[02:57] >> guy

[02:57] >> Guy.

[02:58] >> Go and drive [singing] a plug-in hybrid,

[03:01] nice guy. Ford not lobbies that way.

[03:07] >> 2022 Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid EV, the

[03:11] official car of gas station chicken

[03:13] Caesar wraps. I mean, how good could it

[03:16] possibly be? But also, how wrong could

[03:19] somebody possibly get this?

[03:22] The Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid feels

[03:24] engineered to be offensive to absolutely

[03:27] no one. Like a corporate apology that's

[03:29] been fussed over and run past legal

[03:32] again and again to make sure they got

[03:34] the wording right. It's a triumph of

[03:37] artless efficiency. This is a car for

[03:40] the kind of person who generates AI

[03:42] artwork and then watermarks it. It's

[03:45] very much a product, a digestible,

[03:48] inoffensive product. A movie by a

[03:52] filmmaker who's lost his fastball,

[03:55] sitting there in his Patagonia sweater

[03:58] on a director's chair with a hemorrhoid

[04:00] donut. We'll fix it in post, always

[04:03] waiting in the wings at the back of his

[04:04] throat. Yeah, yeah, let's phone this in,

[04:08] why not? We're already good for a 55% on

[04:11] Rotten Tomatoes, brother. That's our

[04:13] floor. That's the Ford Escape Plug-In

[04:16] Hybrid EV. Because even at peak

[04:19] operation, it's so blandly inoffensive,

[04:22] you'd think it was trying to get

[04:23] monetized on TikTok.

[04:26] This is a car for people whose hot take

[04:28] is social media bad. Like, okay, yeah,

[04:32] but also you're still on it. And you

[04:34] know, this car is frustrating because I

[04:36] feel like there's the bones of something

[04:39] better underneath all this senioritis

[04:42] engineering. The road feel is whatever.

[04:45] The handling is whatever. None of it is

[04:48] bad, it's just there. This entire car is

[04:52] just there.

[04:56] Let's get down to brass tacks. The

[04:58] drivetrain consists of a 2.5 L Atkinson

[05:01] cycle four-cylinder, an electric motor,

[05:04] and a 14.4 kWh battery whose combined

[05:08] system output is around 221 horsepower

[05:11] and 155 pound-feet of torque. It's

[05:15] matched to a power-split eCVT,

[05:18] which basically is a planetary gear set

[05:20] that precludes the need for all the

[05:22] extra CVT hardware, like belts and

[05:25] hydraulics. Yet, the drive itself is

[05:29] dispassionately efficient, like having

[05:31] your lunch money taken by a bully on

[05:33] SSRIs.

[05:35] The handling is very light, which is

[05:37] fine for just tooling around the lot

[05:40] where we were filming. But once we were

[05:42] out on the highway, I kept waiting for

[05:43] this to commit. It's not exactly fast,

[05:47] although it's not sluggish either.

[05:49] Acceleration has the urgency of a

[05:52] swinger changing his mind after his wife

[05:55] already left.

[05:56] You're fast, but you're not going to get

[05:59] there in time, my friend. What I would

[06:02] say is that this feels kind of floaty,

[06:05] like it's tuned for comfort more than

[06:07] for handling or road feel, which is fine

[06:10] because in fairness, it's not positioned

[06:13] as a performance car. It's positioned as

[06:16] a practical hybrid SUV intended to

[06:20] represent a cross-section between rugged

[06:22] usability and daily driver appeal.

[06:26] Internal combustion married to the

[06:29] long-term fuel savings of an EV, a sort

[06:32] of best of both worlds. I'm not sure the

[06:35] point is to be interesting or even

[06:38] engaging. It's to be agreeable,

[06:40] unchallenging, and incapable of letting

[06:43] you down because it's not promising

[06:45] anything more than a low-frills option

[06:47] for husbands whose dream vacation is an

[06:51] unbothered trip to his own bathroom.

[06:54] For all the flak I gave to the 2004 Ford

[06:57] Escape I reviewed, that had an endearing

[07:00] kind of character to it. An SUV that

[07:02] thought it was a sedan, a Ford Cruiser

[07:05] with off-road ambitions and a Mazda

[07:08] soul. But this is a homogenized product,

[07:11] just uninspired engineering upholstered

[07:14] in hard Lego store plastics. Yeah, you

[07:17] buy it to save money, but people cut

[07:20] their own hair to save money, and that's

[07:22] not a great idea either.

[07:24] Now, this was priced at around $36,000

[07:27] new and could climb above $42,000

[07:30] depending on trim. But even on the

[07:32] expensive end, the idea is that you're

[07:34] still ultimately coming out ahead on

[07:37] fuel savings.

