Has anyone found and installed a performance chip for the Escape Hybrid? Is this possible and would it then allow for a greater towing capacity than 1000 lbs? Would an additonal 20 HP and Torque gain allow 1500lb towing capacity? Would this be a wiser solution than to rent another vehicle (how easy is it to find another towing vehicle?) several times a year to tow your boat or whatever?

 

I don't think many people here would even consider messing with the programming of this vehicle....not in that way anyhow. Certainly not to increase power/towing. In addition, the engineering of this system is probably not something an aftermarket supplier is going to be familiar with.

The system is setup this way for a reason. It is highly engineered to be the most fuel efficient SUV in the world, while at the same time insuring it will survive the 8yr/100,000mi warranty. "Tweaking" it to increase the torque of the motors or increase the max power draw of the motors would surely shorten their lives. Any such mod would void your warranty and leave you open to huge expenses down the road should anything fail. Better to rent something bigger those few times you need to tow a trailer.

 

You can tow 1000lbs. at any speed for any length of time.

You can tow more than this if you slow down, and don't do it every day.

Last week, I saw a FEH towing the 2nd largest U-Haul trailer they make, plus the guy had a cargo carrier on top of the car, plus 4 passengers. Oh... he was also climbing a 7% grade up the Rockies at 55+ MPH. Was he "over-loaded"? For sure.

Wow. Not sure if that's necessarily good for the car, but it was certainly capable. -John

 

Thanks for the reply. I got a trailer 8 by 10 that weighs around 1350-1400lbs when it is loaded. I pull the trailer several times a year including a 6 mile long Turnpike Hiway with a 8-9% uphill. There is also a 3 mile uphill at 7-11% grade two lane road I am also concerned about. Year ago I used an 89 Taurus wagon with all 140 HP (125ft/lbs torque?) and barely (in first gear) made it over the top of the uphills. My aging 96 Sable wagon has 200 HP and 200 Ft Lbs of torque and barely breaks a sweat going over the uphills.

How long (time wise) can the electric battery assist the engine with this demanding task? If it constantly assists with the task, then is the Horsepower rating is 155 and torque figures nearly the same? If the battery becomes "depleted" how long before it can begin assisting with this task?

Better to ask questions even if they are "dumb" before purchase than learning the hard way after the purchase.

 

The battery pack is there primarily for acceleration, and to recapture braking energy. You get about 2 minutes of a trickle ( 10 HP ) help, or about 20 seconds of a 40 HP boost. ( It's there for passing on the highway. )

You get electric motor help all the time, but it's not from the battery.
The gas engine has an ideal range, and in this range, it will actually turn the generator, and the generator will send power to the electric motor, and the electric motor will help turn the wheels. This sound weird, but this is exactly how every train locomotive works. A diesel locomotive's engine does not ever pull the train. In that case, electric motors do all the work, since they are much more efficient, especially at low speeds and high torque demands.
-John
P.S. 1400 pounds will be just fine.

P.P.S. Don't get hung up on horsepower though. Torque is more important in your case. A John Deere tractor may be 40 HP, but will pull out a tree.
A Porsche may be 400 HP but won't pull a toy wagon! The torque always quoted is at high speed. The Ford Escape Hybrid has about 500 ft/lbs of torque taking off from a stoplight. How does that sound?

 

The Ford Escape Hybrid has about 500 ft/lbs of torque taking off from a stoplight. How does that sound?

Wow! I never knew the Escape had that kind of torque. I need to keep reading and learning about the Escape hybrid from other members of this forum.

Later in the year I will revisit the Ford Dealership for another test drive of the Ford Escape Hybrid but this time a 2008 model which is suppose to be much quieter than the nosiy 2007 model I tested. Maybe Ford engineers will have figured out the electronic stability issue with the Escape Hybrid by this time.

 

An electric motor has the most torque at it's lowest speed, and loses torque with faster RPM.

A combustion engine has low torque at low RPM and increases up to a maximum, in this case, at 4250 RPM.

So for taking off from a dead stop, the Escape Hybrid is very good at pulling trailers... probably up there with super-duty trucks. It would not be nearly as good at highway speeds on hills though....


P.S.
Oh... there is a current limiter, so if the wheels don't turn ( Like once I tried to pull a stuck vehicle out of a deep snow drift, and from a dead stop, after 1 second, the electrical current was cut and the car wouldn't budge... ) it won't burn up the motor ( or battery ). Once the wheels are turning, you have tons of torque at 1-5MPH, then it starts falling off... then the combustion engine starts ramping up, and then most of the work comes from the engine... it's a constant trade off.

 

Just because a vehicle CAN do something, doesn't mean it SHOULD.

Also, I don't know about the pulling power of this vehicle on hills. We are talking about a 4 cylinder engine tweeked for fuel economy not power. I'd be nervous trying to take a 1500LB trailer up a steep incline. I'd recommend finding a steep hill and doing a test drive. See how it feels accelerating up the incline without a trailer and then decide if you want to try the same with a trailer.

 

I've said this before myself.
I'm just reporting facts, not recommendations.
We all know it is under-rated for towing.
Sedans are not usually rated for towing at all, but how many times have you seen a U-haul behind one?

 

Likely because they know some folks will exceed the rating, no matter what it is. I think it would do fine with a 1500 lb tow, as long as it's only occasionally.