Hey all. Spotted a CHT yesturday in a parking lot. The gigantic Hybrid sticker was removed but it had enough badging left to figure out this was a hybrid. I talked to the owner for a moment and she said she loved it. I asked her what mileage she was getting and she said 25.6! I asked about her commute and it was 7 miles each way through DC she is in electric mode most of the time. She drives to New York on the weekends and says she gets just over 20mpg driving between 70 and 80mph.

I noticed a class 3 hitch on the back that looked used. The beast is also used for camping and towing on occasion! I asked her if she considered anything else like a Prius or Highlander, maybe Escape and she said no way! She has always owned GM SUV's and wouldn't buy anything else. She was really nice and thought it was neat I was asking her questions about her truck. When she drove off, no noise except for a small amount of motor whirr and rolling tires. It accelerated rather well considering it was on all electric. I think the Escallade Hybrid will easily outsell its non hybrid counterpart. There might really be a future for these large hybrids....

Please forgive any spelling errors.

 

It would be the **FIRST** hybrid model to outsell its conventional counterpart then. I rather doubt it will unless gas goes up alot more. People tend to think about their wallets NOW, not 6 months from now and paying the several thousand hybrid premium is not for everyone.

Prius doesn't count... there is no conventional model... frankly I think that has more to do with its success than anything. I'm not saying its not a fine car... but for the average joe it helps that No one comes into the showroom for a Prius and gets sticker shock. There isn't anything to compare it to.

 

Assuming she only got 20 MPG instead of the 25 MPG she claimed, she would be saving about 16 gallons of gas for every 1000 miles she drives compared to a full sized SUV getting about 15 MPG. This is the equivalent gas savings as trading in a Toyota Highlander Hybrid for a Toyota Prius but without sacrificing the load carrying and towing capacity of a full sized SUV. That is the beauty of the GM two mode hybrid package. The major gain in fuel saving is not going to come from people trading in small cars getting 30 MPG for hybrids getting 40 MPG or higher, but in replacing vehicles getting less than 20 MPG.

Gasoline burned per 1000 miles is not linear and is a more valid measure than MPG for this reason because it shows how much more benefit there is to be gained going from a very inefficient vehicle to one that is only modestly efficent than from an efficient vehicle to an extremely efficient one.

Consider this table:

MPG Gal Gas/1000 miles
10 100
20 50
30 33.3
40 25
50 20
60 16.7
70 14.3
80 12.5
90 11.1
100 10

Thus going from 10 MPG to 20 MPG cuts your gas using in half and saves 50 gallons of gas for every 1000 miles. To do so with a 50 MPG car, you would need to get 100 MPG and you would only save 10 gallons of gas in 1000 miles.

Did you ask her to join Greenhybrid.com and post her mileage?

 

No, I didn't say anything about greenhybrid.com. I was driving my company Town and Country minivan and didn't even bring up our Civic Hybrid.

I like your mileage chart example. What I think is going to happen is the people who are in the market to buy an Escallade won't bat a lash about spending another 3 or 4 grand on a vehicle that gets an additional 5mpg. In the DC area, there are so many darn luxury cars and trucks that I do not see the extra couple grand being a problem in the new car business.

I do not think the Tahoe will have near the success in the percentages game of gas only version compared to hybrid version sales numbers. I have not seen any Tahoe Hybrids sitting on the lots. I see them, but when I drive by a week or so later, the vehicle is gone. I would really like to drive one to see how it feels and get some battery only propulsion time under my belt.