The 2017 Escape’s New Center Console Keeps Pocket Dwellers from Riding Shotgun

2017 Ford Escape’s new center console (Credit: © Ford)

We’ve all been there… you know, when you use all of the space in your center console and are stuck putting all the junk that’s in your pockets on the passenger’s seat. Ford is doing all it can to minimize this with the 2017 Ford Escape’s redesigned—and more spacious—center console area.

The center console really is prime real estate these days, and automakers are getting more creative in how they use this space every day. Ford tackled this by first eliminating one of the biggest space consumers in this area, the traditional emergency brake. In its place is a small button that activates the new electronic parking brake. With this space now opened up, designers slid the gear shifter rearward a bit, giving the room needed to add a new media bin for your cell, iPod, or whatever gadget you carry with you, and new power ports.

The movement of the shifter also opened up room for two new cubbies in front of and behind the shifter. These are great spaces for your wallet, keys, cellphone, or anything else that typically would ride either in your pocket or shotgun. Designers also widened the center console, allowing them to enlarge the cup holders, make the main storage bin 50 percent larger, and add more USB ports.

If you still need more space—I guess this is for those of you who still wear cargo pants—Ford also added a passenger-side cargo net that holds miscellaneous items and it added a new swing-bin design glove box to make storing and accessing items easier.

Other than the massive changes to storage, the 2017 Escape appears to be completely unchanged.

There is no mention of a release date or pricing, so stay tuned for updates on these.