Just right, yet wrong (Chev. Tahoe Hybrid)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 12/26/2007 | Dan Neil

[Responsibility2nd]

The Chevy Tahoe Hybrid is as provocative and political a vehicle as you'll see this year. Why, it's practically a polemic. And those are just the "P's."

By way of a fantastic exertion of technology and human capital -- which I hereby honor and praise even as I question them as misallocated -- GM has managed to give one of its behemoth SUVs marginally better fuel economy. Here are the relevant data points: The two-mode hybrid Tahoe returns an EPA estimated fuel economy of 21 miles per gallon in the city, 22 mpg highway; the 4x4 version gets an even 20/20, city/highway. The company and its various choristers -- such as the Green Car Journal, which recently named the Tahoe Hybrid "Green Car of the Year" -- are pleased to point out that represents up to a 50% improvement of in-city fuel economy over the non-hybrid Tahoe.

The objectors have rebelled against the symbolism of the thing. It might be half-again better, but it's still an awful, blot-out-the-sun SUV. Isn't this like putting handlebar tassles on the wingtips of a 767 jet?

I had a chance to spend a couple of days in the Tahoe Hybrid; in fact, I believe the vehicle I drove was the same one that appeared on the show stand at the recent L.A. auto show -- white, with gold "Hybrid" decals along the scuppers. People have accused Prius owners of being ostentatiously green, but the badge-barnacled Tahoe Hybrid might as well have roof-mounted green emergency lights and a "Green Green!" whoop siren.

So, what's it like? .....

[Responsibility2nd]

I love it when liberal eco-tards get all conflicted and confused.

[Responsibility2nd]

2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
Base price: $50,490

Price, as tested: $55,000 (est.)

Powertrain: Hybrid gas electric, 6.0-liter, 24-valve aluminum overhead-valve V8 with variable cylinder management and variable valve timing; continuously variable transmission; rear-wheel drive with locking rear differential

Horsepower: 332 at 5,100 rpm

Torque: 367 pound-feet at 4,100 rpm

Curb weight: 5,700 pounds (est.)

0-60 mph: 9 seconds

Wheelbase: 116 inches

Overall length: 202 inches

EPA fuel economy: 21 miles per gallon city, 22 mpg highway

Final thoughts: Chartreuse car of the year?

[snowman1]

Hell, I do better than that with my 06 1500 Hemi Dodge. It has multi-fuel capability as well as multi displacement. I normally get 18 around town and 22-24 on the highway.

[wastedyears]

Yet the LS model starts at $34,000. Which is the better value?

[rocksblues]

Has anybody come out yet and calculated the cost to recharge the batteries?

[Sender]

LOL, the 5700-pound Green Car of the Year, with a 6-liter V8. I can see some lone driver going down the highway so proudly displaying the hybrid badge.

Look at me, I'm conserving fuel! I care more than you do.

[USNBandit]

I'd like to know what kind of mileage the Tahoe would get with just the variable cylinder system. That would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a bank of batteries and and the electric drive.

As a side note a buddy of mine got a Prius as a rental car. He managed to get it started to drive to my house, but spent 15 minutes trying to get it started to leave. After you put the key in you have to push the start button three times and push the accelerator to get it going.

[RetiredArmy]

Sorry, the day will never come that I am paying $55,000 for a damned vehicle. Just ain’t gonna happen. By the time you have paid off the mortgage on this thing at about $1200 per month, it is beat up, run down, piece of junk ready to trade in and start all over again. Sorry, but no thanks.

[RightWhale]

Liberals can afford this and will buy it so much it will be back-ordered. Major sales.

[RightWhale]

Lease. It’s the Green Way.

[PAR35]

Horsepower: 332 at 5,100 rpm Torque: 367 pound-feet at 4,100 rpm

Would horsepower and torque of the engine really matter that much in a hybrid? I would think that the performance of the electric motor would be more important, as peaking would come from the batteries, not the engine, with the engine providing power to the alternator along a fairly narrow range of performance.

Any hybrid engineers out there to set me straight on this?

[RetiredArmy]

Lease. It’s the Green Way.

I will not even lease that much money. No thanks. I get sick enough to my stomach when I paid $29,000 for a vehicle. I still think that is way too much, as mostly I am paying for the UAW's stinking benefits package.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Would horsepower and torque of the engine really matter that much in a hybrid?

---

It is the powertrain HP, which matters just as much on any vehicle.

[dersepp]

For a family that has three kids, a couple of their friends, and has a boat to haul 5-6 times a year...well, this makes perfect sense. In fact, if I have the regular one and only put 5,000 miles a year on it, that is fine, too. Wait till we want to start recycling all these huge batteries.

[Mad Dawg]

Or the environmental, etc. cost of making the batteries ..... or of disposing of them when the time comes ....

[RightWhale]

Yeah, it’s just wrong a car should cost that much. They used to start about $1850 and go to $5000 for the most tricked out muscle car, and these cars these days still get flat tires and every other ill cars are prone to.

[Ditter]

My ‘05 Tahoe gets 16 in town and 20 on the highway. The hybrid is not good enough for me to trade mine in.

[brivette]

I got 32 mpg highway with my 2001 corvette.

[okie01]

It might be half-again better, but it's still an awful, blot-out-the-sun SUV.

See, it's not really the "gas guzzling" that makes liberals all hinky about SUVs.

It's their size.

In their view, everybody should be driving econo-boxes. That way, "It would be fair"...

[Eddie01]

it is not a plug-in hybrid. the engine drives a generator that recharges the batteries. also the vehicle can recover otherwise lost energy from breaking and put it back in the battery.