LIGHTNING_KID Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Help! Can anyone from KCAP tell me what the hybrid production schedule is like for the next couple of months? Does the plant need a certain number of confirmed orders before they are built? I'm trying to figure out what/why these vehicles are so tough to get, very few on the dealer lots...at least in my area. Seems like the dealers were only alloted one or two vehiles each, of course they are not willing to dealer trade either. Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chkchka Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Help! Can anyone from KCAP tell me what the hybrid production schedule is like for the next couple of months? Does the plant need a certain number of confirmed orders before they are built? I'm trying to figure out what/why these vehicles are so tough to get, very few on the dealer lots...at least in my area. Seems like the dealers were only alloted one or two vehiles each, of course they are not willing to dealer trade either. Thanks for any help! I think they are working as much as they can, 2 10 hour shifts sometimes 6 days a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Harley Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 I think they are working as much as they can, 2 10 hour shifts sometimes 6 days a week. Last I knew, we could only build 5 per hour due to availability of batteries for the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwg Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 (edited) I ordered one that I believe was built this past saturday 6/24/2007. The Dealer told me that the only way to get one now was to order it. Anyway can anyone tell me if it will show up in the online inventory of the dealer prior to them actually receiving it which is scheduled for the week of July 9th? I am hoping that it will actually come in the week before. Edited June 25, 2007 by dwg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tags Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 I have an '06 Escape Hybrid and LOVE it! I get real world 31 mpg running the A/C at about 80mph. The '08 is supposed to be even better with mileage. The tax credit is higher for 08 but if you pay the AMT you won't get the credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIGHTNING_KID Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 Last I knew, we could only build 5 per hour due to availability of batteries for the unit. Thanks for the info Twincam Harley, if it is 5/hr. that explains it... My order is not due untill september, reminds me of the good old days of waiting 3 months for an order to come in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Roboto Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I have an '06 Escape Hybrid and LOVE it! I get real world 31 mpg running the A/C at about 80mph. The '08 is supposed to be even better with mileage. The tax credit is higher for 08 but if you pay the AMT you won't get the credit. And you would get even better mileage with a regular Escape with the same engine. Because at anything over stop-and-go traffic speeds the hybrid system is just extra weight. The reason that hybrids can get better mileage is that they shut down at stops, and can run on battery power at low speeds. Unless you do a significant amount of big city driving, hybrids are a waste of money and fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDawgZ Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 hybrid production should be increasing soon. We have already built some test units of the mazda tribute hybrid that are a 2008.5 unit. If you add these units in with the original Escape hybrid, they will have to increase the units per hour for these just to keep up. We do have 8 additional saurdays coming soon as we are told that we are a combined 20,000 units behind. It is also true that anything over city driving and you would be better off with the regular unit. THe hybrid cuts off at around 30 or 35 mph and relies completely on the gass engine then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tags Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 And you would get even better mileage with a regular Escape with the same engine. Because at anything over stop-and-go traffic speeds the hybrid system is just extra weight. The reason that hybrids can get better mileage is that they shut down at stops, and can run on battery power at low speeds. Unless you do a significant amount of big city driving, hybrids are a waste of money and fuel. First, I was just trying to sight an example of the fuel mileage I'm getting with my Escape Hybrid. Second, the regular Escape is not availble with the same engine. The hybrid features a 1.8L 4 banger vs. (I believe) a 2.3L in the regular version. The highway mpg of an Escape Hybrid is higher than that of a non-hybrid. When I purchased my Escape I was able to get A-Plan (obviously) + rebates, + 0% for 5 years in addition to the year end federal tax credit of $2,500. The dealer also paid-off my trade in. I certainly don't think I've wasted my money on a hybrid vehicle. FWIW, in town, I've seen mileage figures as high as 33mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhimes Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 The 2.3L hybrid models are rated at 29/27. The 3.0L V6 models are rated at 17/22. The performance is almost identical up through "normal" highway speeds. Due to the CVT transmission, very high demand / uphill performance may not be quite as well. (at least for what I have seen with the Mariner version) Anyway by chance does anybody have updates on the production line for the hybrids on what the current interval is for orderes received / scheduled through this week? