Hybrid Suvs: The Other Story

摘要

In regards to "Hybrid Hype" (feature, November/December 2008), the author, Jim Motavalli, misses the big picture when it comes to improving gas hogs such as full-size hybrid SUVs and pickups. If one had been driving a conventional SUV, such as a Chevy 2WD Tahoe, the combined EPA gas mileage is 15 m.p.g. (using 2009 stats from FuelEconomy.gov). The Hybrid Tahoe (2009, 2WD) has a combined figure of 21 m.p.g.. To move from 15 m.p.g. to 21 m.p.g. doesn't sound like a big deal. However, if you changed it to gallons per 100 miles, then we see a BIG difference. The regular Tahoe in our example uses 6.7 gallons per 100 miles, but the hybrid uses only 4.8 gallons! That's a savings of 1.9 gallons.