Can someone give me a rational reason why they would purchase a Hybrid SUV? You get a hybrid to get better gas mileage and be more socially responsible. Yet there are tons of cars with better gas mileage than the best hybrid SUV -- if gas mileage is your thing, get a Prius. It's not socially responsible to own any kind of SUV because their height off the ground increases deaths when an SUV hits a car head-on. Not to mention the added danger to everyone on the road who has to follow you and cannot see how traffic is progressing in front of you.

The only sensible answer I've heard goes something like this: I need an SUV, so it's responsible for me to get a hybrid SUV. I call BS on this one. Who really needs an SUV? Some people, to be sure, but almost none. In reality, these folks just want SUVs and are rationalizing their hybrid SUV purchase by pointing to some activity that they do rarely and probably don't need to do it at all.

So if you live in an off-road cabin or have to haul stuff for work, I think your hybrid SUV purchase is a great idea. If you are buying it so it's easier to haul your skiing equipment, your hybrid SUV purchase is irrational and wasteful.

I'm sure I'm just asking to get flamed, but this is a legitimate topic. For me, if you are going to "go hybrid" and get a fuel efficient car, why would you get a much less fuel efficient car just because it has a hybrid engine?

You won't get flamed too bad here, almost everyone here thinks a lot like you do.

That said there are great reasons to have hybrid SUVs/pickups. A hybrid SUV will actually save just as much gas as a hybrid car. Here is the math:


Certainly not everyone with a SUV "needs" one but some people do and some people are going to buy one anyway so in those cases a hybrid provides a higher mileage alternative.

You are not going to pull a boat or a big landscape trailer behind a Prius.....

As to why an SUV, really what I needed was a station wagon and that's all most small SUVs are. So we looked at everything that fit that need. With employee pricing considerations, the Escape stands out as the clear winner for my family.

Once you have decided to buy a particular SUV it makes sense to evaluate the hybrid option. Between the improved fuel economy and tax credit, a hybrid Escape was a no brainer.

But ask the hard question: why buy a car at all? Do you really need one or is it just a lot more convenient than the alternatives? Most folks could easily move closer to their jobs or at least line themselves up with the public transportation routes. Of course, that would take real sacrifice and not a superficial consumerist gesture.

I recently bought a used FEH. This one is 4WD, and although I really wanted a 2WD, the deal I got was just too good to pass up.

Why do I need a SUV? Well here's the deal... we have two LARGE dogs we take all over the place. This car replaced our 1989 Mercury Topaz, and even one of them didn't fit comfortably in the backseat. Also we plan on having kids in the future.

Plus I've always loved the Escapes, and we were actually looking for a normal Escape when we ran into the Hybrid.

Now when the FEH first came out, I thought it was some kind of a joke. At that point all I knew of the hybrids were the Prius and Insight (60-80MPG) and I literally laughed at the idea of a 30MPG hybrid with the salespeople at the Ford dealer I worked for at the time.

BUT if you think about it... a normal V6 Escape gets what... 15-20MPG? In the whole scheme of things we're looking at a 50% increase of fuel economy (with no sacrifice in power or space). Now that's significant.

It's also a whole lot of fun to show off.

One gallon of gas - $3.49

One used four wheel drive SUV that gets 30+ Miles Per Gallon - $15,999

Purchasing it used for $5000 UNDER bluebook because the dealership did not realize it was a hybrid - PRICELESS

