I'm one of the software engineers responsible for the Ford Escape hybrid. Actually I was responsible for the safety side of it - because it decides itself how much engine and battery it needs, if the main software went haywire then Bad Things could happen, so there's independent backup software in there to check on the main software and pull the plug if things go wrong. (And before anyone invokes the spectre of Microsoft on the chances of software going wrong, I'd mention that only about 5% of our time was spent on writing the software - the rest was spent on testing and analysing the crap out of it.)

I have to say I wouldn't buy one myself. Two reasons for having a large, powerful car - either you particularly need it, or you particularly want it. I don't fit either case. The Escape isn't large by US standards, but it'd be about the biggest thing on the roads in the UK until you start looking at vans and trucks. It's not a proper 4x4, but then there aren't many SUVs that *are* proper 4x4s, really. If I needed a 4x4, I'd buy one, probably a Toyota or something else similar that's got bulletproof mechanicals.

It's a nice bit of kit though. The pedal response is hugely improved over an automatic. Put your foot down and it goes, no hanging around for the auto gearbox and torque converters to think about it. (By the way, US drivers, here's an idea. Save yourselves 5mpg with no hassle by getting yourselves manual transmissions instead of crappy automatics, why don't you?)

The battery problem with hybrids *is* a problem, and will continue to be so until we get a better way of storing electrical energy. Still, they're designed for a 10-year life, and most cars don't last longer than that these days. The bodywork might make it, but the interior will almost certainly have packed up, and the engine will be dead too. Seems to me that if your engine is dead anyway, whether the battery pack is or isn't is kind of immaterial.

Graham.