[07:38] I'm looking all of this up in in

[07:40] official brochure, but it claims that

[07:42] the plug-in hybrid models have an

[07:44] EPA-estimated combined range of 481

[07:49] miles for model year 2022. But, this

[07:52] changes when you break down the economy

[07:55] for both systems.

[07:57] EV efficiency is around 105 MPGe,

[08:02] so miles per gallon equivalent, while

[08:04] fuel economy tops out at 40 miles per

[08:07] gallon on gasoline. Electric-only range

[08:11] is 37 miles, which is better than the 32

[08:14] miles achieved by such options as the

[08:17] plug-in hybrid 2022 Hyundai Tucson and

[08:21] 2022 Kia Sorento. Yet, despite having a

[08:25] 60-mile round trip commute to work, my

[08:29] fantastic volunteer Ryan has only had to

[08:32] fill up gas twice so far in 2026.

[08:37] Great right?

[08:38] Well, not exactly. You see, for as good

[08:42] as that mileage is,

[08:44] it should be better. But, his overall

[08:47] efficiency is far more limited than it

[08:50] ought to be because of a system error

[08:53] that prevents him charging past 80%.

[08:57] And this ties into how many problems

[09:00] this car has had.

[09:02] Ryan has owned this fewer than 4 years,

[09:05] and there have been numerous recalls in

[09:08] that time over such things as the fuel

[09:11] injector catching fire, the display

[09:13] screen inverting and getting stuck that

[09:16] way, or the battery shorting out to such

[09:18] an extent that Ryan told me that Ford

[09:21] recommended not charging it at all for a

[09:24] year, which is kind of wild to me. But,

[09:27] then when you look at it, even the stuff

[09:30] that didn't warrant a recall are

[09:33] frustrating enough that it made me

[09:35] wonder why anybody would bother with

[09:37] this car. Like the charging door getting

[09:39] stuck, sometimes it won't open,

[09:42] sometimes it won't close, and as Ryan

[09:45] discovered, if you can't close it, you

[09:47] can't drive it because the car wouldn't

[09:49] let him go anywhere while the charge

[09:51] door was open. So, he had to take the

[09:53] heat gun to this thing countless times.

[09:56] And while these are just one person's

[09:59] experiences and not universal to every

[10:02] Escape plug-in hybrid, I do think they

[10:05] illustrate a car that probably needed

[10:07] more time in development. I mean, at its

[10:10] best, at its absolute best, it does

[10:13] enough to feel modern and practical and

[10:16] even pleasant because it doesn't leave

[10:18] enough of an impression to make you

[10:20] notice that it's underwhelming you. But

[10:23] at its worst, this is a needy machine,

[10:27] constantly asking for accommodation

[10:30] rather than simply making your life

[10:32] easier.

[10:33] Okay, so you save on fuel, but how many

[10:36] more recalls can I anticipate? What are

[10:38] our odds of catching fire today? You

[10:41] going to link the app this time or are

[10:43] you going to lag again? These issues

[10:46] have the potential to stack one on top

[10:49] of the other until they're piled higher

[10:51] than one of those trendy hipster bar

[10:53] hamburgers that's meant to be

[10:55] photographed instead of eaten because

[10:57] even without the recalls, you're still

[10:59] being treated to a painfully mid-tier

[11:02] experience.

