7 Votes

Boost it!

Can Hybrid SUV's Survive This?

1hybrid1 submitted on 8/1/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 7:49:09 PM

10 user comments | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: www.hybridsuv.com

The hybrid car industry is booming right now.

High gas prices and a rising environmental consciousness have consumers lining up to buy the fuel efficient little things. Good luck finding a new Prius or Green Civic. At the same time...

Read Article

Can Hybrid SUV's Survive This?

About the Author

1hybrid1

— 1hybrid1 (View Profile)


User Comments

truckmen

I wouldn't buy any of these stone age hybrids that achieve almost the same fuel consumption as conventional gas motors for an extra $10,000. If the automotive companies got there act together and produced something with power and efficiency you can count me in!

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 2:51:19 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

enp83

GM's "dual mode" hybrid system (which is the only hybrid system used in the Tahoe/Yukon SUVs mentioned in this story) is far from "stone age". Perhaps you're thinking of their mild hybrid system...and even that one has merit. God forbid you actually do any research on your own...

— enp83 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 4:31:54 PM | | Votes: 0   

truckmen

You are right when you compare it to the rest of the hybrids that you can buy today it is comparable if you were to take the size into account but it is stone age when you compare it to PML's mini cooper! If you put PML's flag ship cars internals into this suv it would be better on gas than a Prius with 640 BHP. So all current hybrids for sale today are stoneage when you compare it to what can be done. With sales sliding so much and Billions of dallars lost I can imagine the auto industry will eventually out perform PML's mini cooper.

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 8/3/2008 4:24:54 AM | | Votes: 1   

enp83

Not that I've looked hard but I've yet to see an article where someone has actually driven this thing. I did see a price tag in one article that mentioned $350k price tag. Todays hybrids are in showrooms now, have price tags close to their gasoline only counterparts, and come with warranties.

Of course the technology sounds promising, as does the Chevy Volt or Honda FCX, but until you can go down to a local dealership and buy one for under $50k and get a warrenty with it then it's not a fair comparison. When PML gets to that point let me know.

— enp83 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/3/2008 8:03:11 AM | | Votes: 1   

truckmen

Yes the cost was $350,000. for PML's flagship car but if they mass produced this technology with metal at 50ish dallars a ton why wouldn't it be competitive? When any manufacturer makes a one off it probably costs a lot more than $350,000! Any you pointed out the painful truth that the pml is not available and the current hybrids do not excite me at all, although the Volt sounds promising! Still not as cutting edge as pml, and I will defiantly tell you when this technology is available on the showroom.

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 8/4/2008 4:39:04 AM | | Votes: 1   

t_bone

Air molecules aren't impressed with the front clip on this SUV. I suspect dropping the hood about 4 inches would have a much bigger impact on fuel economy than adding all the hybrid goodies. But the owner's ego would have to be reduced by a similar amount, as it would start to look like--gasp!--a minivan.

— t_bone (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 11:23:17 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Htay7500

oxymoron.

— Htay7500 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 12:14:57 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

mitchelm

SUV:
12,000 miles/yr x 1/14mpg x $4.00/gallon = $3428.58/yr (857.15 gallons of gas used)

12,000 miles/yr x 1/20mpg x $4.00/gallon = $2400.00/yr (600 gallons of gas used)

Savings of roughly $1000 or 257 gallons a year.

Sedan:
12,000 miles/yr x 1/25mpg x $4.00/gallon = $1,920/yr (480 gallons of gas used)

12,000 miles/yr x 1/36mpg x $4.00/gallon = $1,333.34/yr (333 gallons of gas used)

So only $586.66 saved and 147 gallon of gas saved.

My only point being here that although its still not worth the $10,000 premium for a hybrid suv, the saving are much more impressive than you think. And hybrid technology is far more beneficial for larger vehicles. I'm not saying people should go out and buy hybrid suvs for that reason, but for those who need a tahoe or a big suv, and are going to put a lot of miles on it, then the hybrid technology will pay for itself much faster than that in a car. Clearly, the greatest saving would be to move from an suv to a sedan hybrid. I personally would still like to see this type of hybrid technology be applied to a turbodiesel of small displacement and see what the savings would be!

— mitchelm (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 3:05:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

JMB1013

They have to shed a bunch of weight to accommodate the extra hybrid components obviously; however, to maximize the fuel economy they also make the SUVs more aerodynamic via front bumper and other parts (e.g. look at the visual difference between a Tahoe and Tahoe Hybrid). Why don't they just shed the weight that they can and make them aerodynamic in the first place? They could improve the fuel economy to near hybrid levels just by doing that.

— JMB1013 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 9:44:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

truckmen

They need to take this a lot further to make me want to buy this! How about more HP and full electric drive with a generator to charge the batteries and way better fuel mileage.

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 8/4/2008 6:09:41 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Add your Comments

Images hosted in your AgentSpace can now be posted in the comments section using the following syntax (case matters): [img]IMAGE URL[/img]
Example: [img]http://agent001.myautospies.com/images/sample.jpg[/img]