Follow the hybrid road: Ford Motor Company joins the hybrid revolution with the first American-built full-hybrid SUV.

There's something strangely fitting about using Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 9 to hold the technical portion of the first Hybrid Ford Escape ride-and-drive. Phil Martens, group vice president, Product Creation, mentioned in his presentation that this is the same studio (previously MGM) where the Wizard of Oz was filmed.

And though there weren't any wicked witches to battle, Ford is still trying to pour water on the hot topic of who's parts are actually behind that curtain, or under the hood, as it may be, of the Escape Hybrid.

Ford continues to deny that there are any actual Toyota parts among the 351 patents that make up the hybrid drivetrain (Ford owns 100 of them), but they do share some of the same technologies, similar enough that Ford felt compelled to pony up the license fees on 21 Toyota patents to quash any possible patent infringement suits.

For example, the Aisin-supplied transaxle is identical in concept to the Prius, though components are rearranged for packaging purposes. The unit has also been nearly doubled in size to achieve the necessary power and electrical capacity needed for the larger SUV.

Ford also admits to the trading of patents on some technologies (Ford reportedly swapped gas-injection technology for the electric-only reverse drive option of the Prius).

Similar parts aside, it's the algorithms that tell the components what to do and when and this is where Ford has given Escape a brain and a heart of its own.

While Prius is still aimed squarely at the environmentally-conscious, Ford's 'No Compromise' approach to Escape (V-6 power /4-cylinder mileage), creates a vehicle that's as much about SUV performance as fuel-sipping economy.

From the driver's seat, the Hybrid Escape doesn't differ much from the non-hybrid Escape. The only visual cues are housed in the IP. To the left is a charge and assist gauge that tells you whether you're charging the battery or using it and the tachometer has a small electric motor icon, below the zero, where the needle drops to when the engine is off and the vehicle is running on electric only.

Buyers who opt for the navigation system get a graphic diagram showing the gas engine, motor and battery inside an outline of a truck with arrows depicting the flow of energy to and from the components. Vehicles without the navigation system have bar graphs that monitor the same functions.