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Hybrid Vehicles Saturn VUE Green Line Hybrid Is the Saturn Vue Green Line a Turning Point for Hybrids?
72 messages, Last post on Mar 09, 2009 at 2:28 PM
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Seems like the Vue Green Line might turn out to be the most "non-hybrid" hybrid so far. It's going to be the least expensive hybrid on the market, the looks don't scream "hybrid", and the way they describe the operation of the hybrid system, with the vehicle not really traveling any distance on electric only, is going to make it seem "more normal" as well. I guess that's a long way of saying it's more like the mainstream of vehicles out there and less like a technological toy. I still think there are even more improvements and advances in technology out there that are going to get us even more gains in fuel economy, but maybe this Vue Green Line is the point where the technology turns the corner and starts to really take off? |
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It is going to be the cheapest hybrid SUV on the market, but not the cheapest hybrid. The Ford Escape does not scream "hybrid" either. The technology in the Saturn Vue is way less amazing than the Toyota HSD system, is it not? What is it specifically about this new technology (which is in fact less effective than others before it) which makes you think it's going to let the technology "take off?" These items in particular are vexing to me: "And there’s no bar chart in a display on the dashboard to show a driver how his or her driving is affecting fuel economy, the way there is inside Ford’s Escape. Indeed, because the Vue Green Line is based on an aging Vue SUV, with its old electronics communications “bus,” drivers of the Green Line don’t even have an onboard computer telling them the fuel mileage they’re getting." So it not only is very MILDLY hybrid, it also does not give the driver the feedback which is required to take full advantage of the technology........ Very perplexing.......... 
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Replying to: larsb (Jul 14, 2006 12:46 pm) Well, that makes no sense, MPG calculation has been possible for many years, and does not require the newer computer bus design. It does require a trip computer, but MPG is simply a matter of recording the fuel used and the miles driven. Both are available using old style "non bus" technology. |
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Replying to: larsb (Jul 14, 2006 12:46 pm) "And there’s no bar chart in a display on the dashboard to show a driver how his or her driving is affecting fuel economy, the way there is inside Ford’s Escape. There's no bar chart, but it does report your MPG on the trip computer, like most other cars. And it does have a charge/assist meter like Honda's hybrids. Personally, I dig the approach. It gives you all the benefits of a hybrid with a lower cost of entry. It's cars like these that will get hybrids moving en masse.
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 1:57 pm) I agree. It sounds like larsb is unhappy that hybrids will be offered to the little people. Something that Toyota and to a lessor degree Honda have not done. Hybrids for the masses not just the wealthy. What a novel idea. Leave it to GM to pull it off.
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 1:57 pm) No smog-related emission reduction proves that attempt to generalize false. What about electric drive and electric A/C? A "full" hybrid can offer far more than an "assist", simply by the amount of electricity available. They differ significantly, revealing that "all" comment to be extremely misleading. JOHN
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Replying to: john1701a (Jul 14, 2006 4:51 pm) What about electric drive and electric A/C? A "full" hybrid can offer far more than an "assist", simply by the amount of electricity available. They differ significantly, revealing that "all" comment to be extremely misleading. The Vue has electric A/C. Also, the Ecotec 4 cylinder (to be used in the Vue) is available in PZEV form in other vehicles. So it's entirely possible that the Vue may be PZEV as well. Which would mean Ford and GM would have PZEV hybrid SUVs and Toyota... would have none. Pretty cool, no?
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 8:49 pm) Point missed entirely. Again, how much electricity for that A/C will actually be available? With such a small battery-pack and a system that only passively charges it, the A/C will be able to run just a short time and at low power before the engine has to start running again. JOHN
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Replying to: john1701a (Jul 14, 2006 9:09 pm) Again, how much electricity for that A/C will actually be available? With such a small battery-pack and a system that only passively charges it, the A/C will be able to run just a short time and at low power before the engine has to start running again. John, given that we both own Priuses, even the battery pack there isn't enough to power the A/C for that long. I'm not sure how hot it gets where you are, but around here I can take the pack to a few bars while trying to get through a traffic light. So the point is entirely valid.
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 9:28 pm) Your "point" is pointless. The system in Vue is designed with a smaller (both in size and energy density) battery-pack, so you don't have to pay as much. Being smaller means you get less. They are *NOT* the same. Protraying this system as if it is the same as the competition is not constructive. They don't have the same components and they don't operate the same way. The "full" hybrids create and consume far more electricity. JOHN
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