Ford Escape Hybrid reporting for taxi duty in NYC
Soon the streets of NYC will be filled not only with brightly colored Crown Vics carrying people to their
destinations. Ford has announced that its Escape Hybrid will join the Vic in taxi lines all over the five burroughs of
NYC thanks to support from the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission and the Coalition for Smart Transportation. Before
the Escape Hybrid went on sale Ford pulled a stunt in which it drove one around Manhattan for 36 hours traveling 575
miles on a single tank of gas. If there's any place on this third rock from the sun that can showcase the benefits of
hybrid technology better than NYC, we'd like to know. Who knows, maybe fares will fall with the money saved on
gas.
[Source: Ford]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gideon 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Saw one yesterday and did a doubletake. Glad to know I wasn't seeing things.
I wonder how it will do, as it isnt huge in the back. We NYers like those crown vics as you can stuff 3 (4 if the driver is cool) people in the back seat area.
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Dave 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Lame marketing tactic. The average life of non-biodegradable hybrid battery is about 75k-100k, right? These vehicles will do that milage in a short time. Not to mention Escapes are very small vehicles.
Now, a London Cab running biodiesel... that would be something impressive.
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M1EK 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Dave,
A previous-gen Prius was used as a cab for several years in Vancouver and was doing fine after 200,000 miles - was bought back by Toyota for study.
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Kamil K. 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
they should offer a streached wheel base for a taxi duty, like they did w/ the crown vic... the partition, which is required in NYC, takes a lot of legroom away.
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Ryan 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Hey Toyota Prius is becoming more and more seen as taxis here in Las Vegas
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Keith 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"The average life of non-biodegradable hybrid battery is about 75k-100k, right?"
100K is when the warranty is up if I remember correctly, but my guess is most people will have the same battery pack for the life of the car. The car will just be slower and not as fuel efficient/clean later in its life.
I think this is great. City driving is where Hybrids shine. Hopefully it will lead to better hybrid technology and prove to me that hybrids aren't a risky investment sooner.
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number six 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
How about some Prius taxis, too? There is nearly as much room in a Prius (2004-2006) as there is in the back of a Crown Vic.
The Prius has a lot of room even compared to the Ford Escape hybrid because the SUV is built on a full (space wasting) frame. And unit body Honda Odyssy vans do fine in NYC as taxis - Prius should do well, too.
I know there are some Prius's being used as taxis in Canada, does anyone know about them being used in the states?
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Keith 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"I know there are some Prius's being used as taxis in Canada, does anyone know about them being used in the states?"
Yes, I remember reading somewhere (maybe here) that Prius' are becomming very popular with Vegas Taxi drivers.
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number six 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Keith, I have to agree with your fine assessment of current hybrid technology.
"100K is when the warranty is up if I remember correctly, but my guess is most people will have the same battery pack for the life of the car. The car will just be slower and not as fuel efficient/clean later in its life."
And, looking at the nearest clapped out Dodge or Plymouth minivan, Neon or Ford Crown Vic (the three biggest "smokers" I see in traffic), how would this be different from conventional cars? In fact, I'd bet that the hybrids will be cleaner at the end of their life cycle, than conventional cars are at the beginning! But that's just a guess, of course.
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Poe 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
I'll be very interested to see how well they hold up to the extreme duty a NYC Taxi goes through on a daily basis. To paraphraase the song... If they can make it there, they'll make it ANYWHERE.
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Benson Leung 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Saying the average life of the battery is only 75 K to 100K is misleading.
Hybrid cars, unlike your cell phone or your iPod or your laptop, charge the battery properly and are very careful not to overcharge or deep discharge the battery, maximizing the life of the battery.
The reason why the battery in your iPod, cell phone, or laptop craps out within a year or so is because the user doesn't treat it correctly. In the case of a hybrid car, the system is in control and makes sure that the battery is very close to 60% charged in most situations, the best place for a battery to be for longevitiy.
Moreover, the fact that you called it "non biodegradable" shows that you're just trying to mislead again. Used NiMH batteries are easily recyclable to recover the nickel, and toyota and ford will recycle the batteries at no charge.
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md 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"The Prius has a lot of room even compared to the Ford Escape hybrid because the SUV is built on a full (space wasting) frame"
No, the Escape is constructed using a unibody design, its really not much more than a station wagon with a suspension lift.
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Peter 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"The Prius has a lot of room even compared to the Ford Escape hybrid because the SUV is built on a full (space wasting) frame."
Are you sure about that? I thought the Escape was unibody.
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number six 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Yes, the Ford is also unibody, my mistake. So, what is Ford's excuse for having so little interior room in the thing, then? (I was genuinely trying to cut them some slack, thinking it was frame-body, but I was dead wrong).
Maybe it's because the Prius was designed around being a hybrid, and the hood is short, leaving more room for the interior? (Kind of like what the original Mini's designer was doing with the crossways engine - room for four Brits in a car 10 feet 1/2 inch long).
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md 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"So, what is Ford's excuse for having so little interior room in the thing, then?"
Well, it is a compact SUV and they don't want it to skirt into the more profitable explorer's territory. Also, SUVs are generally shorter and narrower than cars to make them more meanuverable. A lot of people seem to think that SUVs are larger inside than regular cars and wagons, but that is simply not the case. If you need more size, you should buy a larger vehicle. Its not a matter of an "excuse," its the size that a lot of people want seeing as it is the best selling compact SUV in the U.S.
You are also right about the Prius. It was designed from the ground up to be a hybrid, the escape is a standard vehicle the had a hybrid powertrain added to it. Adding a hybrid powertrain means you have to sacrifice some sort of interior or cargo space.
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S1500 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
#11 What's the definition of "deep discharge" of a battery? ie what's the harm of running the battery to zero percent before recharging? I thoguht that was the optimal time to recharge, in order to avoid the memory effect.
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Phil 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Nimh batteries used in hybrid, as well as rewer consumer rechargable batteries, do not have memory effect, unlike the older ni-cad rechargeables
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John B 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Benson:
I was under the impression that NiMH batteries could undergo both deep discharge as well as part recharging with little memory effect. I do remember reading some years ago (possibly with a new cell phone) that the NiMH battery would benefit from occaisional complete discharge followed by complete recharging.
BTW - aren't most new gizmos (iPods, laptops, etc.) using lithium ion batteries?
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Anthony 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
The San Francisco taxi cab companies have been using the Escape hybrid since its launch! I do agree with Dave though, a London cab (which we have here in San Francisco) running on biodiesel would be awesome!
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JIm 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
WRT room in Escape vs. full size SUV (or Explorer). I own both. I'm 6'2" and my son is 6'4". There is considerably more room in the Escape than the Explorer (it's a '00 not the newer style).
Both have sun roofs and there is room to spare for my head in the Escape, not so for the Explorer where I'm up against the roof. The Escape back seat has way more individual room than the Explorer- perfect for a Taxi, although it would'nt fit three across as well. Same for room beind the seat for luggage. Probably enough for 90% of Taxi trips, but that family of five with luggage for a week visit would have difficulty.
The Explorer is much better for long trips, but the Escape is perfect in the urban environment and taxi duty, particularly the Hybrid.
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