When I recently pulled into a parking space in Aliso Viejo, CA, I looked over to my left, I saw this...
Odd. Today I saw 0 Leafs but saw two GM hybrids and a yet another new Volt (no plates yet). One of the hybrids was one of the few Yukon/Tahoe monstrosities w/obnoxious stickers on the side). It was sort of a grey/beige color (I think I've seen this vehicle before) and it was driven by an average size woman w/a whopping passenger load of 1 small child. The other was a Silverado hybrid. I couldn't tell if it was a two-mode or its predecessor. This is the 1st time I've seen one of those on the road.
While bashing GM/products is somewhat understandable given their history of producing large SUV's and trucks, it is also somewhat hypocritical to bash these hybrids when Toyota doesn't offer a Sequoia or Tundra hybrid option. According to fuel.gov, those two vehicles cost $100 more a month to drive than their GM hybrids counterparts.
However, Toyota reinvested their profits into high-volume hybrid development. GM used their profits to pay dividends. That's a big difference. .
On the third hand, a hybrid 6.0L V8 Chevy Silverado saves as much gas per year versus a standard 4.0L V6 Toyota Tundra as a 50 mpg Prius Liftback saves versus at 36 mpg Smart ForTwo micro-car (EPA combined city/hwy). Code: Over 15,000 miles: Prius at 50 mpg uses 300 gallons Smart42 at 36 mpg uses 417 gallons (117 saved) Malibu at 26 mpg uses 586 gallons (286 saved) Silverado at 21 mpg uses 714 gallons Tundra V6 at 18 mpg uses 833 gallons (119 saved) Tundra V8 at 15 mpg uses 1000 gallons (286 saved)
Really? That's just another example MPG bragging. It doesn't address how many are actually being sold. Remember that the point is high-volume production & sales, to deliver a business-sustaining profit. .
I noticed another Volt today, parked alongside the Burke-Gilman bike trail. The last two days have been productive spotting: third wild Volt, second wild Prius C, two Escape hybrids on the same day, and first and second 787 Dreamliners in the air. There should have been hundreds of Dreamliner flights over me, but these were the first I actually recognized from below. Around here, any Leaf or Prius v day of three or less is no longer worth reporting.
Volt sightings are supposed to go to http://priuschat.com/forums/chevrolet-volt/92062-chevy-volt-sighting-thread.html. I saw another GM monstrosity two-mode today. It was a white Tahoe hybrid. Of course, it was driven by a woman w/a small child. Side note: Maybe we'll all be seing more Malibu Ecos (aka eAssist aka 2nd gen BAS mild-hybrids) soon. They did surprisingly well in sales March 2012 Dashboard | Hybrid Cars. After looking at some reviews, apparently, for the '13 model year, the Eco is the only model right now if you want a '13. The non-eAssist ones come later. Perhaps this is the secret to GM's success in marketing mild hybrids. Their previous gens were utter failures in terms of sales and reliability. GM's last month sold more hybrids than Honda did. Wow!
Wow, I've gone weeks if not months w/o spotting any GM hybrids but today I saw two monstrosity class white Tahoe hybrids. One had the obnoxious decals on the side (might've been the same as the one I saw in my last post) and the other didn't. My area has an insane # of monstrosity class SUVs running around. The other day I saw a Ford Excretion err... Exxon Valdez er... Excursion being driven by a father and hauling only his very young daughter. Sigh...
Yes, dividends to share holders, pension funding patyments, and hopefully "bailout loan" payments. DBCassidy
Forgot to mention, I had a very rare sighting of a Vue Hybrid in the past few weeks. That's a real winner there...
No. The two-mode Vue never shipped. Prototypes existed and IIRC, bwilson4web drove it or at least rode in it. The only one that shipped was the BAS hybrid Vue.
I always thought the two-mode hybrid idea was a decent one. A good way to get better gas mileage out of vehicles that still needed power, such as to tow or haul something.
I didn't see the driver, but there was a Tahoe Hybrid parked next to us last Friday at our local supermarket. A couple of weeks ago I saw my first wild Volt. My wife thought it looked good but sucked her teeth at the price.
I saw what I think was my 1st sighting ever of a previous gen Malibu Hybrid in CA today (definitely not a '13 Malibu Eco/eAssist). It silver, being being driven by a woman who was speeding. That's a real winner of car... not.
Down in So Cal, I saw a brand new looking Tahoe/Yukon black monstrosity hybrid. The other day here in Nor Cal, I saw another but it was a greyish color. I'd never seen that one running around before.
