Ford Escape vs Ford Endura

What's the difference?

We might have been excited to see the new generation Ford Ranger and Ford Everest models in 2022, but the real star of the show for the Blue Oval brand could well be this - its first electrified model to make it to Australia, the new Ford Escape PHEV.

If you’ve seen the letters PHEV before and not understood what it meant, don’t stress - you’re not alone. It stands for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. And what that means is that this car comes with a battery bank and electric motor, a port to plug it in and recharge it to drive on EV power only, and it also has a petrol engine to make sure you’re not stuck when you run out of charge.

I’ll run through all the details on the drivetrain below, but think of it this way - if you want a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid but want the possibility to drive on dedicated electric power for up to (and in excess of) 50 kilometres on a charge, this could be the right car for you…

For most Aussies it probably seems the Ford Endura has just magically appeared and some of you might be wondering where Ford’s Territory went. Well, meet the new Territory… kind of.

Where the Territory was Australian-made, the Endura is built in Canada, and this model has been on sale in the United States since 2015.

The Endura received a big revamp at the start of this year and now it’s been introduced here because Ford’s had a gap in its line-up since the end of local car making meant the end of the Territory.

We went to the launch of Ford Australia’s new large SUV to see how it coped with our local roads and to investigate what it offered in terms of practicality, space and value.