EPA Fuel Economy Leaders 2009

What?!? The Escalade Hybrid didn't make the list?

 

Not quite, but it smokes every other full sized SUV including including the Lexus land yachts it competes against. I'm not normally one to stick up for GM but they have put on the road a full size SUV that gets excellent mileage for that class. At 20 mpg combined nothing comes close. And going from the abysmal 14 mpg that the Lexus LX-570 gets to 20 mpg of the Escalade saves more fuel than going from a 24 mpg sedan to a 46 mpg Prius.

 

What is going on? What is that mid-size car doing on top of the list?

 

FWIW, thats not even really true.

The average passenger car in the US get 22.4mpg. And that doesn't even count all the people that drive trucks, vans, and SUVs as passenger cars, thats just cars. American drivers average 15,000 miles per year. 15,000 miles / 22.4 miles per gallon = 670 gallons. At 46mpg the Prius uses 15,000 / 46 miles per gallon = 326 gallons for a savings of 343 gallons per year.

The LX-570 uses 15,000 miles / 14 mpg = 1071 gallons. The Escalade Hybrid uses 15,000 miles / 20 mpg = 750 gallons, for a savings of 321 gallons per year. In a more relevant comparison the average truck, van and SUV gets 18 mpg using 15,000 / 18 mpg = 833 gallons, while the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid gets 21 mpg using 714 gallons saving 119 gallons per year.

Of course if the average truck, van and SUV driver realized he/she doesn't need a 6,000 lb tank to commute to work in and switched to a Prius, they'd save 507 gallons per year. Personally I switched from a 14mpg Land Rover to a Prius (and I average 51.5mpg and climbing) saving 780 gallons per year.

Add to the above that far more people can afford a $22k mid-sized car than a $48k-$72k hybrid SUV and the savings above will be greatly compounded in the Prius' favor. For example the 1101 Tahoe/Yukon Hybrids sold in September will save a combined 131,019 gallons per year over the average truck/van/SUV. The 10,873 Priuses sold in the same month in the US alone will save 3,729,439 gallons per year over the average car. If you use the 12,494 units Toyota sold in Sept. '07 before the supply problems arose, that becomes 4,282,442 gallons/year.

Maybe if GM had invested in a decent mid-sized 40-50mpg hybrid instead of two mode behemoths they wouldn't be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Probably not though.

US Average fuel economy:
BTS | Table 4-23: Average Fuel Efficiency of U.S. Passenger Cars and Light Trucks

Rob

 

I agree, its kind of ridiculous that no one has a small compact hybrid to beat the pants off the Prius. Its way more car than a lot of people need, and it sucks that they have to chose between a car thats the right size for them, and a bigger car that gets better mileage.

Rob

 

I remember a couple of months ago I saw "Saving General Motors" on CNBC. They are going to rebroadcast it this Sunday.

That documentary is very telling IMHO. It interviewed the GM execs and previewed what GM has in the pipeline, and all they are focused on is "build quality." The GM execs went on and on about building cars with interiors that will appeal to drivers like chrome, leather and walnut trim, and they wanted to deliver "excitement". So they dedicated an entire segment to their upcoming new Camaro.

All they had to show about the Volt was the Malibu test mule with the Volt's mechanicals.

When are those boneheads on GM's board going to realize that this is a different kind of market? What they need to do is to build reliable cars that are affordable for families with ever-shrinking budgets, and they need to build it with significantly better fuel economy than Japanese cars to make them stand out.

But noooo, all they care about is interior chrome and leather.

They are burning through $1 Billion of cash per month, and with the recession setting in, I fret to hear what the next move would be from that group of boardroom boneheads.

 

The Prius numbers look like they are for the dead of winter in Minnesota. I've gotten 55 mpg on the highway and 50-52 mpg around town since May. I expect a few mpg less this winter. Tire pressures 39/37.

 

MS,

That was a long winded answer where you failed to disprove Picasso's statement, because Picasso's statement is true.

Beyond that, GM's overall assertion that more fuel can be saved by putting hybrid technology onto large vehicles will save more fuel that putting it onto smaller vehicles, might be true.

Your point which basically says that you can save more fuel by downsizing has very little to do with justifying hybrid technology, just with buying an appropriate sized vehicle.

 

How do you figure? Picasso claimed somewhat arbitrarily that the Escalade Hybrid saved more gas over an LX-570 than a Prius does over an average car. I showed that in reality the Escalade saves 321 gallons, while the Prius saves 343. Therefore his assertion was false, even on a per vehicle basis.

Since neither of these vehicles is anywhere near the mainstream, I pointed out that a more reasonable comparison to the Prius vs. average car case is the Tahoe Hybrid vs. average truck/van/SUV. In this case the Prius wins by a much greater margin of 343 gallons to 119. When you add to this that given their relative markets and price points, the Prius out sells the Tahoe 10:1 the difference becomes far more significant.

Convincing people to downsize is very important, but that wasn't my point at all. In fact, the biggest argument for the Prius is that more people are likely to accept a more fuel efficient car if they don't have to scale all the way down to a compact or subcompact. There are plenty of people out there who have a legitimate need for something larger than a SMART. The number of people who actually need a $50k-$70k full sized SUV are far fewer. A $30k full-size pickup with the two-mode might actually make some sense by comparison, as the people and businesses who might actually need a vehicle like that might actually be able to afford it and justify the cost.

Rob