Wow, 2 mpg advantage over the regular model...I guess it will be a good match for the Malibu hybrid that will also get 2 mpg more than it's conventional counterpart.

How much extra will you pay for the hybrid version if comparing with non-hybrid? extra 10K with 2 mpg difference?

Re: WS

Dude read again. It gets 21mpg in the city vs the regular version that only gets 14mpg. Thats a 7mpg gain. Yes, on the highway it is only 1mpg better, but remember that all hybrids do better in the city where they can shut off their engines.

I'm surprised they haven't tried putting in a turbo diesel. It would be interesting to see how the mileage compares to the hybrid.

why do you need this thing in the city anyway?

Re: WS & Don

2 mpg on a truck that normally gets 20 is a 10% increase, roughly the same as an Accord Hybrid vs. Accord Sedan, if I'm not mistaken. For the same mileage driven, however, the dollars saved by going hybrid is greater for the Tahoe than for the Accord.

Rene makes a good point: if you live in the city, you have few uses for a big SUV. Hell in some cities a Smart Four-Two is even a little to much: in New York or Chicago, walking can even get you where you want to go faster than driving can!

Now, if you are in LA, its a different story. Most of your driving will be done in stop and go traffic, but LA is the poster child of suburban sprawl: to walk anywhere can take HOURS, and then don't expect there to be sidewalks everywhere either! That might be a place where an SUV makes a little sense too, depending on your lifestyle.

But the only entity I can see that would really need this vehicle would be governments or large corporations. They may definitely have need for 8 person seating with towing/hauling capacity in town. Think of a police force or dignitary visit. An S-Class is hardly appropriate, and neither is a Malibu. You need a little more protection and a little more capacity for said entities uses.

I will say this though, the 2007 Tahoe has actually been on sale since January 06. Its time for a re-style GM! The car already looks dated.

Hey Bernie,

The Accord hybrid was billed as an increased performance version, which is why it had the V6. It was not marketed as a fuel saver, which is one of the reasons why it's been discontinued.

Also, if I say I've increased my mileage by 10%, but I'm still only getting 20 mpg, what does that really say? Hmm...I guess it says I can feel slightly less guilty about commuting to work alone in a 6000lb+ vehicle.

Whoa, now hold up everyone.

Is this the EPA's ever so accurate reading?

If so, cut another 15-20% off of the numbers.

To all who do not understand hybrids:

Hybrids all work on gasoline engines as a primary propulsion system. The electric motor is only used to start the engine at high rpms (1000rpms rev start, as opposed to 100rpm standard start).

A hybrid on the highway will always use the same MPG as its gasoline counterpart because it is a gasoline engine with less HP and .1 or .2 liters less in size.

Also keep in mind that the figures you are seeing for any vehicle produced after 2007 are using the new 2008 EPA guidelines for mileage rating.

Some people need to have access to larger hybrids for their work. Not all hybrids need to be the size of a matchbox car.

Just because this is a General Motor’s product, you should bash them for trying new alternatives. When you look at a hybrid, no matter the brand, you need to look at the City mileage, not the highway mileage.

Car enthusiast or not, before you make a comment, think about it first. Do your homework, compare comparable vehicles to see if this really is a good value or not.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toyota Sequoia 15 18
Chevy Tahoe 14 20
Chevy Tahoe Hybrid 21 22
Ford Expedition 12 18

* Source from Toyota.com, Ford.com, Chevy.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I see this is a great addition to contractors that work inner city construction sites and for corporate to use to move executives

Just because someone lives in the city doesn't mean they don't need something with towing capabilities. They might have a country home, they might have a boat, they might constantly be hauling around a bunch of their kids friends, I could go on and on.

