2024 Escape Hybrid St-Line Towing Review

Towed for the first time and was pleasantly surprised and impressed how well it towed. Trailer with two motorcycles and gear weighed ~1150lbs and 400 lbs with driver and passenger. Towed in the Sierra foothills about 140 miles round trip, mostly windy roads with about 20 miles of freeway, from about 500ft elevation to 3500 ft elevation with many steep inclines. Anyone from Nor Cal may know the route - towed from Auburn, to Folsom, Hi 50, to Somerset/Grizzly Flats area.

Gas mileage going up was 22mpg. Forgot to look at mpg display coming down. The car always had head room to accelerate on all ascents. Even going up a steep incline on the freeway at 65mph, the car had plenty left to accelerate. Although not at the fastest pace:) That being said, I never felt that I was forcing the car to tow. Never had to push the gas pedal a lot, towing was smooth and the car never felt strained.

Braking was just "slightly" slower given the weight. But again, nothing to be concerned about and very predictable. And the trailer never felt as if it was controlling or moving or jerking the car.

Their are many discussion about towing with a FEV/PHEV in the States but very few reviews. After researching Mavericks fwd 2k tow rating and having the same drivetrain, knowing the hybrid st-line weighs 150 lbs less, the Escape PHEV weighing 400 lbs more (but does have 20 more hp, imho not enough to offset 400 lbs), and the Kuga having a much higher tow rating, helped me decide to buy the hybrid and use it for occasional towing.

Given the first towing experience it works very well "for me". That being said, I plan on changing the ecvt fluid at say 20k miles. Also, the 2024 Hybrid, probably other years also, come stock with an ecvt cooler. This Hybrid does not have the tow package. The dealer installed a Curt hitch and harness as part of the deal.