There may be a legitimate complaint levied against hybrids and the lack of sound that they produce. It's possible that pedestrians with poor eyesight might not notice a vehicle running on electricity if that person normally equates a specific sound with an approaching automobile. According to a post on Commercial Auto Dealers, though, the lack of sound inside a hybrid vehicle could lull you to sleep. Yeah, in these days, as manufacturers do everything in their power to reduce the interior noise levels in their products, that's a stupid claim to make. The writer also says that the electricity used by electric cars could be dangerous to your health. Umm, what about gasoline or diesel fuel. Last we checked, those can be rather harmful to your health too, and so can the fumes spewed from the tailpipes of said vehicles. Smog anyone? In conclusion, the writer suggests that you go buy a GMC truck. Did that writer forget that they are offered as hybrids too?

[Source: Commercial Auto Dealers via The Truth About Cars]

Paparazzi asked celebrity Paris Hilton about going "green" (see video below) and buying her new hybrid Yukon. Mrs. Hilton says "everyone" should buy a hybrid. Why? They are "awesome!" She even brags she has "the first one." What might Mrs. Hilton mean by saying she has the first hybrid, a type of vehicle that's been on sale for many years and is actually quite popular? All the commercials for the GM hybrids say "limited availability." GM only recently began selling the very expensive hybrid SUV, so demand may not be that high. Paris probably meant the first hybrid Tahoe sold from that dealership but it's also very possible Paris Hilton has the first hybrid Yukon IN THE WORLD!

UPDATE: GM tells us that Paris purchased the Yukon Hybrid the same as everyone else and they have no idea what she's talking about, either.

Update: While Mrs. Hilton did buy a hybrid, Pop Fiction actually provided her with a Land Rover to pull the pranks.

Ladies and gentleman, Paris Hilton got her hybrid! On a recent episode of E! News, Paris Hilton is seen driving in her new hybrid Yukon a Land Rover with a shaman (also see video below the fold). A wha? It's all a part of a new TV show that premieres Sunday (March 9) on E! called Pop Fiction which pranks the paparazzi with staged events.

TMZ also has a spotting of the SUV but sadly TMZ also reports Mrs. Hilton was spotted in her Bentley a day later. We are glad Mrs. Hilton has decided to wear her seat belts correctly this time but we are disappointed to see she attempted to chew gum a mint, text on her cell phone and drive her hybrid Yukon, all at the same time because, according to the punch line of a large number of blonde jokes, this is simply not possible. Check out the galleries of the GMC Yukon hybrid below.



[Source: TMZ, E!]

Some people use airport layovers to sleep, read, or get a meal. Sam and Sebastian took the opportunity to record AutoblogGreen Podcast #19. While waiting for a plane to whisk them back home from the Chicago Auto Show, we recapped a few things we saw at the show. It wasn't the greenest show we've seen, but they have the biggest building, by their own admission. A few things left impressions on us, first of which was the GMC Denali XT. The Zeta variant is the first use of GM's Two-mode hybrid system on a passenger car platform. Other exciting GM news is the announcement that ICM and Coskata will be working together to build a cellulosic ethanol plant. Ford came out with a couple of ideas aimed at truck customers that could boost CAFE numbers. The Transit Connect is a right-sized utility van, and their new Work Solutions system could be a stealthy way to improve economy. Honda has hybrids and diesels coming, and Toyota will be trying to add lightness to its fleet. Our interview this time around is with Bridgestone's Dan McDonald about their "One Team, One Planet" initiatives.

Thanks for listening!


SUBSCRIBE to the AutoblogGreen Podcast in iTunes
LISTEN to the show now
ADD the AutoblogGreen Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

The ad for the hybrid Chevy Malibu did not make it to air but GMC's Yukon hybrid ad did. Like we said Thursday, the Yukon hybrid ad features the 1976 animated short Sisyphus by Marcell Jankovics. The voice over to the animation says the following:

Why push? Why change? Why grow? Why dream? Questions you don't have to ask yourself when you never say "it's good enough." When you never say "it can't be done." When you never say "never."

Then the text "Introducing the Yukon Hybrid from GMC. Limited Availability" and "50% Better Mileage in a full size SUV is now a reality" appears. In case you missed it during the game, you can watch it above. BTW, the Giants won.

[Source: MySpace]

The GMC Denali XT concept debuts at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show this week. The flex-fuel, two-mode hybrid pickup truck reminds me a lot of Toyota's A-BAT hybrid pickup concept. The Denali XT has a more coupe-ish look and feel than Toyota's A-BAT. As you can see in the video above, GMC uses the paint job to make it look lower than it actually is. The low-slung, car-like look of the pick-up is not an illusion though: the Denali XT concept is based on the same chassis as the Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Camaro.

If the Denali XT is ever released (GM management is still deciding), it will not only be the first flex-fuel hybrid but the first hybrid pickup that also comes with direct injection, active fuel management, cylinder deactivation, and has a combined MPG rating of 25 MPG, all while churning out 326 horse power and 3,500 pound towing capacity. The Denali XT is the perfect example of how the new CAFE standards impact vehicle design. I seriously doubt GMC would have done something like this if not for the new CAFE standard.

[Source: YouTube]

We thought a week or so ago that GM's new hybrid SUVs would start around $45,000. That information came from a GM spokesman, who said the hybrid version would cost about the same price as the conventional 5.3L model with similar equipment. A price like that would have meant virtually no price premium for the hybrid. Following that post, GM's website confirmed the news, and showed the costs of the Chevy Tahoe 4-Door two-wheel drive hybrid ($47,915), the Tahoe four-wheel drive ($50,720), and the GMC Yukon two-wheel drive hybrid ($48,370).

Whoops.

The Detroit News reports that GM will reveal the "real prices of hybrids" next week, and the numbers will be higher. How high? No one is saying, but GM spokesman Terry Rhadigan said this week that the website prices "weren't right when they were up there and we're not sure how they got up there." Looks like the hybrid premium is alive and well at GM. Stay tuned.

[Source: David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau]

Just got back from NextFest. Dubbed Wired's version of a new world's fair, NextFest brought together more than 130 exhibitors bearing new technologies in a plethora of fields from all over the globe. Given that it's being held just 3 short subway stops from my apartment, I couldn't quite think of a reason to miss it.

I have to admit, it wasn't quite as big as I thought it would be, but there was still a lot going on. There were a number of worthy exhibits - some green, some interactive and some just plain cool. Our focus here, however, is green land transportation, so I'll try to stay on topic as best I can in the subsequent posts.

As Sam mentioned earlier, GM brought a "portfolio of green advanced propulsion technologies" under their Chevrolet, GMC and Saturn badges. They were the only major auto manufacturer to show up which, of course, is understandable as I imagine everyone else is busy flexing their muscles in Paris. There were, however, a handful of other interesting green vehicles including the Buckeye Bullet (Ohio State's claim to having built "the fastest electric car in the world"), an E85-electric hybrid Chevy Equinox built by Virginia Tech, Xof1's (pronounced "power of one") solar project car aimed at setting a world distance record, Carl Vogel's electric Harley-Davidson and Wheelsurf's recreational disk-shaped motorcycle (trust me, you'll love this one).

More to come soon...