Photo Gallery: 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid For Lifeguards

Ford Motor Company is teaming up with the Los Angeles County Lifeguards, a division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, to help save lives while protecting the environment. Today, Ford presented the squad with the first 10 of a fleet of 45 eco-friendly Escape Hybrids with Intelligent four-wheel-drive, specially equipped for use on rescue patrol along 72 miles of Southern California coastline.

"We are the largest lifeguard organization in the world, and we have always blazed the trail for the profession," said Mike Frazer, chief, Lifeguard Services, Los Angeles County Fire Department. "We wanted to be the first public safety agency in the country to go green."

There is no better vehicle for that assignment than the world's most fuel-efficient SUV. The front-wheel-drive Ford Escape Hybrid returns 34 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the highway. Intelligent four-wheel-drive models, like the ones used by the lifeguards, return 29 mpg city and 27 highway.

"The Escape Hybrid is one of the cleanest vehicles available today," said Dewsnap. "It meets California's strict Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) standard. To put it in a California summer context, this means it releases fewer smog-forming emissions into the atmosphere during a three-hour drive (about 180 miles) than grilling one hamburger in your back yard."

This photo gallery cover the new 2009 model Ford Escape Hybrid photos & pictures. It contains high-res wallpaper images of interior and exterior for Ford's new Escape Hybrid customized to need for Los Angeles County Lifeguards. Click on the thumbnail pics below to enlarge.

Source: TheyReviewed