The devil drives a Tahoe hybrid
GM's new hybrid faceTemptation.
That's the best way to describe my Chevy Tahoe hybrid test drive yesterday. Pure and simple temptation.
I mean large, gas-guzzling SUVs are destroying the world, right? Besides, when I was invited to test drive one of GM's first dual mode hybrid vehicles, I did it to test the technology, not to see if I liked the vehicle. I hate these SUVs, right?
So, why am I again tempted? Finish: The devil drives a Tahoe hybrid
Labels: GM, Hybrid Vehicles, tahoe hybrid, yukon hybrid
posted by Dahcredyns at
12:07 AM
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Temptation.
That's the best way to describe my Chevy Tahoe hybrid test drive yesterday. Pure and simple temptation.
I mean large, gas-guzzling SUVs are destroying the world, right? Besides, when I was invited to test drive one of GM's first dual mode hybrid vehicles, I did it to test the technology, not to see if I liked the vehicle. I hate these SUVs, right?
So, why am I again tempted?
Back at the Detroit Auto Show, I was given a ride from the show back to the airport in an Escalade. It was a damn nice ride that made me feel guilty for realizing that it was a damn nice ride, and I remembered this realization as soon as I sat in the hybrid Tahoe's big, luxuriously comfortable seats.
Again, I am tempted.
Maybe it's my six foot frame, or my bad lower back. Maybe, deep inside the recesses of my soul, I have SUV envy. Maybe it's my Midwestern influence and the memory of driving through the snow, sleet and hail. Maybe I just feel safe and very comfortable inside such vehicles as the Tahoe hybrid.
Regardless, these vehicles tempt me, especially hybrid versions of these vehicles because I believe in hybrid technology. Hybrid technology in any passenger vehicle helps drive down the costs of hybrid technology for all passenger vehicles, especially the small hybrid cars that I prefer to buy.
True, some automakers are using hybrid technology to simply add more power to a vehicle, and using hybrid technology purely for performance gains is a slippery path. Fortunately, the Tahoe hybrid is not one of those hybrids.
While the standard Tahoe achieves a paltry 14 mpg in the city - where I do 95 percent of my driving - the Tahoe hybrid achieves 20 mpg. This 40 percent improvement in fuel economy is achieved as the Tahoe intelligently utilizes its dual mode hybrid powertrain, deciding how many cylinders to use, how much regenerative electricity, etc. For example, the Tahoe hybrid can go from V8 power to acting like a V4 economy vehicle, instantly, without the driver ever noticing, and that's just one trick in the dual mode hybrid's bag of tricks.
Still, while driving through the streets of Santa Monica, I didn't notice this shift, or any other of the vehicle's hybrid shifts and tricks, except when I was watching the hybrid screen on the dashboard display how the hybrid powertrain was being utilized.
Speaking of hybrid screens. GM has done a nice job of supplementing the somewhat conventional hybrid screen with a small gauge next to the speedometer. This gauge helps drivers simply maximize the performance of GM hybrids, to fully utilize the hybrid's bag of tricks to hypermile through commutes - if they so choose.
But, back to the transmission shifts, or lack thereof, caused by the hybrid powertrain. Instead of such shifts, what I was able to notice was quick acceleration, responsive handling and a smooth ride. What Tahoe fans will realize, however, especially city-folk, is the huge savings at the gas pump - the main distinction between the standard Tahoe and the hybrid Tahoe ( Yes the Tahoe hybrid also offers some unique badges, running boards, grill, rims, etc, as well.).
And, while 20 mpg is an amazing improvement in efficiency, what makes it even more amazing is the fact that you can connect a 6,000 pound camper, boat or other trailer to the hybrid Tahoe, and drive out of the city up into the mountains for a weekend getaway and not lose any performance.
What other hybrid can do that?
Answer, there isn't one, other than the Tahoe hybrid's cousin, the GMC Yukon hybrid. In this respect, GM's hybrid vehicles are in a class of their own, and now there is no excuse for weekend warriors hauling campers and boats across the highways of America not to do more to help the environment and to help reduce America's foreign oil dependency.
While GM couldn't confirm the price of the Tahoe hybrid, I was told that the hybrid version would not be the most expensive Tahoe option. Still, it will be mostly loaded and it will have a price tag to match that luxury, in addition to the hybrid-driven fuel economy.
Nonetheless, both the Tahoe and the Yukon hybrids give large SUV fans, especially GM fans and American-made automobile fans, a chance to take some foreign oil dependency responsibility.
If you have to have a large SUV, make sure to check out the Tahoe and Yukon hybrids when they come out later this year. Be tempted into making a better decision, it's really not that hard if you just drive one of these hybrids. Even a SUV-hater like me was tempted.
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