So this is what the ultimate commuter vehicle looks like. And this is what the future holds, this electro-gas doohickey disguised as the kind of car we've been driving for 20 years.

How boring. To think the future will look like the past and the present, circa-SUV. It shows that we don't change much, and when we do it happens slowly. As automakers cater to our preferences, it's not often that a car comes along signaling change on a broad scale, a vehicle that shifts the national conversation about all things conservation, geopolitical and, well, downright smart.

Hyperbolic? Consider that the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, as the first SUV built with a hybrid powertrain, makes this technology viable in the sprawling suburbs of America, thus incrementally reducing our dependency on foreign oil, our abuse of the planet, our mucking up of clear skies. Now that's change, and that's exciting - which is why the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid is the Autobytel Editors' Choice for Best Car for the Environment.

Sure, there are other hybrids on the road, some which run faster and get better gas mileage. Most were here long before the Ford Escape Hybrid. But there are no other hybrids that offer SUV convenience with significant fuel savings and clear skies technology. Ford labored long and hard to deliver this vehicle, and the fruit of its work is a fine vehicle that features a true hybrid system - you can actually roll forward with electric power only - that's derived from its own source of energy, courtesy of regenerative braking power.

The 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine and 70-kilowatt electric motor give the Escape Hybrid around 155 horsepower and plenty of low-end torque, which makes it feel like a V6. Buyers have a choice between front-wheel and four-wheel drive, with power delivered through a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Priced at just under $27,000 for the front-drive model and $28,595 for the four-wheel-drive version, the window sticker comes in at about $3,300 to $3,425 more than a comparably equipped 2005 Ford Escape XLT V6 model. Fuel mileage ratings are in the neighborhood of 35 mpg in the city, though how effective your hybrid is at saving money at the pump depends entirely on how you drive.

Come to think of it, that is really what it all comes down to now: how you drive. With the introduction of the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, there's a viable choice for conservation - a choice that will fundamentally change the types of vehicles automakers build.

- Brian Chee