After 16 years of driving two Ford station wagons 378,000 miles and loving the flexibility of the cargo area, it was time (2007) to get a new vehicle. I looked at the almost all of the current station wagon models (domestic and foreign) and was disappointed to realize the gas mileage would not really beat what I was moving out of. I considered the Prius but reading up on the reliability history, this model had something like 7 recalls in the previous few years! I also read about the traction control issues in which Prius owners would be stranded in meager snow conditions. The autochannel did a report on the 2007 AWD Highlander Hybrid and got stuck in a couple of inches of sand on the beach when they were doing a photo shot for the article. I didn't think these vehicle would work for me as I spend my winter weekends nordic skiing. Sometimes I am up as early as 4:30am or out in the rural areas where the roads are not plowed. A favorite "local" area features a 1600 foot climb in the last six miles of the road. The low to the ground hybrid Prius or Civic would not be a good choice in these conditions. The Civic just did not have the cargo carrying capacity. The Escape Hybrid has proven to be a wise choice for my lifestyle and has improved on my mileage. I can't get the mileage of a Prius, Civic or Insight hybrid but I will take what I currently get--upper 30's to 40mpg.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.

Best tank trip MPG 34.6 for E30 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio.

Yes.

My last tank was 38 MPG. My current tank is 39 MPG. I'm expecting to get tanks well into the mid 40's, as I did last summer. Show me any vehicle outside of the HCH, Prius, and Insight that get that kind of MPG or better, let alone as a 4WD SUV.

I have a higher lifetime MPG with my 4WD SUV then 33 Prius Gen I, Gen II, HCHI, and HCHII owners here at GH's database alone. So obviously while what you drive is important, how you drive it is important as well, which also points out a flaw in your logic; test drivers of the Prius ( http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...mileage_1.html ) got a whopping 34 MPG in economy mode over 104 miles and the test driver tried his hardest to get the EPA MPG, owners complain about not getting EPA MPG. I'm exceeding mine with ease, and in fact outside of a single tank in -30 temperatures which merely met the EPA instead of exceeding it. I've seen several Prius drivers on the road that I'm positive I'm far more fuel efficient due to the way they drive.

So, if there's a good chunk of Prius owners getting MPG near mine, who paid more for theirs then I did for mine, and mine fits my needs to earn a living, why again should my choice be called into question?

Besides, at a stop light every hybrid has the same instantaneous MPG.

Lastly, if MPG is the only reason, then why not go PHEV? PHEV FEH's get 150+ MPG. Why own a gas guzzling Prius when you can convert your FEH over and be both more fuel efficient and have more cargo space? Or go full electric?


Muwha? Socially responsible in your opinion. In some peoples opinion owning a hybrid is socially irresponsible to the blind.

How about being socially responsible in buying an affordable vehicle? My FEH cost me less then most people pay for a Prius and was within my budget that I could actually buy the vehicle, not get a loan.

How about being socially responsible in buying an American car?

How about being socially responsible in buying a fuel miser (12 gallons a month) when gas was $1.60?

Is it socially responsible to roll through stop signs or not stop for them at all?

The FEH is involved in fewer fatal accidents then nearly every car on the road, take a look at the National Highway Traffic Institutes recent pdf file on it.


Ah, a favorite arguement of mine. Why don't you list all the reasons you have a Prius instead of taking public transportation or a bicycle, then I can judge if you're worthy of owning a Prius or if you just wanted one and didn't want to feel overly guilty about owning a car. How about you list all the reasons you don't own an Insight which can make the Prius look like a gas hog? Or perhaps you should move to a home closer to your employment so that you can easily walk or bike without problems, and then not own a motor vehicle at all.

For the record, I'm a fencing instructor. I haul fencing equipment around, and living in MI, there's some brutal winters here with unpaved and unplowed roads. I haul a great deal of equipment and I frequently carpool with another instructor, resulting in an amount of cargo that simply won't fit in a Prius. I know, my mother has one, and what I haul multiple times a week won't fit in her car, it's not a matter of cubic space, it's a matter of physical dimensions of the fencing equipment and the sizing of the Prius' internal space. Heck, when I picked up the new equipment this week that I requisitioned, the box that it came in fit in my FEH with no problem, but couldn't fit in the back of the Prius by a good 8 inches.


Ah, but then you quantify reasons why it's OK to own one. So, then you answered your own question, with some conditions.

Again, why did you get a Prius and not an Insight? Why didn't you get an NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle)? Why aren't you using public transporation?

