First of all, I am not at all ashamed to say I had no desire to tackle the thick user's manual for my FEH.
Onto my topic, not that the money matters, but my salesperson told me it would require premium gasline, 91+ I suppose, I was a little surprised by this. Anyway, is everyone else told this? Have you tried any lower grade gas?

 

From Ford's website:

Fuel Regular unleaded

 

My '05 has run great on the Ford recommended 87 Octane. I wonder where they get these salesman and how they train them..

I had the acting Business Manager at the dealer I bought my '05 from tell me that the Hybrid only came in 4 wheel drive when I was buying a front WD...this was after he tried to sell me the ESP on a 4WD vehicle and I caught him doing so.....the really sad part is that he is also a salesman. I did get a nice letter from the owner of the dealership after I sent my customer satisfaction survey back with numerous negative comments!

A kinda related gripe, just to demonstrate how bad these folks (dealership types) are - when I bought both my '05 and '06 FEH's, they put a sticker inside the windshield saying it was due for an oil change at 3000 miles. The book says 10k.

I am convinced that most of them know nothing about the Hybrids. For a good laugh, ask a saleman to explain the CV transmission.

 

I hold the typical salesperson in similar low regard; however, when I purchased my FEH the seasoned salesman responded to the more detail-oriented questions I asked with, "I only have sold one of these so far, last year, so let's look that up in the manual."

A refreshing approach.

I resorted to studying the manual to some degree due to my fear of failing to follow prescribed proceedure and then somehow damage my warranty...

 

I'd hope that regular unleaded is just as good for your Escape, or for that matter any hybrid. Two reasons:

(1) The extra detergents that only Premium blends had are now in all grades of gasoline. No longer is it necessary to clean the engine by occasionally pumping up Premium or putting in a bottle of additives.

(2) The electric motor has superior acceleration than a gasoline engine. If octane matters, that would suggest that a diesel-electric hybrid is going to be a bad idea. Diesels have had a history of poor acceleration. A diesel-electric hybrid looks like the best of both worlds - diesel economy, electric acceleration.

 

These are good points, it's just I am not too familiar with the Atkinson engine, as a matter of fact, I had never heard of it before prior to FEH. Anyway, since Ford's website said that it takes regular unlead, that can't be wrong.