Steep rise in gas prices has led the trend towards environmentally friendly cars among consumers and so are the efforts of the automobile manufacturers to capitalize the trend.

Ford is set to launch their 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid that boasts to be the most fuel efficient car on the planet. The 2008 Ford Escape also features a new bold exterior styling and sleek exterior car parts along with a bunch of interior amenities. The car has a higher beltline now and has a speed-sensitive Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPS) that can vary the sensitivity of the steering at different speeds for better handling.

The Escape Hybrid gets some notable functional tweaks this year, and the tweaks make its gas-electric drivetrain run more efficiently with revised software.

Together, the Escape hybrid’s 2.3-liter gas engine (133 horsepower), 70-kilowatt AC electric motor and 330-volt battery pack can perform very good when paired with a 4-speed auto or a 5-speed manual can deliver 133 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 168Nm of torque at 4,250 rpm.

The company has another model ready for 2008 - The 2008 Ford Escape, which you can get with a choice of a 2.3 liter inline-4 Duratec and a 3.0 liter V6 Duratec.

Via: Paultan