First Ford Escape Hybrid Taxis Take to the Streets of San Francisco

Press Release

S. F. Yellow Cab Fleet Features Ten 2005 Ford Escape Hybrids

• San Francisco Yellow Cab has purchased ten 2005 Ford Escape Hybrids
• San Francisco becomes first city in United States to use hybrid sport utility vehicles as taxicabs

Mayor Gavin Newsom today welcomed the new vehicles at City Hall. "San Francisco is proud to be the first city in the United States using hybrid SUVs as taxis. Our city and county take great pride in being socially responsible, and adding these Escape Hybrids, the most fuel-efficient SUV available, is a big step toward making our civic transportation cleaner and more environmentally friendly."

The gasoline-electric Ford Escape Hybrids, which first took to the streets in December, are owned and operated by Yellow Cab Cooperative, which purchased them from San Francisco's S & C Ford. Nate Dwiri, president of the Yellow Cab Co-op, said, "The Ford Escape Hybrid is ideal for our company. It gets better mileage in the city than on the highway, making it perfect for our streets, and its fuel economy is far better than other cabs in our fleet. And it's roomier than other hybrids on the market."

"The new 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid is the industry's first no-compromise, full-hybrid SUV and raises the bar in technological innovation," says Mary Ann Wright, Ford Motor Company's director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Programs, and Escape Hybrid's chief engineer. "These vehicles are racing off dealer lots and I'm pleased San Francisco is using them as part of their taxi fleet."

In addition to the ten Ford Escape Hybrid taxis operated by the Yellow Cab Cooperative, Luxor Cab Company of San Francisco has begun running a fleet of five Escape Hybrid Taxis purchased from S&C Ford earlier this year.

The 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid is the cleanest, most fuel-efficient SUV on the road, featuring the product strengths that have made Ford Escape the nation's best-selling small SUV. The Escape Hybrid has a full-hybrid system that enables it to run on its gasoline engine, electric battery power, or both together. Its responsive steering and handling and available four-wheel drive deliver a driving experience unlike any other hybrid vehicle available. It has earned the highest fuel economy numbers for an SUV as certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - the front-wheel-drive model achieves 36 mpg city and 31 mpg highway. The Ford Escape Hybrid was named " 2005 North American Truck of the Year" by a panel of journalists from the United States and Canada.

It is an extremely clean vehicle to operate, producing 97 percent less hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen emissions than vehicles that meet today's nationwide Tier I emissions standard. It qualifies the 2005 Escape Hybrid for the stringent Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) classification.