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2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Lincoln Aviator Plug-In Offer Fuel-Sipping Alternatives

ford escape hybrid 2020 02 angle  exterior  rear  urban  white jpg 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid | Manufacturer image

Official EPA ratings are out for the new 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid and 2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrid. Both offer improvements over their respective non-hybrid versions and are competitive with offerings from other manufacturers.

Related: 2020 Ford Escape: Everything You Need to Know

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Blue 2020 Ford Escape SE Sport Hybrid SUV
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2020 Ford Escape SE Sport Hybrid
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Blue Metallic 2020 Ford Escape Titanium Hybrid SUV
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The Escape Hybrid is available in either front- or all-wheel drive. Front-wheel-drive versions are rated at 44/37/41 mpg city/highway/combined, while the all-wheel-drive Escape Hybrid is rated at 43/37/40 mpg. The most efficient 1.5-liter three-cylinder front- and all-wheel-drive Escapes are rated at 27/33/30 mpg and 26/31/28 mpg, respectively. The 2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, available in all-wheel-drive format only, matches the Escape Hybrid’s combined rating while offering slightly better highway economy and slightly worse city economy; it’s rated at 41/38/40 mpg.

lincoln aviator phev 2020 01 black  exterior  front jpg 2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrid | Cars.com photo by Mike Hanley

Plug-in hybrids are rated slightly differently by the EPA, which only provides the electric motor’s miles per gallon-equivalent figure — i.e., what the electric motor’s equivalent fuel economy would be for an internal combustion engine — and a combined fuel-economy rating for the electric motor and internal combustion engine working together. For the Aviator Grand Touring, that turns into an mpg-e figure of 56, though it only offers 21 miles of all-electric range. The combined mpg rating for its electric and gasoline motors is 23 mpg, which bests the gas-only rear-wheel-drive (21 mpg) and all-wheel-drive Aviator (20 mpg). The Aviator Grand Touring is only available in AWD format.

Luxury plug-in hybrid SUVs that rival the Aviator Grand Touring include the 2020 Land Rover Ranger Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEVs (42 mpg-e, 19 mpg combined), 2020 Volvo XC90 PHEV (55 mpg-e, 27 mpg combined) and 2020 Volvo XC60 PHEV (57 mpg-e, 27 mpg combined). The Aviator Grand Touring’s ratings put it firmly in the middle of that group.

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Road Test Editor
Brian Normile

Road Test Editor Brian Normile joined the automotive industry and Cars.com in 2013, and he became part of the Editorial staff in 2014. Brian spent his childhood devouring every car magazine he got his hands on — not literally, eventually — and now reviews and tests vehicles to help consumers make informed choices. Someday, Brian hopes to learn what to do with his hands when he’s reviewing a car on camera. He would daily-drive an Alfa Romeo 4C if he could.

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