While the hybrid SUV phenomena can’t match the combination of peanut butter and chocolate for pure popularity, the blending of truck-based people-mover and electric propulsion technology has produced a notable oxymoron.
Justly or not, SUVs are frequently cast as the poster boy for conspicuous consumption. You won’t find the conventional press or hordes of lemmings (any similarities are purely coincidental) praising the vast majority of SUVs for their fuel-stinginess. Yet the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV achieves quite remarkable gas mileage in city settings. (We were able to hit the magic 40 MPG mark in-town in our Escape Hybrid review.) This unique quality has led the Escape Hybrid to sell out its production runs, year-after-year.
Earlier this week, Ford announced a notable milestone: the 100,000th Escape Hybrid has rolled off the line at the Kansas City Assembly Plant. With production constraints due to battery availability, 100,000 vehicles in a relatively short time frame is significant. It’s clear that many Americans aren’t keen on giving up their SUVs and the Escape Hybrid fills an important niche.
The economic climate and drop in the price of gasoline have not been kind to the market, and there’s little to trumpet on this front on the other side of town. With Chrysler putting a hold on production of the Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid late last year, the twins have earned the distinction of being the first hybrid SUVs to be put on hold … two canaries in the coal mine. The market has further delayed the introduction of GM’s next-generation Saturn VUE Two-Mode Hybrid.
Nevertheless, there are seven hybrid SUVs available in America today. Over the last twelve months, we’ve had the good fortune to have opportunity to review four of the hybrid SUVs currently on sale:
It’s been half a decade since I killed a tree (and I’ve killed more than my share in my day), but that might come to an end very soon. I’m getting ready to shop a book/documentary proposal, with the working title “Bent Over a Barrel” … it’s the story of how Big Oil’s actions and influence have driven this country’s economy to its current state.
Influence is just as important as action (or inaction).
Here’s a specific case in point …
Last April, Newsweek published a piece entitled Miles to Go, with the far more descriptive yet entirely misleading subhead, “Why automakers don’t sell a car that gets 50 MPG.” Never once does the article mention fuel-efficient diesel engines, yet the article begins with the chestnut:
Wouldn’t it be great if you could drive a car that gets 50 miles per gallon? Well, you can. Just hop on a plane and fly to Europe, where all new cars average 43mpg, or Japan, where the average hits 50mpg.
Well, gee … why do European cars get such great mileage? Lets guess … it’s not just because they are often smaller then their American counterparts. It’s not because Europeans are driving hybrids (which they largely dismiss). It’s because more than fifty percent of the new cars sold in Europe use far more efficient diesel engines.
Can we blame the article’s omission of fact on editorial ignorance or something more heinous?
Ah, but all hope is not lost.
Earlier this month, Newsweek woke up and ran an article entitled Diesel vs. Hybrid, with the subhead “There’s more than one way to build an environmentally-friendly car.”
Could it be? The oil men have left the building and only weeks later Newsweek wakes up to the facts?
The piece opens and closes with the word from Volkswagen. The 2009 Jetta TDI is flying off the lot. VW put in the work to bring a clean diesel engine to the States and the gamble – rather, the investment – is paying off.
The vast majority of Americans have absolutely no clue how wonderful the new clean diesels are to drive. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time test driving clean diesel vehicles over the past year, at my own expense. (My research and coverage is not influenced by corporate overlords, though it is constrained by current economic conditions.)
The German automobile manufacturers absolutely have it right. Bringing fuel-efficient fun-to-drive clean diesels to America takes a lot of guts … and smarts.
Looking for a beefy tax credit? A new hybrid car could be your ticket to thousands of dollars off your bottom line. But the rules are tricky … what you don’t know may hurt you (in the wallet). The tax credit on hybrids is highly dependent upon the make and model of the vehicle. The US Government’s hybrid car tax credit is designed to spur the production and purchase of new fuel-efficient vehicles, by tweaking the rules of supply and demand.
The hybrid tax credits are setup so that once a date and production marks have been met, the hybrid car’s tax credits are ratcheted down until they reach zero. A brand new hybrid car’s tax credit might be as high as $3400 when it is first offered for sale – as is the case with the new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid – with the goal of spurring early adopters.