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIGHTNING_KID Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 Hi again all, I'm looking for another update from anyone working at KCAP on production of Hybrid escape...I've had one on order for two months now and have been told it may not be in until October which will put it at five months...is there a comodity shortage or some other issue? The initial vehicles that were on the dealer lots have dries up and are not being replenished... Thanks in advance for any info possible... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Harley Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Hi again all, I'm looking for another update from anyone working at KCAP on production of Hybrid escape...I've had one on order for two months now and have been told it may not be in until October which will put it at five months...is there a comodity shortage or some other issue? The initial vehicles that were on the dealer lots have dries up and are not being replenished... Thanks in advance for any info possible... I don't have any updates for you but the Hybrid Escape is selling extremely well and at one time, I heard the wait time was 6 months. I sold one on X plan to a neighbor and she absolutely loves it. Hers was on a dealers lot about 3 months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhimes Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Here are some updates I saw on a different forum that were posted today (8/15/2007): Effective 8/15 estimated lead times for delivery of both Escape and Escape Hybrid to fleet customers in most states have been extended. Orders for delivery to the most distant regions (Western U.S. states, AK, HI , far Western Canada & far Eastern Canada) should factor in an additional 1-3 weeks. Escape 10-12 weeks Hybrid 14-16 weeks Mariner 8-10 weeks MMH 10-12 weeks _________________________________________ I'm not sure if anyone else can confirm this but the story I got from my dealer in late July was that retail orders were suspended - because of the backlog Ford was not accepting firm orders for individual customers. I lucked into an 08 FEH at that time because my dealer was able to trade for one but he said he couldn't give me a legitimate delivery date if I ordered one. He said that when word got out that Ford was going to suspend orders, all the dealers put in "sham" customer orders and Ford responded by demanding signed contracts for the retail sales - which knocked out 75% of the orders, but not enough to resume customer ordering. Eventually this will change when the existing customer order and dealer allocations are filled, but that might be months. _______________________________________________ My salesperson is also the fleet manager and said a bunch of west coast allocations were eaten up by government orders (that's why they've all disappeared from the lots) starting July 1, which is a fiscal year start, with the rest of us fighting for table scraps. I read the Big 3 were trying to get away from fleet sales to improve profits ! Not on these apparently. I can understand a battery shortage, but quit the marketing and hybrid PR spin if you can't make them! I was in Detroit and a few weeks ago visiting family and it's absolutely dismal there. You'd think they'd want to sell as many as possible. How'd they blow the forecast on these, especially with gas prices and the gov't credit? So if all of this is true, why the is Ford / Mercury still advertising the out of these products. I'm all for looking at Jill Wagner in the commercials, but if you have no dealer stock & there won't be any for 6 months, what am I missing here?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhimes Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 No $hit. Here they are pushing maybe 100 a day total on 2 lines for all flavors of the Escape, Mariner, & ramp up production of the 08 Tribute for west coast sales, if I wasn't A-planing my Mariner, I would be more pi$$ed then I am now. Well see how things go in a few more weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Harley Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 It is my understanding that we cannot get enough batteries to run more than 5 per hour. That is the bottleneck. SUV will be working up to 8 voluntary Saturdays beginning September 8th to increase production. The last data I saw said that the Hybrid Escape supply on dealer lots was 13 days but it may be less than that now. It wouldn't suprise me to see dealers adding ADM to these vehicles or not A/X planning them due to the short supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIGHTNING_KID Posted August 19, 2007 Author Share Posted August 19, 2007 Thanks for the updates yet again twincan and the informative reply from jwhimes! This is very frustraing, I hope that we can break away into another supplier soon as it seems we are being held hostage by liscensing agreements... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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