I hope that I've given you some food for thought rather then sent you into a dismissive state. Personally, I'm always a bit irked when I see people in brand new luxury SUV's or supersized Pick-ups. Did you really need that brand new truck with the 5.7 litre Hemi engine on it to drive to and from work (not at a manual labor/construction site) with gas prices skyrocketing?

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

Live in Michigan? Let it be known in Michigan Roll Call

Read My Automotive Blog at Rich Rambles

The right tool for the right job. For example:

A home owner, I needed an 8x4 sheet of plywood. In this case, we only had to go just over half a mile so this approach worked. But I've subsequently installed a receiver and have a folding trailer. Today I needed a sheet of marine plywood and had to travel 12 miles round trip to pick it up.

IMHO, every car should have a built-in trailer receiver and front tow-bar option. That doesn't mean everyone has to own a trailer or a tow-bar. Options like these would significantly improves the utility of all cars.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

In my case, my HiHy carries 15 bags of mulch much better, and most cost effective per mile, than if I had a Prius. My 30 MPG average around town is better than most sub compacts, yet I can tote what I need to work around the house. The same case can be made for taking public transportation rather than driving your Prius. Isn't it nice to have options?

How about I like the technology? When I bought my Prius in 2004, it was the first non GM vehicle I ever owned. When I bought my Tahoe 2-mode hybrid a few months ago, it was the first 'real' hybrid GM offered.

I do have a cabin in the mountains, at the end of a steep dirt road. My Prius does not have enough clearance to even get there - particularly in a foot of snow. The Tahoe 2-mode hybrid 4wd, however, does a great job. Fuel economy on the trip from Dallas to New Mexico is much better than the 1999 4wd Suburban I replaced. I can still pull a trailer with the boat or my antique car. The HiHy and FEH can't do this. I can still fit the kids and all our gear for a week of skiing or camping, including the bikes.

As far as my daily commute - I drop off a kid at daycare, park the truck and then take the train to work. The Tahoe gets 20 MPG for this short trip. The 2001 Impala which I also traded only got about 15mpg for this trip (it did great on the Highway - over 30mpg, but I usually took the Suburban or the Prius, depending on the nature of the trip). So for my circumstance, I replaced two less fuel efficient cars based on my personal use with a single SUV that gets better fuel economy for every aspect of my personal use.

My wife drives the Prius - the train does not go from our house to her office. We use the Prius for all other driving, it is the family car.

Once the youngest is old enough to ride the bus to school, I can ride a bike to the train station. The Tahoe will be used like my old suburban in that it mostly sits in the driveway except for long trips and occasional trips to Home Depot/nursery/bike trials.

Would it be better if the Tahoe 2-mode hybrid was a plug-in or fuel cell - yes, but that isn't available now. It is an improvement over what I drove before. By choosing the hybrid SUV and not a similarly equipped conventional SUV, I'm endorsing the technology. I hope that the auto mobile industry will continue to improve and create more and better choices.

YMMV
Tom

A hybrid SUV such as the FEH is a good stop gap for people who are convinced that SUVs are the only "safe and comfortable" transportation on the road. I would much rather see someone getting high 20s (or even 30s) than low teens in mpg.... I realize that this is only perpetulating the myth of SUVs being safer, but since you can't make people smarter, you can at least make their cars more efficient!

In our situation, we have driven the MMH a total of 355.5 miles over the last two months. Now that ski season is over, I doubt we will put more than 500 miles on it the whole summer. My wife is a telecommuter so while she needs a car, she hardly ever drives it. We could have gotten away with a Prius with snow tires 90% of the time, but that extra 10% is when the skiing is the best so I'm willing to spend 34.6mpg vs 60 for the luxury of AWD. Besides, we use the HCH 90% of the time so I'm not too worried about our gas consumption.

Granted, I would rather have a small, AWD station wagon hybrid, but since nothing like that exists, I'm very happy with the MMH.

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.