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Could a vehicle be deemed the ultimate hockey mom vehicle if it is only available in Canada's bigger cities?

The Ford Escape hybrid isn't available in my hometown. The local dealership, where an in-law works, doesn't carry the hybrid model because the interest simply isn't there. Customers in Belleville, Ont., it seems, aren't willing to pay an extra $6,000 for great mileage and a cleaner ride.

Their loss.

I bet they would be willing to pay a little more upfront if they knew the Ford Escape hybrid easily clocks 598 kilometres of mixed city and highway driving on only 50 litres of gas. You read that right: The hybrid Escape outperforms, fuel-wise, any of the vehicles I've tested for this ultimate hockey vehicle experiment.

When your vehicle takes you that far, there's no need for a giant gas tank and a giant wallet. When your vehicle is that green, there's no need to worry about dumping tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the name of our national sport.

Drivers might be surprised to learn, too, that driving a hybrid doesn't require parking near an electrical outlet — you don't have to plug in a hybrid. It creates its own energy, recharging the battery as you drive.

And that battery space doesn't eat up valuable cargo space. The Ford Escape hybrid has as much cargo space as the regular Ford Escape.

Which, admittedly, looks lacking.

The Ford Escape looks like a small vehicle. It doesn't have that sense of heft that so many SUV drivers love.

It's true you won't be able to pack your entire house, including the microwave, into the back for a trip down east. Even a three-day journey to Quebec City for five women of varying ages, women who love their clothing and who love to shop (is there any other kind?) is a squeeze.

But you have to ask yourself: Do you really need to buy a bigger and less fuel-efficient vehicle for that one or two weeks of the year you do want the extra space?

If you have only one or two kids, do you really need five seats in the back? I had grand visions of combined family outings to the beach when we bought our minivan. That happens once, maybe twice, a year. Does that justify the environmental cost?

And if you don't plan to drive Grammy and Papa to the rink once a week, why are you paying for extra fuel and pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for the luxury of extra seats you rarely put bums in?

The reality is our lives are so scripted to the last minute with mum and dad's unsynchronized work schedules, constantly clashing hockey schedules, dance classes and piano and guitar lessons, that we are seldom able to co-ordinate sharing with other parents the drive to hockey practices and games.

I know it's hard to shake the idealistic images that a minivan offers, especially if, like me, you're of the more-the-merrier line of thinking. We cling to those visions, but sometimes you just have to cut the cord. And guess what? By cutting the cord, you cut the guilt factor, too. You know the one: the one fuelled by all those unfulfilled visions of group outings to provincial parks and carpooling to the game.

With gas prices in flux and enormous chunks of the Arctic ice shelf falling into the sea, it's a bit easier to put your own life into perspective. Bigger isn't better. Superior fuel economy and fewer greenhouse gas emissions are.

The fact is the Ford Escape hybrid will fit your hockey bags and suitcases and backpacks and get you through those tournament weekends. It's not as spacious as a minivan, or an Explorer or other environmentally unfriendly SUVs. But we're not the cargo-gluttons we used to be, either.

While that green card is a mighty big and forgiving incentive, the Escape doesn't escape criticism.

Why would a car maker put the power function on the rear hatch and not on the entire rear door? Exactly who does that serve? Certainly not the majority of the women I know. Put the power on the door.

Give me a button that will save me having to spare one of my five hands to unlock and lift the back gate: Those five hands are already juggling a hockey bag, my travel mug, the fundraising handout we just received from a dedicated team volunteer, my arena blanket and my overstuffed purse.

While you're at it, give me a button that will close that door, too. I don't want to get my hands dirty and some of that stuff I'm juggling is going in the front.

Unlike the Toyota Highlander hybrid, the Escape hybrid sounded and felt like it was working hard to get the job done. You notice it as a driver and your passenger notices it, too. But the proof is in the pudding, or the gas bill, and despite the effort, the results are there.

The Escape hybrid is, in hockey terms, a plumber — a player who lacks elegance and flash, not necessarily the speediest on the ice, but one who is trustworthy, reliable and gets the job done. And that, as any coach will tell you, is a valuable player indeed.

It's also a player who joins the team without eating the salary cap — it may be the new reality in the NHL, but it's the old reality where most families are concerned. The Ford Escape hybrid starts at $31,499. And, two 2008 Escape hybrid models are among only seven that qualify for Transport Canada's full $2,000 ecoAuto rebate.

That's not a lot of use for customers in cities where the hybrid isn't available (the underlying point being, if it's not available for sale, the mechanics at the dealership haven't been trained to work on it).

It's too bad this ultimate hockey vehicle isn't available in some smaller cities. Too bad for the hockey moms and dads who want to save money and the environment; too bad for the kids who live in those cities, breathing the extra emissions non-hybrid vehicles spew; and too bad for that great ice-pad up north.

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Mom's checklist

2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

Base Price: $31,499; as tested: $34,469

Engine: gasoline-electric hybrid

Fuel economy (litres/100 kilometres): 5.7 city/6.7 highway; regular gas

Advantages: Environmentally friendly features extend beyond the engine with the car industry's first fabric seating material made from 100 per cent recycled material (thereby saving water, conserving energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions); runs on hybrid alone at speeds up to 48 km/h (higher than the competition); and meets Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standard

Passenger seating incredibly easy to fold; front-seat passenger airbag shuts off, allowing a child to ride up front; optional heated seats and mirrors; MP3 jack and Sirius radio; steering-wheel-mounted audio controls

Drawbacks: No power rear door; minimal storage for kids' stuff; soft privacy screen instead of hard divider