2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid Preview

Second Coming

The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is Ford Motor's second gas/electric hybrid and its timing is impeccable.

Though sales of its largest sport utility vehicles have been falling concurrently with the rise of gasoline prices, Ford Motor is at least fortunate enough to be adding a second fuel-efficient gasoline-electric hybrid SUV to its lineup for 2006.

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The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is an upscale version of its Ford counterpart, the Escape Hybrid, with attractive exterior styling highlighted by a bold chrome waterfall grille, more amenities, unique content and an upgraded interior trimmed in wood, satin aluminum and chrome. (A third SUV derived from the same platform, the Mazda Tribute, will receive a hybrid powertrain for 2007.)

Gas/electric hybrids employ a small electric motor in conjunction with a traditional gasoline combustion engine to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. Growing demand for hybrid vehicles reportedly pushed development of the Mariner Hybrid up by a year — it was originally slated as a 2007 model.

As in the Escape Hybrid, the Mariner Hybrid's powertrain is based on Toyota's hybrid technology and combines a 133-horsepower 2.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric motor, generator and rechargeable battery pack to produce a total of 155 hp. The Mariner Hybrid's gasoline engine shuts down at traffic lights and other temporary stops. The vehicle runs on battery power alone at slower speeds. The gasoline engine kicks in automatically when brisk acceleration is needed, or when speeds exceed 25 miles per hour or thereabouts.

There's no need to plug in the Mariner Hybrid as its batteries charge automatically while the car is in motion. Under deceleration or braking, a generator diverts dissipated energy from the gasoline engine and the braking system to recharge the batteries. The only available transmission is a continuously variable transmission. An all-wheel drive system works automatically to ensure stability over a wide range of road and weather conditions.

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All told, the Hybrid delivers acceleration that's equivalent to the conventional V6 powered Mariner, but with fuel economy that should be better than the four-cylinder model. The Environmental Protection Agency rates fuel economy at 33 miles per gallon in city driving and 29 mpg on the highway.

As with most other vehicles, drivers might not achieve the EPA results as the agency's test method tends to skew ratings higher than would be achievable in the real world. This discrepancy can be even larger if a motorist drives primarily on the highway, where the Mariner Hybrid relies more on the gasoline engine than the electric motor to maintain speed.

Aside from its powertrain, the Mariner Hybrid is just like a fully equipped conventional version. The Safety Canopy head-curtain airbag system is a noteworthy option designed to protect occupants in case of a rollover by sensing when the vehicle might roll and then leaving the airbags inflated for a period of time after they deploy.