Dan Neil: Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid Great Landing, Wrong Airport

by Frank Williams

January 7th, 2008 8:03 AM

dan neil chevrolet tahoe hybrid great landing wrong airport

When the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid was named "Green Car of the Year" at the Los Angeles Auto Show last year, we had a "WTF?" reaction. Unlike the maudlin mainstream media, we didn't see the logic of putting that much effort into a gas-guzzling behemoth with lagging sales when it could be better used in smaller, more salable vehicles. The LA Times' Dan Neil had a similar reaction when he drove it. While the Pulitzer-prize winning auto critic found the execution of the technology flawless, he questioned the claimed milage imporvements. "What would the mileage of this vehicle be with all the improved aerodynamics , low-rolling resistance tires and aluminum body panels, yet without the fretful weight (and cost) of the hybrid system?" Echoing a sentiment expressed on this site several times, Dan the Man asks, "Does this super-low-volume program do more for corporate image than corporate average fuel economy?" In his final analysis he concludes, "For now, we have this paradox, a fantastically fuel-efficient vehicle that's still a gas hog. A hybrid that's simultaneously good (promise) and bad (reality). Matters can only get more muddled when the Hybrid Hummer comes rolling out." Meanwhile, GM has announced they'll introduce a scaled-down version of the Tahoe's "dual mode" system in the '09 Saturn Vue Green Line.

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Ronbo456 on Jan 07, 2008

@ Kixstart: I'd pay $8k for a more efficient SUV, but only if it delivered the goods. But I wouldn't pay a nickel to be a stooge in GM's tone deaf "green" PR campaign. FWIW, GM charges about $8400 to upgrade to a diesel on its Silverado 2500 pickup, and plenty of buyers do that. My wife uses our SUV (it's an Escalade ESV, so shoot me) to haul the kids and I use it to tow my race car. We need the big rig but we certainly aren't happy about the mileage. Downsizing isn't the right answer for everybody, but greater fuel economy clearly is. So yeah, I'd be interested in a hybrid SUV. I'd be interested in a diesel, too, if I didn't have to buy a monster pickup to get one.

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Jazbo123 on Jan 07, 2008
"What would the mileage of this vehicle be with all the improved aerodynamics [the hybrid has a Cd of 0.34 as opposed to the standard model's 0.39], low-rolling resistance tires and aluminum body panels, yet without the fretful weight (and cost) of the hybrid system?" To answer that question; Hiway mileage would go up a bit, city mileage would revert almost to the standard Tahoe numbers. The fact that the city mileage improved really shows that the gains are due to the hybrid system, not so much the other improvements.

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KixStart on Jan 07, 2008

Jazbo123, OK. Do those things and then replace the gasser with a modest diesel. Maybe even a V6 diesel. Then what would you have?

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Edgett on Jan 07, 2008

KixStart: "OK. Do those things and then replace the gasser with a modest diesel. Maybe even a V6 diesel. Then what would you have?" 90% of the drivers would have a slower and more fuel efficient means to get to the mall or take the kids to soccer practice while chatting up their therapist on the phone. Ba-da-boom...

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