A 25% improvement in an SUV will save more gasoline than the same 25% improvement in a smaller car. People buy an SUV because it fits their lifestyle better, a 6ft 5inch person is not going to be comfortable in a compact car. Instead of criticizing their choices, we should be trying to steer them to make better choices by offering them more efficient alternatives. I accept that a certain percentage of people will continue driving SUVs, so I think a hybrid SUV makes sense.

 

It only really makes sense if you discontinue the non-hybrid version, otherwise it's a token effort. That won't happen, but I really wish they would suck it up and do what's best.

Same with their current super-mild hybrid. If that was on every new GM truck sold it would be saving tons of fuel instead of being merely lipservice and PR. Oh well.

Remember, SUVs are SAFE:

http://www.mjmorningshow.com/timages...icle_fatal.wmv

 

Schwa-

what's the motivation behind the citgo sig?

Citgo:
- 100% New World sourced
- leading provider of E85 and other alt fuels outside the cornbelt
- giving free/subsidized heating oil to needy families in NE
- fully owned by Hugo Chavez & co.

I'm no fan of the neo-lefties in SA, but for a bigoil player they're doing fair amount of good stuff.

 

Yep, those were all motivating factors and personally I'm happy to see social democracy taking shape in South America, although I know the US can't allow that to go on for long, it's good that the population is standing up and I wish more people would find out what's really going on there rather than just believing what's on the news, but I thought I would just focus on the "what you can do" aspect of it in terms of making a choice for fuel.

 

I agree completely. There seem to be an awful lot of "holier than thou" attitude in the hybrid world. If people really want to get picky we should only applaud those who drive the Honda Insight, the best real world mileage in the hybrid world. Ah you say, it just isn't practical for everyone - that is exactly "nospam's" point. I suggest we in they hybrid world get off our piety trip and applaud any advancement in the technology that saves fuel and the environment, regardless of anyone's motivation for building or buying it!

 

The large, heavy vehicles are exactly where the hybrid design makes the most sense. I understand that tree-huggers (I am one) are opposed to the kind of waste typified by an Escalade, but people choose to drive them, so let's make them as green as possible.

No one cares much if a car that gets 45 mpg gets 60 mpg as a hybrid. But changing a truck that gets 18 mpg into one that gets 24 has more of an impact on both oil consumption and emissions. Every 20,000 miles, the first conversion saves 278 gallons of gasoline, while the second saves only 111.

 

I totally agree with your greater impact statement, Jim.

I'll agree with grizzy's "holier than thou" attitude in the hybrid community - to an extent. I realize that a Civic is not big enough for everybody, but the average vehicle has gained about 1000 pounds over the last 25 years (feel free to check that fact out....). The most popular vehicle in America is now the pickup truck - do we have an explosion of farmers, ranchers and construction workers?

 

I think you have to support the use of hybrid technology in behemoths if you truly want to improve things. For some years I had a mid-size SUV, but was careful to combine my trips and did a lot of walking. A neighbor had a Civic, but seemed to be driving around in it all day. I'll bet I got more tasks accomplished per gallon than she did.

While I'm sure there are things we should do to make wasteful vehicles less common, denying them green technology isn't one of them.

 

I didn't realize you could only own a pick-up truck if you worked in one of these fields.

I own a Hybrid and I also own a pick-up truck because the truck fits certain needs, like when I need to pick up large items from a store. I guess it would be better if I just let everyone deliver all my large items to me in those great gas saving Ryder-like trucks.

I guess I should have bought my Hybrid for the reasons you think are important and not for my own reasons. Hey if GM thinks there is a market for an Escalade that gets 30mpg more power to them. If you want the tech to go main stream, what better place to introduce it, than in the main stream vehicles.


I didn't by my Highlander just because it was a Hybrid. I bought it because it had the best combination of room, horsepower, features, AND mpg.

Just out of curiousity, I notice you are in the Dallas area, how many days a week you take the DART and/or public transportation?

 

Actually, the lack of a decent hybrid pickup truck is the main reason I don't own a pickup truck. I do actually think trucks (but **NOT** SUVs) are cool.

But... I can't live with the idea of getting 9-12 mpg.

Now if GM or Ford somehow manage to produce a pickup w/ 30-35 mpg, I'd buy one.

I don't *need* one, so I don't have one now. But if I could satisfy my *want* in a 30-35 mph vehicle, I don't see anything wrong with that!