[11:04] You'd think a plug-in hybrid SUV would

[11:07] have been a layup for Ford, especially

[11:09] with fuel costing what it does and

[11:11] people looking for a car that's

[11:13] versatile enough to be a good daily

[11:15] while offering more utility than just

[11:18] some standard sedan or even just some

[11:20] standard SUV. I'm not surprised that

[11:23] production costs were high, but I am

[11:25] surprised that it still feels this cheap

[11:29] and that it feels this disinterested in

[11:32] showing any signs of life beyond bare

[11:34] minimum functionality. This is a car

[11:37] that projects an attitude of cooperation

[11:40] and partnership, but ends up controlling

[11:43] you through its neediness. And that

[11:45] brings me back to the nice guy-ification

[11:49] of the internal combustion Escape. A car

[11:52] that, while not some paragon of

[11:55] engineering excellence, still felt

[11:57] substantial by comparison to this. The

[12:01] Escape plug-in hybrid bites off more

[12:04] than it can chew, like they wanted to

[12:06] make a RAV4 hybrid and just gave up

[12:09] halfway because it would require too

[12:11] much work. Maybe in that sense, it isn't

[12:14] the Escape plug-in hybrid that's the

[12:16] nice guy, it's Ford themselves. Because

[12:19] nice guys always try and outkick their

[12:22] coverage, then rage quit when they come

[12:24] up short. And Ford is doing the same

[12:26] thing here as 2026 is reportedly going

[12:30] to be the last model year for the

[12:32] Escape. And by accepting and moving on,

[12:36] Ford is already taking rejection better

[12:38] than any nice guy you're likely to ever

[12:40] meet. But that doesn't really absolve

[12:43] Ford from making this seem like a much

[12:45] more low-stress, capable car than it

[12:48] actually is. And I get that advertising

[12:51] isn't always about marketing to a

[12:52] consumer's taste, but trying to convince

[12:55] them to buy something they might not

[12:57] have considered before. Because you

[12:59] don't need to improve yourself or work

[13:02] on your desirability if you can simply

[13:04] convince someone to accept less. But

[13:08] wearing somebody down is not the same

[13:11] thing as winning them over. Okay, so you

[13:14] got them to accept a car that's good

[13:16] enough because it's available and it

[13:18] makes sense. Being chosen doesn't

[13:22] suddenly make the thing that's chosen

[13:24] great. And the Escape feels like a car

[13:27] that never achieves whatever potential

[13:29] it might have had because trying was

[13:31] beneath its dignity. Yet in that sense,

[13:36] it can never lose [clears throat]

[13:37] precisely because it wasn't really

[13:40] trying. It's just doing enough to get

[13:43] by.

[13:44] The Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid EV is a

[13:48] car that doesn't know how to win

[13:50] because its idea of victory

[13:53] is simply not being defeated.

[14:01] All right, this is kind of a tough one

[14:03] because conceptually, I just really did

[14:06] not enjoy this car. I feel like it

[14:08] presents a pragmatic option, yet it

[14:11] risks causing as many headaches as it

[14:14] solves. Like I said, at best, it's

[14:16] blandly inoffensive, and at worst, I

[14:19] could imagine a hard plaque of

[14:21] resentment building against this because

[14:23] it feels like it should be better than

[14:25] it is, but it's not. It doesn't feel as

[14:28] powerful as you're told it is, and it's

[14:30] one battle after another with all the

[14:32] recalls. Like they just fed a hungover

[14:35] groom six cups of coffee, and then

[14:37] shoved him into the chapel without

[14:39] noticing the wet patch blossoming around

[14:42] his crotch.

[14:43] It's really not the worst hybrid in the

[14:45] world. I would argue that it's not even

[14:47] bad, really. It's just disappointing.

[14:50] It's like I said, it's mid. It's not

[14:52] going to make your life miserable every

[14:54] time you have to drive it, and you will

[14:56] save money driving this. But it also

[14:59] doesn't feel like any great care went

[15:01] into making this. All right, look. I'm

[15:03] just going to wing it. I need to decide,

[15:06] and I haven't. So, I'm just going to

[15:07] roll the dice. Um

[15:10] Uh bottom five.

[15:13] You know what? No, it's not. This falls

[15:16] in the crack of the race to the bottom.

[15:19] It's neither top five nor bottom five.

[15:21] It's just it exists. Because it's not

[15:25] bad enough for me to truly rail against

[15:28] it, but it's also not good enough that I

[15:31] would ever really recommend this to

[15:33] anybody. So, there you have it. The top

[15:36] five and the bottom five remain the

[15:38] same. I'd like to thank Ryan for

[15:41] volunteering in the first place and

[15:43] providing such a satisfying shooting

[15:45] day, even though I didn't really like

[15:48] your car. I'm sorry. If you'd like to

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[16:18] another Monday that isn't already spoken

[16:20] for. I don't know. Maybe I'll just

[16:22] release it on a Tuesday. Some random

[16:24] Tuesday and just pray for the best.

[16:27] Now, if you think you have a car that

[16:29] can win the race to the bottom, or you

[16:31] have a car that you think Brian would

[16:33] want to review, and you're willing to

[16:35] come to us in Southeastern Pennsylvania,

[16:38] email me at

[16:39] [email protected].

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[16:47] Please specify in the email if it's for

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[16:52] Merch links are in the description, and

[16:55] hey, thank you so much for watching.

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[17:00] appreciate it. Have an amazing

[17:03] rest of your week.

[17:06] >> And they say nice

[17:08] guy

[17:09] >> guy

[17:10] >> go and drive a [music and singing]

[17:11] plug-in hybrid. Nice guy

[17:15] for my hobbies that [singing] way.

[17:18] >> If you're a nice

[17:20] >> Nice.

[17:20] >> guy

[17:21] >> Guy.

[17:21] >> Drive the Ford Escape in silence. White

[17:25] lies aren't simply mistakes.