This should be interesting.

American auto makers like SUVs because they are high-profit vehicles. Not that making a profit is bad, however, I am willing to bet that profit motive is most of the reason behind GM deciding that a hybrid SUV is the way to go when if they got rid of all that extra mass that the SUV has, they would almost certainly get some extraordinary mileage. IMHO, if they built the SUVs with high usage of carbon fiber they would accomplish the same thing as making a smaller, low-mass vehicle, but it would, at least at first, erode any profits because of the high cost of carbon fiber.

Personally, I see this as a half-hearted effort by GM to give their customers a fuel efficient vehicle, and I am willing to bet that there will be quality problems that many people will not tolerate.

So, I wish GM well in this venture, but in my book, they have a long way to go before they will prove to me that I should be one of their customers. So far, nothing but the 08/09 Prius is on my short list.

I live 15-20 miles from the Arlington, Texas plant that will build them. The plant is among GM's finest.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("unknown PC member")</div>

....the last half of the quote might be accurate. Anyway it summs up my feelings about making hybrid Escalades and the like.

For the over-30 people, remember 1980 and earlier? Yes there were station wagons and boat cars, but why do people today "need" Jumbo SUVs and one-ton pickup trucks?

GM makes all these green gestures, yet treats real fuel economy with contempt. Several months ago, Mr Waggoner spent 20 minutes on NPR about hybrid SUVs, flex-fuel vehicles (invariably 5-liter and larger), then spent the last minute "....oh and we have ten vehicles that get over 30mpg".

Anyone see this extended Hummer commercial? It's the H3 "submarine commercial", then another segment added has a variation of the wuss rushing to the dealer to "Restore His Manhood". What happens instead is he abandons this dinky wedgy Smart-car sized EV to get a Hummer. I'll go with that as GM's true expression of greeness.

If these hybrids are like the Silverado "hybrid", they are not hybrids at all. All they do is shut down the engine at stops; there is no electric power actually driving the truck. They do have a large battery, and regenerative braking with electir AC pump. Better than nothing, I suppose.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wiyosaya @ Dec 14 2006, 11:19 AM) [snapback]362207[/snapback]</div>

That's likely worse than it appears too. The first smaller vehicle to use two-mode will be Vue. Unfortunately though, it will include a 6-cylinder engine... which is rather odd.

The choice seems as if it is just one based on market potential. But then when you dig, you uncover the reality that part of the system's efficiency comes from shutting off cylinders... which works fine when you have 6. But with 4, who knows. Sustained cruising with only 1 piston up and the other down at the same time could be horribly rough... or not even possible. A third for balance isn't available.

In other words, it's probably not as efficient with a vehicle wanting to compete directly with Camry or Sienna or RAV hybrids. But at least it will support a plug-in feature.