Green Car Journal has named their Green Car of the Year for 2008, and the winner is the 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid. The announcement was made at the Los Angeles Auto Show on 11/15/07 and came as quite a surprise to many, mostly because they didn’t expect a large SUV to beat out competitors such as the hybrid Chevy Malibu, and the hybrid Nissan Altima.
Colin Ryan’s blog post in the Los Angeles Times summed up the confusion when he wrote…let’s take a few bets on which vehicle was just named Green Car of the Year 2008 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The fabulous new Honda FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle, whose only emission is water? The 35-mpg, super-clean Mercedes-Benz E340 Bluetec, the first California-compliant diesel in years? The sensible, space-conscious Smart Fortwo? Maybe just the good old Toyota Prius? Or something that guzzles gas at the rate of 21 mpg?
One statement from the article on GreenCar.com was also a bit confusing, stating…along with their considerable achievements in raising the bar in environmental performance, each of those making the final cut had to meet the requirement of being on sale and widely available to the public by Jan. 1, 2008. My understanding is that the hybrid Tahoe is due out next summer, so maybe it’s a typo.
In either case, the Tahoe won (even Jay Leno voted), and here are a few facts about the champion. The soon to be available Hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe features seating for eight, 60 cubic feet of cargo, and the ability to tow up to 6,200 pounds. Maybe the most impressive feature of this vehicle is that it’s 6.0 liter, V8 should get 30-50% better gas mileage than a standard Tahoe (5.3 liter), estimated at around 21 mpg in the city. That’s about the same as a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.
As a comparison, past Green Car of the Year Award winners are as follows:
2007 - Toyota Camry Hybrid (40 city/ 38 hwy)
2006 - Mercury Mariner Hybrid (33 city/29 hwy)
So, with all the hybrid vehicles set to hit dealer lots in the next 2 years, which one do you think is the forerunner for the award in ‘09? If Hummer goes green, my vote’s on them! What’s your guess?
Can you take a hybrid vehicle 4 wheeling? We love getting off road in the Colorado mountains and we usually take at least 4 kids with us. We start off on jeep trails and then take off away from them, then leave the vehicle and hike for days. I don’t think the hybrids have the ground clearance to go off road and I’ve been told by unreliable sources that the hybrid engine can’t take the dirt from off roading.
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