![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/09\/17\/PDTN\/26861759-9865-4450-b5b4-01c297bab890-escape_hybrid-fr3-4.JPG?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>The 2020 Ford Escape Sport Hybrid comes with blacked-out grille and windows, a digital instrument cluster and 198 horsepower.\u00a0(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/p>\n Ford\u2019s two best-selling vehicles, the F-150 pickup and Escape SUV, may target different customers but they have traditionally relied on the same recipe: high-tech with high-design.<\/p>\n The F-150 is a tech-tastic smorgasbord of industry bests like trailer park-assist and stump-pulling towing. So,\u00a0too, Escape, which introduced self-park-assist\u00a0and kick-open tailgate gizmos that took many luxury\u00a0brands years to emulate.<\/p>\n In 2015 the F-150 introduced its greatest tech confection yet \u2014 an eco-friendly aluminum-skin souffle \u2014 and customers loved it. Right on cue, here comes the\u00a0Escape with its own daring entree: a hybrid powertrain targeted not at granola chewers, but at the meat of its customer base.<\/p>\n In fact, the hybrid model isn\u2019t pitched as a green exotic.\u00a0It simply stuffs the battery-electric, 198-horse drivetrain into its signature Sport model and dares you to like it.<\/p>\n I do.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll leave it to the bean counters as to whether a $29,000 hybrid makes financial sense (Ford has to sell a lot of hybrids to meet federal fuel-economy regulations), but as a vehicle the hybrid \u2014 er, Sport Hybrid \u2014 is the Escape\u2019s best option.<\/p>\n This is one good-looking geek. It might rival my handsome class-favorite Mazda CX-5 if only it handled like a Mazda. I\u2019ll have to wait on the Escape ST for that, I guess.<\/p>\n