Click the Saturn Vue Hybrid for a high res gallery

The Saturn Vue was the first hybrid model from General Motors and has lived on through an entire model cycle. For 2008, the Vue was completely redesigned, though the mild hybrid system was carried over with few changes. We think that the new model is rather attractive, so it gets points for style. The fact that it uses a lower-tech hybrid system brings it back down, though. There will be a new 2-Mode Vue hybrid available shortly, but it's not out yet, so we're sticking with the mild unit (someday, a plug-in version will be available as well). Still the 5kW motor/generator is able to make a decent improvement in fuel economy. According to the EPA, the non-hybrid Vue manages 19 mpg in the city and 26 on the highway. Total estimated cost for a year's worth of fuel is $2,757. The hybrid version manages 25 in the city and a whopping 32 on the highway, which should result in a savings of about $600 in a year. The Vue gets extra brownie points for coming in at just $25,370. That price makes it the cheapest hybrid SUV on our list. Still, we think there's a better option. This one.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Two-Mode Vue

Ever since the initial hybrid version of the Saturn Vue, the "different kind of company" chose to go its own way by badging its fuel-saving wares as Green Lines. This designation will be going the way of the Dodo in favor of the much more simple and recognizable designation of simply "hybrid." The reasoning is that the Green Line badge adds unnecessary confusion to Saturn's line of vehicles and is too long for marketing purposes. This becomes especially true as General Motors rolls out new versions of its hybrid technology. Soon, the Saturn Vue will be granted the sophisticated 2-Mode technology as is used on full-size SUVs from GM such as the GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade. While the current Vue is well priced considering its decent fuel mileage of 25 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway, the new 2-Mode model will be capable of powering the vehicle on electricity alone and should be available in 2009.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

Click the Volt for a high-res gallery

Round and round we go... where we stop, nobody knows! That sounds like an apt description of the merry-go-round that is the Chevrolet Volt, especially when pricing and delivery date are concerned. Perhaps what we are witnessing in this case is the first truly transparent product launch in history. Do major shifts like this happen with all vehicles, or is the new technology needed to make the Volt a reality causing pricing headaches for GM management? Maybe it's all of the above. Whatever the case, GM CEO Jim Wagoner has been quoted on Forbes as suggesting that General Motors will be selling an electric car for less than $30,000 by the year 2010.

Another possible explanation for this pricing confusion could involve the upcoming plug-in Saturn Vue. How can we be sure that Wagoner was referring to the Volt when he cited the pricing and deadline of the electric vehicle? We can't. It's possible that GM could have a plug-in Vue ready for the market in 2010 with an electric-only mode, making it an electric car of sorts. We'll just need to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the Volt's, and the Vue's, debut.

[Source: Forbes]

Click the Saturn Vue Hybrid for a high res gallery

Back in mid-2006, GM rolled out its first mainstream production hybrid, the Saturn Vue Green Line, fairly late in its product life cycle. That one featured the first iteration of the mild GM Hybrid system. It was in production for less than a year before the first-gen Vue went away in favor of an all-new global design that was developed in a cooperative arrangement between GM engineers in North America, South Korea and Europe. The same body style is sold in Europe and other parts of the world as the Opel Antara. A second version with different styling and a lower level of content is sold in most of the world as the Chevy Captiva.

The second-generation Vue debuted in North America in late spring of 2007 and the new Green Line hybrid model came along about six months later. The old Vue was the last Saturn to follow the original model of a metal structure with plastic body panels. That setup has now been abandoned in favor of a metal body and it pays big dividends in fit and finish but we'll come back to that. The Vue falls into the burgeoning compact crossover class, and is currently one of only two hybrids in the segment (the other is the Ford Escape). Find out how the Vue compares after the jump.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

click the photo for high-resolution images of the 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line

We've just brought you our take on driving the 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid SUV, and now we can gear up and get ready for the '08. Saturn announced today that the new version (along with the non-hybird '08 Vue Red Line) will be unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show this week. So, what's new in the '08?

Let's start with what's the same. First, the Belt Alternator Starter (BAS) light hybrid system is the same as in the 2007 Vue Green Line, so Alex's thoughts on the 36V battery and 170-horsepower 2.4L Ecotec four-cylinder engine should provide a guess as to the new Vue's power. The engine shuts down when the vehicle comes to a stop, and the battery is charged by regenerative braking.