If you want a new Toyota Prius, you’ll have to do without the hybrid tax rebate … as the hybrid car tax credit ran out on the Prius way back in 2007. In fact, you won’t get a tax break on any hybrid Toyotas. Honda buyers are currently out of luck, when it comes to hybrid tax incentives, as well … the tax credit for hybrid Civics ran out at the end of 2008.
The only hybrid tax breaks currently in force are on the Nissan Altima Hybrid, along with a wide range of Ford and GM vehicles.
We devote a great deal of effort in testing hybrid car gas mileage here at MPGomatic. We test in real world conditions, not on a closed course in a lab. Week after week, this approach has proven its worth. Our results demonstrate that the gas mileage of hybrid cars is highly dependent upon driver mindset. By driving conscientiously, we’ve always met or exceeded each and every hybrid car’s gas mileage estimates. We roll the tape to show you how we do it … there are no secrets.
While the Toyota Prius nabbed the best hybrid gas mileage crown for 2009 once again, the field is shifting. With the upcoming release of the Fusion and Milan Hybrids, Ford hybrid gas mileage figures are on the rise. We had the opportunity to take a pre-production version of the Fusion Hybrid for a quick cold weather drive back in December and the car delivered impressive numbers. The Fusion and Milan Hybrids are unique in that they can glide under pure electric power at speeds up to 47 miles per hour. This hits a sweet spot, allowing folks to cruise the surface streets and back roads with a minimum dependence on gasoline.
While the official estimates for the Ford hybrid sedans do not match the Prius, they are significantly better than the direct competition: the Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Nissan Altima Hybrid.
Our results with the Nissan Altima Hybrid’s gas mileage testing fell closest to the official numbers, but that can be attributed to two factors. The Nissan Altima Hybrid was the first hybrid we reviewed and our test unit lacked a sophisticated fuel economy display. When it comes down to it, we hadn’t learned the ropes and had little feedback on which to develop a methodology.
It’s all about getting to know the car you’re driving. The Honda Civic Hybrid and upcoming Honda Insight deliver excellent results, even though they lack the ability to glide in the same manner as the Toyota and new Ford hybrids.
Hybrid SUV gas mileage is a bit of a mixed bag. It was easy to exceed the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid’s gas mileage ratings. By driving the Escape Hybrid carefully, 40 MPG in town isn’t out of the question. While we haven’t had the opportunity to review the revamped 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid, we expect to beat the numbers handily.
The Saturn Vue Green Line was the first GM hybrid SUV we tested. While we liked the VUE Green Line overall, it’s “mild hybrid” system did well on the highway, but didn’t deliver remarkable in-town benefits. The new Two-Mode Saturn VUE Hybrid is a different animal, with a more powerful gasoline engine and a hybrid system that’s more optimized for better economy at lower speeds. We’re looking forward to testing the second generation in the coming months, along with the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid.
There’s no question that the cost and availability of high-powered battery systems is holding hybrid gas milage back. The equation is fairly simple: the more battery power stuffed into a vehicle, the higher the potential results. The question comes down to economics. While the gas mileage of hybrid vehicles rises with larger battery packs, the cost of the batteries pushes up costs. Until battery production rises and the price drops, the average gas mileage for a hybrid vehicle is unlikely to significantly exceed current levels.
While aftermarket providers – including A123 System’s Hymotion subsidiary – have come up with a number of bolt-on/plug-in hybrid solutions to raise mileage results, the auto manufacturers have been proceeding slowly. One solution might be to offer more powerful battery packs as optional equipment … instead of a larger more powerful gasoline engine, hybrid vehicles might offer increased MPGs as part of an economy option package. Continue reading →
Seeing that the 2009 Detroit Auto Show was dominated by electric car technology, I lucked out to score the second of my two interviews with Nancy Gioia, Ford’s Global Director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Programs. My goal was to look into what the coming years will bring with specific regard to Ford’s electric car efforts. As with other automakers, electrification has a past (the Ford Electric Ranger), a present (the current Ford electric-hybrids), and a future. Our conversation was inspiring. As it turns out, a full-fledged market-ready Ford electric car is neither far-fetched, nor far off …
