Filed under: Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, GMC, Green Daily
EPA makes it official: 2008 Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids get 21 mpg
In September, GM announced their official MPG numbers for the new 2008 Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids. The EPA has now posted the official government verdict, and the numbers match what GM announced. The
two large hybrids share official EPA estimates: The 2WD versions get 21 city, 22 highway (21 combined) while the 4WD versions get 20 mpg in all those categories. You can find EPA's pages for the Tahoe hybrids here and the Yukon hybrids here. For comparison, the non-hybrid 2008 GMC Yukon 1500 2WD gets between 11 and 14 mpg in the city and 15 and 20 mpg on the highway (depending on engine type, fuel and how many speeds the transmission has).
[Source: Fueleconomy.gov, h/t to mulad]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Kardax 4:51PM (12/11/2007)
That's quite good for such a large vehicle.
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jfalksvo 4:57PM (12/11/2007)
For comparison, 21 city is the same as a 4-cylinder Camry gets. Nice work GM!
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CJ 5:33PM (12/11/2007)
So, if someone were to drive it conservatively, they might be able to squeeze out 24-25 mpg. That's actually not that bad for such a large vehicle.
The only problem is, these vehicles are not going to end up in the hands of the soccer moms who drive the current ones they bought used. These vehicles will never last on a used lot, should they make it to one.
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Yggdrasilly 5:36PM (12/11/2007)
That's better than my 1984 Nissan pickup (4 cylinder, 4 speed automatic), with a much greater capacity. Nice!
Still a bigger vehicle than I want or need, but then making other people's consumer choices conform to mine is not my cup of tea.
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werepants 5:59PM (12/11/2007)
To Alric:
That is actually pretty impressive, and possibly more impacting than, say, the civic hybrid vs the standard. Say a person drives 15,000 miles in a year...
If they drive a vehicle that gets 15 MPG, they will burn 1,000 gallons.
If the vehicle gets 20 MPG, they will burn 750 gallons, saving 250 gallons that year ($750-$1000)
OTOH
If they drive a civic that gets 30 MPG, they will burn 500 gallons.
If the hybrid version gets 45 MPG, they will burn 333 gallons, saving only 166 gallons.
So, the greatest total savings, if we are talking about customers who are going to drive a certain size of vehicle, comes in the larger vehicle. If you account for the fact that some of these large vehicles are used to haul around 6+ people, they can be more economical than I Prius.
Don't let your assumptions and biases get in the way of the facts. This is a Good Thing(TM).
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Chris M 6:19PM (12/11/2007)
I suspect that most of these will be bought by people who actually need that size of vehicle and are also concerned about saving fuel. That will be a much smaller market than GM has expected.
Most of the SUV fools driving vehicles much too big for their needs will look at the higher hybrid price and say "No Way". Then they will be the first to squawk when gas prices keep rising.
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priusguy 6:42PM (12/11/2007)
Initially, those MPG estimates sound low. But in comparison to the Lexus LS460H, which gets 19 city and 27 highway, I guess the Tahoe isn't bad. I guess I'm must used to the Prius.
Real Tahoe Prices from Real People
http://www.pricehub.com/price/Chevrolet/Tahoe
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Dr. Kenneth Noisewater 7:04PM (12/11/2007)
Too bad they haven't hybridized the new small-block diesel, between long-legged efficiency and battery-powered stop-n-go traffic, it's a far more intelligent combination.
Get on the stick GM!!!
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Alric 7:34PM (12/11/2007)
Pathetic
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Mike Z 7:58PM (12/11/2007)
I had the chance to talk to an engineer rather high up at GM, and he indicated getting a diesel to quickly, and reliably restart in a hybrid system is a major hurdle in making a diesel hybrid. While he didn't say it, I'm reading into my conversation that GM has experimented with Diesel Hybrids and not had good results with integrating the two.
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Joseph 9:06PM (12/11/2007)
Congratulations Chevy!
The Tahoe Hybrid gets the city mpg of an automatic 2008 four-cylinder Honda Accord. :) One step closer.
There's only about a 15% improvement of mpg on the highway compared to the regular version though. That's about the same amount of improvement of other series/parralel hybrids on the highway.