Unfortunately, the "who needs this in the big city" idea isn't followed. I see way too many big SUVs here in San Diego, for three main reasons...bling factor (I'm sure there are people reading this article already thinking about their 30" rims and DUB emblems), very large families, and folks from the midwest who are used to them and don't want to change. I'm not saying those reasons are bad ones, but I'm definitely not in favor of buying very large vehicles, especially for urban use, if it doesn't have a functional reason. I don't just mean gas either...try crammed parking lots with one of thing's ass sticking out, or simply driving in traffic.

wow, 22mpg, way to freaking go!

All this does is now allow stupid people to "justify" buying a big-ass car when they damn well don't need it. Just another thing to make people feel more important than they really are.

You shouldn't even be allowed to buy a truck or SUV if you can't justify it for work needs, you have more than 2 kids, or you can show ownership of something that needs to be towed.

the epa numbers are optimisitic at best - no fault of gm's - but when you jumping on the back of it to sell your product, you are part of it.

i have close friends with honda civic & pruis - the honda averages i.e over a month of 40 mpg the pruis around 5 mpg more, mainly commute driving with a/c, no were near the epa numbers, but still great in comparison to most cars.

did they test this monster with 8 people in, air con blasting away, in car dvd going? i think not, at best this will do 12-14 in the city, accelerated hard, cruise at 80-90 and your below 10 again.

We'll have to wait and see what the premium is for these SUVs once they start arriving at dealerships."

this should read, same mrsp but how much can they can lesson the rebate with this

Who needs this in the city? I think you meant to say "I don't need one of these and I'll keep my nose out of other's bussiness." If you don't like the vehicle choices that others make then fine, but why does every SUV article on this site have a bunch of people bashing SUV's and their owners? Is it that inconceivable that others actually prefer to spend their lives rearing children instead of having tea and complaining about non-prius owners?

If you're worried about fuel prices then learn to calculate cost/benefit...you won't buy a hybrid. If you're worried about the environment then learn to trust science more than politicians...still won't buy a hybrid. And if you're just annoyed that all the other cars on the road are bigger than yours...buy a bigger car. Here's a big one that's big AND hybrid if you just can't cope with the first two statements.

chevy will impress me when they make car/suv(lol they have to otherwise they lost the us market) that doesnt use gasoline at all. never mind this "shut off the engine for a while" brewhaha. i want an american made, hydrogen/liquid fueled *affordable* car, maybe then i'll look at the us car market.

Mike M:

"but I'm definitely not in favor of buying very large vehicles"

What do you care what other people spend their money on? You are a control freak or a communist that would rather be able to arbitrarily tell people what they are allowed to own?

FWIW I think the bling bling thing is lame myself, but hey, it's there money, they can spend it on whatever they want.

their*

Baby steps are better than no steps.

Some people just don't realize that not all SUV's are sold to guys trying to compensate for small size. While I'll agree the H2 and H3 are a waste of resources, the other SUV's can and do suit a purpose for a lot of people that need them.

Funny how nobody complains about the exotics and super luxury cars getting 15 mpg, but an SUV doing it is just wrong.

I personally drive an Interga so don't think I'm just a country boy defending my trucks.

Bottom line is that GM still has the best trucks on earth. From the most power (403hp!!) to the best gas mileage, and that's both in their regular trucks and hybrids.

The Tahoe in plain form gets 14mpg, in hybrid form it gets 20-21mpg. That's at least a 30% increase no matter how you look at it. Can anyone else name me a different branded fullsize gas powered truck that gets comparable gas mileage? You can't because there isn't one. Anyone who's ever owned a fullsize truck knows that towing and hauling will degrade gas mileage, but passengers don't. My Yukon gets the same gas mileage with 7 people in it and the A/C on that it gets with just me in it and the windows down.

If you don't feel that you need a truck, don't buy one. I don't agree with people who don't need trucks buying them either, but for those of us who can't survive without one, we're damn glad to see someone is trying to make owning one a little cheaper.

rethdog,

I don't really think an in vehicle dvd player will influence your mileage. Also, I doubt they tested it above legal speed limits.... what would be the point of that? They have to test it at a certain speed, they all do it.... nothing new.

rethdog,

I don't really think an in vehicle dvd player will influence your mileage, but that's just me. Also, I doubt they tested it above legal speed limits.... what would be the point of that? They have to test it at a certain speed, they all do it.... nothing new.

