Is the Ford Escape's new, high-tech 3-cylinder turbo engine a game changer?

Ford's plan to introduce the 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine in the U.S. in the 2020 Escape arriving this fall is a smart move.

Although car buyers aren't placing fuel economy atop their priority lists while gasoline is relatively cheap, that could change quickly if fuel prices keep rising. A hike in gasoline and diesel taxes also is a possibility.

Since 1993, the federal government has taxed gasoline at 18.4 cents per gallon and diesel fuel at 24.4 cents per gallon. One of the few issues the major political parties agree on in principle is the need to fix the nation's crumbling roads, bridges, railroad crossings and highways.

The Trump administration is said to favor a 25 cents per gallon tax hike on gasoline and diesel with the funds earmarked for infrastructure improvements. Michigan is also considering raising fuel taxes. In fact, the governor was elected in part on her promise to "fix the damn roads."

Also, since the beginning of the year, oil prices have risen sharply — about $12 per barrel — which you are now seeing at the pump. AAA says the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $2.75, up from $2.66 a year ago.

And that brings us back to the Escape. With passenger-car diesel engines operating under a black cloud these days (thanks, Volkswagen), gasoline-electric hybrids and thrifty downsized gasoline engines look like the ticket to fuel economy gains.

But most hybrids perform better in city driving, where the electric motor does much of the heavy lifting. On the highway, most hybrids are less efficient because the vehicle is hauling around a heavy battery pack and electric motor that are not contributing much propulsion.

If I needed a compact utility vehicle that looks to be extremely fuel efficient and didn't want the hassle of worrying about a degrading battery pack and all the complexity of having two drivetrains in one vehicle, the 1.5-liter Escape would have me seriously kicking its tires. We won't know the vehicle's EPA ratings until they are certified this summer, but clues abound.

Ford launched the 1.5-liter engine across Europe last year. In the Focus, the engine is rated at 182 hp — about the same state of tune as the engine slated for the Escape — with a fuel-economy rating of 51 mpg on the European drive cycle. Some caveats here. The British or imperial gallon is 20 percent larger than the U.S. gallon, and European fuel economy tests differ from the EPA's tests.

Still, the 1.5-liter engine, a turbo, has a novel feature — cylinder deactivation that cuts out one cylinder — that is thrifty and able to deliver decent performance. Ford will also offer two models of the 2020 Escape with a hybrid powertrain.

But I think the 1.5-liter engine could be the superstar in the Escape's four-powertrain lineup that delivers the best combination of value, fuel economy and performance. Ford's previous three-cylinder engine, a 1.0-liter that was optional here in the Fiesta and Focus, didn't make much noise in the marketplace. In fact, Ford did little to promote it.

Hopefully, the 1.5-liter will not suffer the same fate. A video showing how the 1.5-liter engine works shows the valvetrain on the first cylinder and the sliding pin that deactivates the valves. Pretty neat stuff.