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911 Ford Escapes held TLC licenses on October 12, 2026, and more of them are yellow taxis (508) than for-hire vehicles (403). It is the fifth most common yellow-taxi model and the most hybrid-heavy of the top 20: four in five decode as hybrid.
Like the RAV4, the Escape taxi fleet has an end in sight. No new Escape can be hacked up as a cab, so the 508 Escape taxis will be replaced by accessible vehicles as they reach retirement.
How we counted
TLC's FHV list and medallion vehicle list have no model column, so the Escape count comes from running every VIN through NHTSA's vPIC decoder. Powertrain also comes from vPIC and may be wrong for a few model years.
Two different Escape fleets
The chart shows two separate groups.
The taxis are recent. 78 are model-year 2021, 360 are 2022 and 67 are 2023. Then they stop: 2 cars from 2024 and none from 2025 or 2026. TLC's hack-up page says that as of October 18, 2024, owners must hack up an accessible vehicle even without an accessible medallion, and the Escape is not on the approved accessible list.
The FHVs are older. 29.5% of FHV Escapes are model-year 2016 or older, about three times the share for all FHVs (about 10%). There is a cluster from 2010–2012 (94 cars) and a smaller one from 2021–2022 (146 cars). Only 16 FHV Escapes are 2024 or newer.
If you are offered one of the older FHV Escapes, remember that it must still pass a TLC inspection three times a year, at least once every four months (rule 59A-26). Look up open recalls by VIN at NHTSA, and ask for the inspection history before you rent or buy.
If you drive or lease an Escape cab
An Escape taxi is a non-accessible taxi, so it has a scheduled retirement date under rule 67-18. The date depends on when the car was hacked up and whether it was new or used then; the formula and the one-time hardship extension are in TLC vehicle retirement age. After that date the owner must hack up an approved accessible vehicle instead; see can my taxi be a non-accessible car.
If you lease the cab, TLC's lease caps in rule 58-21 (chapter 58) include separate cost adjustments for hybrid taxis; see taxi lease caps.
The most hybrid model in the top 20
725 Escapes (79.6%) decode as hybrid and 8 as plug-in hybrid. That beats the Toyota Sienna (74.5%) and RAV4 (71.5%) and is far above the FHV average (about 30%). The yellow-taxi fleet as a whole is about 72% hybrid, and the Escape fits that pattern.
Base types
384 FHV Escapes are at black car bases (the app-trip base type), 18 at livery bases and 1 at a luxury limousine base. That 4.5% livery share is the highest among the 20 most common models. None are marked wheelchair accessible; 5 carry TLC's undefined "PILOT" label.
FHV plates for an Escape
New FHV licenses go only to approved wheelchair accessible vehicles (TLC). With an existing license, move it to an Escape by vehicle transfer; see TLC plates for FHVs. Inspections: TLC vehicle inspection.
See the Toyota RAV4, Honda Pilot, Lincoln Aviator, GMC Yukon XL, and yellow taxi fleet by model.
More in the vehicles topic; try the lease-vs-buy tool.
Data on this page
Aggregates of public data. They describe trips and vehicles, never individual people.
TLC's vehicle lists have no make/model column, so TLC Help decoded the VIN of every licensed vehicle with NHTSA's vPIC decoder (one representative VIN per manufacturer + model-descriptor + model-year pattern) and published only counts. 5 of 115,081 vehicles (0%) could not be decoded to a model and are left out. vPIC sometimes reports trim-family names (e.g. 'RX' not 'RX 350h'); powertrain comes from vPIC's electrification/fuel fields and may misclassify a few model years. Snapshot lists change daily.
- Ford Escape: licensed TLC vehicles by model year — Active FHVs and authorized medallion taxis that are a Ford Escape, by model year.NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026Model year from TLC's vehicle_year / model_year columns. Age limits for TLC vehicles come from TLC rules, not this chart.
- Ford Escape in the TLC fleet: hybrid, electric or gas — Licensed Ford Escape vehicles by powertrain (from decoded VINs).NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Ford Escape: where it is licensed (FHV base type vs medallion taxi) — Licensed Ford Escape vehicles by fleet: FHVs by the type of base they are affiliated with, and medallion taxis.NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026Wheelchair-accessible (FHV list): 0 WAV, 5 PILOT. App-based (high-volume) work generally runs through black car bases.
Frequently asked questions
How many Ford Escapes are licensed by the TLC?
911 in the October 12, 2026 snapshot: 508 yellow taxis and 403 for-hire vehicles. TLC Help counted them by decoding VINs with NHTSA's vPIC decoder.
Are TLC Ford Escapes hybrids?
Most are. 725 decode as hybrid (79.6%), 8 as plug-in hybrid and 178 as gas. That is the highest hybrid share among the 20 most common TLC models.
Can a new Ford Escape be hacked up as a taxi?
No. Since October 18, 2024 TLC requires every hack-up to be an accessible vehicle, and the Escape is not on TLC's approved accessible list (revised October 2, 2026). The newest Escape taxis in the data are 2 cars from model-year 2024.
When do Escape taxis have to retire?
A non-accessible taxi must retire by a scheduled date under rule 67-18, based on when it was hacked up and whether it was new or used. Our retirement-age guide explains the formula and the hardship extension.
Sources
Last reviewed against the official sources on .
- NYC Open Data: For Hire Vehicles (FHV) – Active (8wbx-tsch) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Medallion Vehicles – Authorized (rhe8-mgbb) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NHTSA vPIC VIN decoder API vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov
- TLC: Yellow Cab Hack-Up nyc.gov
- TLC: Approved accessible vehicles (revised Oct 2, 2026) nyc.gov
- TLC Rule Book Chapter 67 (Taxicab Hack-up and Maintenance) nyc.gov
- TLC Rule Book Chapter 58 (Taxicab Owners), lease caps 58-21 nyc.gov
- NHTSA: Check for recalls by VIN nhtsa.gov
- TLC: Get a For-Hire Vehicle License nyc.gov
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it against the official source.
TLC Help is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission or OATH. Explanations on this site are general information, not legal advice. Legal representation is provided by independent attorneys and OATH-registered representatives in our network.