This is such a COOL car. no longer do I have to put up with my Ford Excursion which only gets like 8 mpg. I have to drive SUV because I have a rather large butt. I weigh 320LB and can't fit in the Prius but would like to have the hybrid.
I was wondering if the battery died on this SUV would I be able to push the car to jump start it? Assuming I can buy it in a manual stick.

@ wes

I'm trying to make the point that EPA mileage doesn't really take into account real life usage - yes this isn't GM's fault, but they are trying to sell a product based on this (mis)information. These vehicles typically have a very large electrical loads, large AC units, that effect mpg, and typically do keep up with the flow of traffic on freeways, ok 90 maybe a little fast, but 80 isn't

ok - tk truck's gets 8mpg - (This is such a COOL car. no longer do I have to put up with my Ford Excursion which only gets like 8 mpg.) do you honestly believe that this truck, ok it's slightly smaller will double the mpg? if so you're a salesmans dream customer.

@ kevin

I'm guessing suggest you aren't measuring your mpg very accurately, don't rely on your trip computer you need to do the nerdy thing and calculate it, but honestly do you get 14/20 out of your Yukon?

GM would be much better off spending there R & D on diesels, a class 8 weighing in at 80,000lbs can get 8mpg

They're using the new 2008 EPA numbers. They're a lot more accurate, especially regarding hybrids. Take a 2007 hybrid car and look at its mileage using fueleconomy.gov. Compare 2008 mileage with 2007 numbers

"The 2WD hybrids post a 50 percent improvement over the regular non-hybrid versions in the city."
So for those of us who can read, this is a BIG increase in city mileage, especially for a large vehicle. Furthermore, they're achieving this using a bigger more powerful engine at the same time! If this was a Toyota, there's be people lining up to sing their praises, instead of only reading the TITLE of the article and then posting.

This officialy puts the Tahoe even or ahead of the Acura MDX and Lexus RX in MPG. So for those saying it's not good enough try doing a little research first. Nobody complains about MPG in import/luxo cars, they just like to rag on the Big 3.

I'd say GM made a good move with it considering this thing has a bunch more room, towing power, etc..

@ rethdog

I do in fact keep a very close eye on gas mileage since I do all of my own maintenance. With my standard weekly mix of driving (which is mostly small-town type, very little highway), I have seen an average of 13.8mpg in the cold months and 14.5mpg in the warm months. On a purely highway tank of gas i've seen it just make 19mpg. But that is 100% highway with the cruise set. From my experience, a 14/20 rating on my Yukon is a fair estimate.

Man, I would buy this car...unless you´re a green puritan, whatever increase in mileage should be welcome.

Also, I would put a huge GOP sticker on it, a "buy hybrids" sticker on it, together with those stickers for diamond lane (pool lane) that only hybrids are allowed to have in California...and finally, just to piss off some of my friends at UC Berkeley, would go to work and park there everyday in full view...lol

I kinda like the approach that GM has taken with their mild hybrid concept. Quite honestly, I do not think that full hybrids are the answer, more of a stop gap measure. I do agree that a clean diesel would be more appropriate for this size vehicle. I have looked at hybrids for my commute (65 miles/one way), but my 7 year old Mitsubishi Mirage averages between 35-38 mpg (I I am traveling almost exclusively highway speeds). The hybrid option would make more sense in an urban environment (stop and go). GM mild hybrid does help the usually deplorable mileage these vehicles typically achieve while keeping cost/complexity down. However, we as consumers need to really re-evaluate the need for these vehicles if they are only being used as day to day transportation. (The marketing in the nineties suggested a sexier alternative to minivans, but now the limitations of the vehicles come into play with gas prices)