The Union of Concerned Scientists Don't like the VUE Green Line
#1
11-22-2006, 09:12 AM
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,070
The Union of Concerned Scientists Don't like the VUE Green Line
http://hybridblog.typepad.com/
The blogging in question is as follows:
The blogging in question is as follows:
HybridCenter Q&A: The Green Line Vue—what the heck is it?
Haven't seen the HybridCenter yet? Check it out at http://www.hybridcenter.org
Q: I am a little confused after learning about hybrids on this site. My Saturn Greenline does all of the below which seems on one hand is called a hybrid, granted there are more complex systems out there, however I couldn’t afford any of them. I do get a better fuel mileage and all. I just don’t understand how it is not a hybrid? To me it is about saving fuel money, and the earth. I feel like I am getting two separate messages here.
1.Idle-off capability
2.Regenerative braking capacity
3.Power Assist and Engine downsizing (at this step you reach a "mild" hybrid)
A: We’ve gotten a trickle of continued questions about the Green Line Vue. As you might remember in this blog, we concluded that while the Green Line Vue does take advantage of some sound conventional technological improvements over the normal Vue, the 36 volt battery system doesn’t have the kind of electric storage provide a significant power assist, or to store large enough quantities of recaptured braking energy to be seen as anything other than a hollow hybrid, given that's the way GM is marketing it. We will have a more official analysis soon, so keep your eyes peeled for something we are calling the “Hybrid Scorecard.”
If you want other opinions on this, there are two great new articles about this vehicle. First, a review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer concludes, “But look closely and the 2007 Vue Green Line falls short of being a blockbuster either environmentally or economically.” They don’t follow our hybrid criterion, but, the LA Times’ review of the vehicle “Green Lite” humorously notes that:
Haven't seen the HybridCenter yet? Check it out at http://www.hybridcenter.org
Q: I am a little confused after learning about hybrids on this site. My Saturn Greenline does all of the below which seems on one hand is called a hybrid, granted there are more complex systems out there, however I couldn’t afford any of them. I do get a better fuel mileage and all. I just don’t understand how it is not a hybrid? To me it is about saving fuel money, and the earth. I feel like I am getting two separate messages here.
1.Idle-off capability
2.Regenerative braking capacity
3.Power Assist and Engine downsizing (at this step you reach a "mild" hybrid)
A: We’ve gotten a trickle of continued questions about the Green Line Vue. As you might remember in this blog, we concluded that while the Green Line Vue does take advantage of some sound conventional technological improvements over the normal Vue, the 36 volt battery system doesn’t have the kind of electric storage provide a significant power assist, or to store large enough quantities of recaptured braking energy to be seen as anything other than a hollow hybrid, given that's the way GM is marketing it. We will have a more official analysis soon, so keep your eyes peeled for something we are calling the “Hybrid Scorecard.”
If you want other opinions on this, there are two great new articles about this vehicle. First, a review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer concludes, “But look closely and the 2007 Vue Green Line falls short of being a blockbuster either environmentally or economically.” They don’t follow our hybrid criterion, but, the LA Times’ review of the vehicle “Green Lite” humorously notes that:
It uses, instead, a big honking belt-driven starter motor that — with a flip of polarity when the vehicle is coasting and braking — acts as a generator, feeding electrons to a relatively dinky 10kW battery under the cargo floor. Otherwise, the Green Line powertrain is as conventional as Victorian sex [emphasis added because it’s a funny line]. The internal-combustion smudge-pot is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine (a bump from the standard Vue's 2.2 liters of displacement)….
The UCS view of the Green Line Vue is pretty succinctly stated by our research Director David Friedman, as quoted in the Plain Dealer article:Friedman says the Green Line makes it look like GM developed "a bad hybrid" when the automaker could be marketing the Green Line as "a great, conventional car…Honestly, I would stand up and cheer if GM announced they would just put this in all their vehicles. They would be showing what we have been saying -- that the biggest bang for the buck in the next 10 years is with better conventional technology," Friedman said. “True hybrids are an essential addition to the automotive population, but a lot more fuel could also be saved if more vehicles had systems such as the one GM put in the Green Line,” he said.
Posted by: ScottN
#3
03-02-2007, 12:16 PM
Re: The Union of Concerned Scientists Don't like the VUE Green Line
I love how everyone says "big honkin belt alternator starter motor" when the actual motor/generator isn't much bigger than any standard GM alternator, ah hyperbole...
Thread
Topic Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Jason
Hybrid & Related News
3
07-17-2006 01:47 PM