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Dad 9:38PM (12/11/2007)
"2WD versions get 21 city, 22 highway (21 combined)"
WOW! That is amazing!
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Dad 9:41PM (12/11/2007)
"Don't let your assumptions and biases get in the way of the facts. This is a Good Thing(TM)."
I second your comments.
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terrence_bethea 12:29AM (12/12/2007)
1) If you really NEED a Tahoe/Yukon you will NEVER see 20mpg. Towing a jet ski maybe . . . actually using it as a work vehicle . . . not so much.
2) At $50k (stripped), the comparison to Camry or Accord 4-banger is pretty ridiculous.
3) When it comes to reliability/durability (of the hybrid system) do you really trust a company that came 'kicking and screaming' to hybrids?
4) It's an unmitigated 'good' that people inclined to buy such ridiculous vehicles (when not being used purposefully) can now choose to buy a less offensive version. But let's be honest. Only a trickle of these hybrid sleighs will be sold in comparison to their petrol-only stablemates.
5) Truly sustainable engineering (and the survival of GM) will depend on producing MASS vehicles that are more fuel efficient. Honda is poised to offer all it's vehicles in either hybrid or diesel varieties within 5 years. Toyota will do the same w/ hybrids (not diesel, though). To be relevant to most Americans, GM will have to do better than the Vue and Malibu.
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Alric 1:36AM (12/12/2007)
The problem with this type of vehicle is twofold. First; it is not the savings but the total fuel consumption that should be compared. The comparison should not be between hybrid and non-hybrid but between 21 and 50 mpg vehicles both used for commuting. Based on a previous posters numbers we are comparing burning more than 1000 gallons of fuel as opposed to less than 300. Second; following the same reasoning car companies should work into making truly efficient commuter cars that most people would buy.
The time has come that the irrational wish of some people to drive a fuel inefficient and unsafe for others two ton behemoth is harming everyone and should be addressed for the common good.
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jake 1:54AM (12/12/2007)
The funny thing is, it will just make it all the more desirable to drive in one alone. I mean seriously, whenever I see these new yukons and tahoes they are with one or two people, not hauling anything. But at least it's an improvement right? I mean if people actually car pool and use it's full capacity it can stand to do a lot of good for the environment (yeah here's to hoping). Better than the improvements in the malibu, aura, and vue right?
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Furion 5:29AM (12/12/2007)
"The funny thing is, it will just make it all the more desirable to drive in one alone."
And the Prius does not? Let's face it, anything that makes driving cheaper / more acceptable / ability to use carpool lanes alone / etc.. will increase needless driving with less people on board.
It doesn't make producing less consuming vehicles bad; quite the opposite. The end result is still less pollution. Or should the Prius / hybrid Tahoe be banned because it's more likely to make one drive alone?
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Guenther 8:03AM (12/12/2007)
Terrence- are you just trolling, or are you really this ignorant???
1. Who care what I need- if I have the means, I can drive this instead of a minivan, and get the same mileage.
2. Its not a ridiculous comparison, because this very large vehicle gets the same city mileage as what's commonly accepted as a responsible bidsize family sedan.
3. I'll take GM over what Toyota has been releasing lately. Nevermind that their dealer service is far superior to most Toyota stores.
4. And that makes this a bad vehicle?
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Furion 8:56AM (12/12/2007)
"2. Its not a ridiculous comparison, because this very large vehicle gets the same city mileage as what's commonly accepted as a responsible bidsize family sedan."
I agree. And if you compare the Tahoe to other 50k USD cars / SUVs the Tahoe looks even better (I presume terrences objection was to price difference between camry and tahoe hybrid). 50k will buy you a big sedan which is worse in mileage, or a big american SUV that's worse in mileage, or a midsize european one that's worse in mileage.
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RMc 9:06AM (12/12/2007)
I bet that if they stuck the 4.5L diesel in the Yukon/Tahoe, they'd get better combined mileage than the hybrid.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/15/gm-announces-clean-diesel-v8-for-pickups-and-the-hummer-h2/
Unarguably, the hybrid would get better city mileage but the diesel would also give a reasonable gain on the highway so I'd guess combined mileage would be same if not better with the oil burner.
Note that this hybrid gets the same highway mileage as the new Toyota Sequoia with the Tundra's 5.7L. Take that for what you want...
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