Now, what's different. First, this isn't the plug-in version, but that's not a big surprise. Official fuel economy figures are not yet available for this Vue, but GM is already promising "a 45-percent improvement in fuel economy compared to its non-hybrid counterpart" from the even-more-updated Vue Green Line that has GM's new two-mode hybrid system in the third quarter of 2008.

Look for the SUV on the lot in the fourth quarter of 2007, but AutoblogGreen will have a lot more information from Chicago later in the week. Stay tuned.

Click on the image above or the thumbnails below to see a high-resolution (1,280 pixel wide) image gallery of the 2008 Vue Green Line. The images are downloadable for your personal use.

GM's full press release is after the jump, and you can read about the non-hybrid 2008 Vue Red Line at Autoblog.



Related:

• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line
• How the GM mild hybrid drive-train works
• LA Auto Show: Saturn Vue Green Line will offer 2-mode and plug-in hybrid technology

[Source: GM]

When is a hybrid not really a hybrid? When it's a "mild" hybrid, with a battery pack that can slightly improve fuel economy, but cannot drive the car on its own. The Saturn Vue Green Line is one of these mild hybrids, and the LA Times' Dan Neil was certainly unimpressed with it. He calls the Vue "as conventional as Victorian sex", a great phrase to describe this unexciting SUV. In fact, Neil's full of clever wordings that express his dislike of this vehicle. After doing a lot of comparisons of fuel savings and hybrid premium cost, he busts out this: "As much fun as playing with a calculator is, let's stow it for now and answer the question: What's the Vue GL like from behind the wheel? Well, all things considered, I think I'd rather be under the wheels." Ouch. You can read the whole article here, and see that in the end he has more for the Vue hybrid than pure scorn, he just wishes it could be more.

Related:

• Quick review of new Vue Green Line Hybrid

[Source: LA Times/Dan Neil, hat tip to starlightmica]

If you're in the Washington, DC area October 26-29, 2006, you may want to go check out the Saturn Greenhouses. Saturn will be sponsoring three special environmental displays in conjunction with the Marine Corps Marathon. The greenhouses will be set up at Union Station, the Reagan Building and the Marine Corps Marathon Expo center. Sam Grawe of Dwell Magazine will be speaking at the Union Station greenhouse at 4:30pm on the 26th about "Sustainability and Architectural Design". There will be live music from local musicians, a kids Arts & Scraps car building activity with recycled materials, organic food cooking demos, environmental demonstrations, tree seeding giveaways and a special relaxation station at the Marathon Expo site.

As you might expect from such and event, General Motors will be prominently displaying one of their newest products. The star of the show will be the new Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid. The full schedule of events will be up on the Saturn web site beginning October 23. Admission is free as are apples and beverages and no registration is required.

[Source: General Motors]

According to Edmunds.com, a hybrid costs between $1,200 and $7,000 more than its gas-consuming counterpart, so it comes a no surprise that people often buy hybrids for reasons other than saving money. Last February, Edmunds conducted a survey and found the top five factors were:

1) To make a statement
2) High gas prices
3) Tax credits
4) The environment
5) The thrill of using new technologies

As gas prices continue to rise, the viability of saving money by buying a hybrid becomes evermore realistic. So where's the tipping point? Reuters reports on a different study recently conducted by Edmunds in which they present actual savings for hybrid owners. Assuming you drive 15,000 miles per year, always fill up with gas costing $3 per gallon and received the maximum federal tax credits for your hybrid, a Toyota Prius or a Ford Escape Hybrid would show savings in about 3 years. If, instead, you opted for the hybrid version of the Saturn Vue, Toyota Camry or Honda Civic you would see those savings in about 6 years.

In adding to the study's assumptions, the break-even estimates were calculated with the notion that the consumer would have otherwise purchased the gas-powered version of the same car. In the case of the Prius, Reuters points to Edmunds' use of the gas-only Toyota Camry as a benchmark for comparison.

An article in Auto Industry points to a similar study conducted by Consumer Reports in April. They found that in most cases the combination of tax credits and gas savings failed to offset the additional cost of a hybrid over its gas-powered twin until about 5 years or 75,000 miles into ownership.

Future buyers of hybrids should also consider that federal tax credits are in a process of waning. On October 1st, buyers of Toyota hybrids will only receive half of the tax credit that is currently being offered. In April of 2007, those tax credits will be again reduced to 25%, and in October 2007, they will be eliminated completely. Yet as gas prices continue to rise, so will the gas savings of hybrid owners.

[Source: Reuters]