I love my 2005 prius and I think toyota did a good job on it. But I hate hearing about all the layoff's of the GM and Ford workers. I looked into the owner reviews of the Ford Escape Hybrid and it looks pretty good, I will post a link to it in hopes that some people wanting a high milage hybrid might get the escape instead of a prius. I believe ford is using toyota's drivetrain so it will be very similar to the prius anyway. Here is the link: http://autos.msn.com/research/userreviews/...d=11624&src=VIP Here is a link to REAL MPG listing: http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/
It doesn't use Toyota's drivetrain, it made its own up and it just happens to be similar to Toyota's one so they signed an agreement and Ford paid Toyota a bounty to prevent lawsuits.
No, there was no exchange of money that I'm aware of. Ford had patents on diesel engines that were similar to ones Toyota was developing so they basically exchanged patent rights. Now Ford doesn't have to worry about the similarity between their hybrid system and Toyota's, and Toyota doesn't have to worry about their diesel engines that are similar to Ford's.
I test drove the escape. I was fairly impressed by it, but I decided to stick with the Prius anyway... I didn't really need the SUVness of it (although considering today's snowfall, 4WD and higher ground clearance would have been nice)... and the Prius offered more in terms of techy features.
I've seen the Ford Escape Hybrid close-up and was a bit underwhelmed because although it is considered an SUV it's space on the inside was close to what the Prius offers. The cargo area had more room but I believe the rear passenger legroom was tighter in the Escape. Maybe if the Escape cost as much as the Prius I would consider it but it's base cost is that of a fully loaded Prius. Anyway, I still applaud Ford for moving in the right direction with hybrids even though I don't think the Escape hybrid has much draw over the Prius. Ford should have implemented its hybrid drivetrain in something like its Explorer or a minivan and open up a new direction in the hybrid market instead of this dinky SUV.
