Compare the2023 Ford Escape FHEVVS 2022 Honda CR-V

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Towing
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape FHEV have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda CR-V doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Ford Escape FHEV has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The CR-V doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Escape FHEV has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The CR-V doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Escape FHEV offers an optional Reverse Brake Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The CR-V doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Escape FHEV offers an optional 360-Degree Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The CR-V only offers a rear monitor.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Escape FHEV has standard Cross Traffic Alert to warn the driver of approaching traffic and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the CR-V EX/EX-L/Touring offers Cross Traffic Monitor and the CR-V’s Cross Traffic Monitor does not include automatic braking.

The Escape FHEV has standard 911 Assist, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The CR-V doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Escape FHEV and the CR-V have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available all wheel drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Escape FHEV is safer than the Honda CR-V:

	Escape FHEV	CR-V
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	22.5%	27%
Neck Compression	23 lbs.	70 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	102	309
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Injury Risk	36.3%	37%
Neck Compression	58 lbs.	96 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	220/169 lbs.	276/243 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Escape FHEV is safer than the Honda CR-V:

	Escape FHEV	CR-V
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	240 lbs.	310 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	97	143
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	50 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	12 inches
HIC	344	386
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	35 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	543 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

There are almost 3 times as many Ford dealers as there are Honda dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Escape FHEV’s warranty.

Reliability

The Escape FHEV has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The CR-V doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Ford vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in initial quality. With 16 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Ford vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in long-term dependability. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

Engine

The Escape FHEV’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 10 more horsepower (200 vs. 190) than the CR-V’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Escape FHEV gets better mileage than the CR-V:

			MPG
Escape FHEV
	FWD	2.5 4-cyl. Hybrid	42 city/36 hwy
	AWD	2.5 4-cyl. Hybrid	42 city/36 hwy
CR-V
	FWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	28 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	27 city/32 hwy

Regenerative brakes improve the Escape FHEV’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The CR-V doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Ford Escape FHEV uses regular unleaded gasoline. The CR-V requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Ford Escape FHEV higher (8 out of 10) than the Honda CR-V (6). This means the Escape FHEV produces up to 6.6 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the CR-V every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Escape FHEV’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the CR-V:

	Escape FHEV	CR-V
Front Rotors	13 inches	12.3 inches

Suspension and Handling

The Escape FHEV has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The CR-V’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Escape FHEV has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The CR-V doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Escape FHEV’s wheelbase is 2 inches longer than on the CR-V AWD (106.7 inches vs. 104.7 inches).

Passenger Space

The Escape FHEV has 1.1 inches more front legroom, .1 inches more front hip room, .1 inches more rear headroom, 3.8 inches more rear hip room and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the CR-V.

Towing

The Escape FHEV can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Escape FHEV can be unhitched and driven around locally. The CR-V can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Standard Trailer Sway Control on the Escape FHEV uses the AdvanceTrac® sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The CR-V doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Ergonomics

The Escape FHEV Elite/Platinum offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The CR-V doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Escape FHEV and the CR-V have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Escape FHEV is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The CR-V prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Escape FHEV SEL/Titanium’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The CR-V SE/EX/EX-L/Touring’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Escape FHEV’s available exterior PIN entry system. The CR-V doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Escape FHEV’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The CR-V LX’s standard fixed intermittent wipers only have one fixed delay setting, so the driver will have to manually switch them between slow and intermittent.

The Escape FHEV’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the CR-V’s standard halogen headlights. LED lights also light instantly and last over twenty times longer than halogen.

The Escape FHEV has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the CR-V SE/EX/EX-L/Touring.

The Escape FHEV Elite/Platinum’s optional Active Park Assist 2.0 can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The CR-V doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Ford Escape FHEV and the Honda CR-V, based on reliability, safety and performance.