Looking to go green. 300HP in the Chevy Avalanche is a waste for me and I am looking to get a hybrid SUV. Any of you guys knowledgable on the subject? What are you driving if you have one?
Sorry,meant to put this in the other forum.
Jeff,
Check out the Ford Escape Hybrid…38mpg!!! That’s probably six times what your Chevy is getting.
nope.
34 mpg, but only 30 mpg on the highway (both stats from the ford website) and that’s the front wheel drive model.
for comparison, the toyota econobox fossil-fuel pickup gets 27 highway mpg. if you put a shell on the toyota, you will likely beat the ford in highway fuel economy.
Lexus RX hybrid 31city/27hwy and 3500 lb. towing cap w/AWD. You can get the same hybrid system in a plain brown wrapper with the Toyota Highlander for about 10k less. My impression is that Toyota is the tech leader in hybrids. The website below says that Porsche is working on a hybrid Cayenne. Hold out for that one.
pick up an old diesel and convert it to bio diesel. you’ll prob get mileage well into the 30’s, have plenty of power and net negative CO2 emmissions.
OK - so first things first - you need to be very careful looking at the EPA numbers right now - 2008 model year are being reported with the new calculations - and these will give roughly 10-20% drop from the 2007 model year for the exact same car.
Second, I can appreciate the desire to go green, but then why an SUV? You note that all of them have lower highway mpg than city. If you are using the capacity mostly for long haul trips, then you are probably just as good to go to any small SUV for a lot cheaper. Something like a CR-V with the new ULEV-II rated engine will get you about the same highway mileage as an escape hybrid for at least 5K less. It is only in the city, and that being a good chunk of stop and go traffic, that they hybrids benefit in gas mileage and emmissions. Even the Atkins engine alone is still a ULEV-II engine (so for all your highway driving) - it is not until you get into automatic shutdowns during idle and braking that you get the AT-PZEV ratings.
So if you need something to just haul your tri gear around and a run around for the city - why not a Prius or Camry hybrid. Both take bike racks, have pretty good room, and are much better in both city and highway mileage. Likewise the Civic hybrid sedan - boring, but pretty functional, though the fact you can’t fold the back seats down makes it limited for some things. The hatch design of the Prius is a bit better for loading large objects.
Anyhow, a lot to consider. You need to think about your driving needs and habits if you really want to make a good decision. Personally, I would go for a mini cooper - 40 mpg highway, the new engine is way cleaner than before, fun to drive, can get my bike, gear wife and dog in for a weekend trip, all for under 22K. But I do little city driving.
Prius, hatchback with hitch rack for the bikes.
I traded in the Nissan Maxima for a Prius last month. It gets 47-48mpg for my local driving. I get about 48 highway, but I usually drive 70mph+, so if I slow down I’d get better mileage. Prius is one of only a few vehicles designed from the ground up as a hybrid. Other vehicles offer the hybrid feature as an option for which you pay a premium. It’s a solid car all around and you get a lot of technology for about $24K. Bottom line is this: I get about 600 miles on one tank of gas, yet that tank only holds 12.5 gallons. You’ll smile the first few times you fill the tank.
You’ll pay more to buy, own and operate an SUV versus the Prius, but you’ll get much better mileage than in the Avalanche. It seems Toyota pioneered the hybrid transfer technology and leases it to other car companies. I chose to stick with the original.
Hybrid SUVs Ranked by Fuel Economy
- Ford Escape Hybrid 2WD: 36/32 mpg
- Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD: 33/29 mpg
- Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4WD: 33/29 mpg (tie)
- Lexus RX 400h 2WD: 33/28 mpg
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid 2WD: 33/28 mpg (tie)
- Lexus RX 400h 4WD: 31/27 mpg
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD: 31/27 mpg (tie)
- Saturn Vue Green Line 2WD: estimated 27/32 mpg*
If you really want to go green, the lowest “energy cost” over it’s lifetime for a vehicle is the Scion XB:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/06-Scion-xB.jpg/250px-06-Scion-xB.jpg
The Prius is great if you A) don’t have kids and B) Want to look like you are trying to help the environment.
Not wanting to hi-jack - but where on earth do you come up with that statement? That 1.5 is pathetic in terms of smog emissions, and only average for an engine of its size for CO2. Maybe there are lots of recyclable components or something, but you are going to be putting out way more emmissions than most small gas burning 4 cylinders on the market.
I have considered buying a hybrid, but my 1994 Accord with 150,000 miles on it still runs like a champ, has been paid for 10 years, still gets 30 mpg on the highway, is dirt cheap to insure and can haul 8 bikes (4 on top and 4 on hitch rack). I just can’t justify purchasing a replacement car that does not get significantly more mpg than the accord. My strategy is to reduce my overall mileage via some route planning and consolidation of errands.
http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4024230
Or, if you do a google for the marketing war over
Hummer vs. Prius
They try to assign an energy cost from “dust to dust” of different vehicles. The Scion came in lowest by quite a bit.
I’m looking at getting a new vehicle and considering a hybrid. I don’t know much about them. What are the disadvantages other than being a little more expense?
Thanks,
O
I have been very happy with my 2007 Rav4. It is very plain vanilla but with the 4-cyl it gets an easy 30 mpg at lower speeds on the hwy and is really roomy. It’s got plenty of acceleration too. I don’t feel like I need any more power but can’t tow anything. Not a hybrid but equals most of those mileage numbers. Worth a look if you ask me. I downsized from a Tahoe a few years ago (right before Katrina), sure I miss the towing power and roar of the 350 but I don’t miss filling it up.
I can understand your desire to go green, but before you pull the plug, look at the math.
This article (origionally posted on slashdot) was very well put together
http://www.omninerd.com/2005/11/11/articles/41
In short, if you are looking to save money, it will be cheaper in the long run to just buy a normal 4 cyl
“In short, if you are looking to save money, it will be cheaper in the long run to just buy a normal 4 cyl”
Don’t go there buddy. I thought we hashed all this out in the Lav Room; the “true” economic cost of operating a vehicle when uncaptured environmental and health costs are added.
Pay it forward, until you can’t. That’s how we got here.
Time to start putting a dollar cost on degraded habitat due to the old economic model that ignored the reality of a finite habitable planet.
I like the new XB’s . Very nice.
My wife has a Prius and it’s an amazing car. Not only do we average 45 - 48 mpg week in and week out, but it’s fun to drive, roomier than it looks, very low emissions, a technological marvel, and generally just a great car. I have a Lexus GX and drive the Prius every chance I get. I don’t understand the rationale behind buying an Escape hybrid with inferior hybrid technology that only gets 28 - 30 real world mpg when you can get almost 20 mpg more with a Prius and not really lose much in terms of space, functionality, etc. Strap on a roof rack and you can carry just about whatever you want and still get great fuel economy. It’s a great all purpose car that I would recommend to anyone…I’m even considering trading in the Lexus for the next generation Prius due out in late '08 or '09 (http://www.soultek.com/clean_energy/hybrid_cars/third_generation_toyota_prius_in_2008.htm)