If higher speed highway driving is you primary concern, you would be better of with Prius shape without the extra weight of batteries and secondary drive.
You have probably heard of Mr. Pogue from Canada who, in the 1930's, developed a carburator which used exhaust gases to vaporize the fuel so the engine ran on only fumes which is the way they are designed to do. He was able to get 200 mpg's in a mid sized car. There were numerous newspaper articles about his invention and the oil stocks even went down on the news of it. Unfortunatley, he was bought out by either a car maker or oil company, I don't remember which. It's pretty well known that the big auto makers and oil companies are purposely keeping great technology out of the scene so as not to greatly drop their profits. They believe they are doing the right thing but obviously it is hurting the average American.
"Half of what makes the Toyota Prius a successful design is that it is a very efficient shape with all sorts of low-friction, low-drag goodness." I'm waiting for the 23,000lb+ GCVW rated Prius so I can put my backhoe with the goose-neck 20' low deck trailer.
"Ford keeps mating this gee-whiz technology to big, heavy, inherently inefficient platforms like the Escape and the Edge. Half of what makes the Toyota Prius a successful design is that it is a very efficient shape with all sorts of low-friction, low-drag goodness."
Toyota has Hybrids for two suvs (Highlander, RX400h), Camry, Lexus G and LS series full sized sedans.
Getting enough out on the road is a part of getting acceptance. While the Prius may be the most economical, it is not widely appealing.
GM uses their part-hybrid in work trucks. Earlier Ford hybrids used Toyota licensed technology.
No domestic can match Toyota technology, in current vehicles. But you can't expect great American automakers to plan ahead, invest in the future, at the expense of next quarter's eps.
True enough. With Escape, there were legal implications to why we never saw a hybrid Focus. With the Edge hybrid, I suppose they may be rushing a bit - get the technology out the door in the newest possible platform, then work on the engineering aspects of putting it in a smaller car.
I like my Escape Hybrid, but what it essentially gives me is the roominess of an SUV with conventional car mileage. If Ford is going to make money in the hybrid market, they need to challenge the Civic hybrid and work up to the Prius.