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Is the Saturn Vue Green Line a Turning Point for Hybrids?

72 messages,  Last post on Mar 09, 2009 at 2:28 PM

You are in the Saturn VUE Green Line Hybrid Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer

What is this discussion about? Saturn VUE, Hybrid Cars, SUV


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#3 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [larsb] by stevedebi
Jul 14, 2006 (1:26 pm)
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Replying to: larsb (Jul 14, 2006 12:46 pm)

"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."
 
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.
#4 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [larsb] by jonnycat26
Jul 14, 2006 (1:57 pm)
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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.
#5 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [jonnycat26] by gagrice
Jul 14, 2006 (2:52 pm)
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 1:57 pm)

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.
 
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.
#6 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [jonnycat26] by john1701a
Jul 14, 2006 (4:51 pm)
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 1:57 pm)

> It gives you all the benefits of a hybrid
 
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
#7 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [john1701a] by jonnycat26
Jul 14, 2006 (8:49 pm)
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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?
#8 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [jonnycat26] by john1701a
Jul 14, 2006 (9:09 pm)
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 8:49 pm)

> The Vue has electric A/C.
 
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
#9 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [john1701a] by jonnycat26
Jul 14, 2006 (9:28 pm)
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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.
#10 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [jonnycat26] by john1701a
Jul 14, 2006 (10:14 pm)
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Replying to: jonnycat26 (Jul 14, 2006 9:28 pm)

> So the point is entirely valid.
 
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
#11 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [john1701a] by gagrice
Jul 15, 2006 (5:58 am)
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Replying to: john1701a (Jul 14, 2006 10:14 pm)

The "full" hybrids create and consume far more electricity
 
And big batteries cost a lot more. GM is trying to build a hybrid for the average buyer. Toyota has failed at building a hybrid the middle class citizen can afford. Toyota is only interested in selling enough hybrids to satisfy the CAFE police. They brag about their hybrid demographic being $85k per year. If GM can build a hybrid that a family in the Median income bracket of $43k can afford, more power to them. As I see it many of the pro hybrid community are actually anti-hybrid if it does not appeal to them. Face it not everyone believes Toyota has the best hybrid system. HSD is way too complex and problematic for the mainstream buyer.
#12 of 72
Re: Least expensive SUV hybrid on the market.....you mean.... [gagrice] by john1701a
Jul 15, 2006 (6:16 am)
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Replying to: gagrice (Jul 15, 2006 5:58 am)

> Toyota has failed at building a hybrid the middle class citizen can afford.
 
Since Prius is priced at the exact average price consumers currently pay for a vehicle, your claim has little merit.
 
No further invalidate your claim, just read Toyota's announcements about their upgrade on the way. It reduces the price.
 
.
> As I see it many of the pro hybrid community are actually anti-hybrid...
 
Failing to see that all hybrids are the *NOT* same is a big problem. It's how greenwashing begins.
 
JOHN

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