I’m not an SUV person, but then again, what does a person with no kids who lives in the far-from-rugged-terrained mid-Atlantic region need with a SUV? Yes, I know such minor details have not stopped many a SUV-loving and –buying American, I say as I hang my head in shame (and would lower my Ole Glory to half-mast if I had one).
In addition to not “needing” one, I’m simply on the “car person” end of the “car-SUV person” spectrum.
If you are a SUV person and want a big SUV, but not big gas bills, you might want to consider GM’s Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. It will be the first full-size SUV hybrid on the market when it’s available in early 2008.
Full-size. Room for eight. And a fuel efficiency improvement (over its non-hybrid sibling) of up to 30%: 21 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway. Not bad – for an SUV.
The vehicle won the “Green Car of the Year” award at the Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November. The judges included famed car designer Carroll Shelby, late-night talk show host and big-time auto aficionado Jay Leno, and representatives of four environmental groups.
The Tahoe Hybrid is also the first model from GM that uses a hybrid system developed jointly with BMW AG, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, and Chrysler. Some sources claim that this hybrid technology is superior to Toyota’s, at least for larger vehicles like SUVs and pickups.
GM was looking pretty green at the Show as it also had two other cars among the five finalist models in the competition: the Saturn Aura Hybrid and the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid.
Let’s just hope GM’s Act II is not “Who Killed the Hybrid SUV?”
As to your Green?
Though I think GM is truly greening up, I stick with my previous posted opinion: there are better ways to invest your green than buying stock in a US automaker.
