Spotlight Customer: Jeannie Wachs

In January of this year, Service Motors called Jeannie Wachs and told her we had finally gotten an Escape Hybrid into our dealership. Immediately, Jeannie visited our dealership and bought her hybrid while it was still being serviced and inspected by our service department! Several months later, Jeannie spoke with us about "going green."

When Jeannie Wachs decided her old vehicle was simply too small for her needs, soaring gas prices made her seriously debate whether she wanted to upgrade to a larger vehicle.

Ultimately, it was her friend Lori who tuned her into hybrid vehicles, which use both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to run. After doing some research, Jeannie decided to pursue a Ford Escape Hybrid, which changed the face of hybrids in 2005 when it took the technology out of small vehicles and put it into an SUV.

In “mild” hybrid designs, the gasoline engine is always running and the electric motor simply augments it to help save some fuel. However, the Escape Hybrid implements a full hybrid system, which means the engine and the motor can run independently of one another. Put simply, the electric motor runs when you’re stopped or traveling at speeds of less than 25 mph, and the gas engine takes over at other times.

Since Jeannie does a lot of city driving, she determined the hybrid technology was perfect for her needs.

“In the city it is very efficient,” Jeannie said. “You can definitely tell the difference.”

According to Jeannie, the only thing she had to get used to was the transition between gas and electric power.

“When it’s in ‘battery mode’ you can’t hear the engine,” she said. “It took me about a week or two to get used to that!”

Other than the noise factor, Jeannie said the shift to her hybrid was essentially effortless.

“It performs the same way and feels just like a regular vehicle,” Jeannie said. “It drives the same, it brakes the same – the only thing different about it is how it functions.”

That was the exact concept Ford engineers had in mind when they created the Ford Escape Hybrid. Ford wanted to ensure that no special technical skills were needed to drive the vehicle, and they attempted to make the hybrid technology as transparent as possible. There isn’t even a meter to show the charge of the Escape Hybrid’s battery – the driver simply isn’t supposed to worry about it.

According to Jeannie, while her hybrid was slightly pricier than other similar vehicles, the benefits of increased gas mileage and a sense of being environmentally friendly are completely worth it. In fact, she is now considering making her house “green” by installing solar panels.

“Even though it is more expensive to go green, once you get the technology, you definitely save the money in the long run,” Jeannie said.