Silverado Hybrid only bumps MPG by 2...

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Main Silverado site: http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/

Current pop-up info page: http://www.chevrolet.com/pop/silverado/hybrid_en.jsp

Quote from the article:
Silverado Hybrid’s 14,000-watt electric motor generator works closely with the Vortec 5300 V8 engine and Hybrid-specific automatic transmission to boost estimated city fuel economy by 2 MPG with no loss in power compared to a conventional Silverado with the same engine.*

*Estimated 2WD model MPG: 18 city/21 hwy. 4x4 model MPG: 17 city/19 hwy. Based on GM testing. Official EPA estimate not yet available.

2MPG?? All that for only 2 stinking MPG?? Doesn't the Nissan Titan achive better MPG than this hybrid??

Why do all that hybrid work for only 2MPG? Now achieving the same results with an efficient V-6 would make more sense and post better MPG than a hybrid V-8 version.

I don't understand GM's decision on this one.

 

[JavaMan]

Maybe it has something to do with increasing their fleet average. I don't know. That does seem like a lot of trouble for 2mpg.

 

[cortazzo]

two miles a gallon in a tank that is at least 19 gallons = 38 more miles per tank, that's fairly significant. remember that this is only a mild hybrid, it doesn't run on battery power, i think it just shuts off at stops and whatnot.

 

[terminaldegree]

quote:

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Originally posted by ToyotaNSaturn:
2MPG?? All that for only 2 stinking MPG?? Doesn't the Nissan Titan achive better MPG than this hybrid??

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Yeah, it seems like a waste of money to save $200 or so per year on fuel. That, and I'd never want to be an early adopter of any domestic manufacturer's product line. I always wondered what they could do to improve truck mpg with aerodynamic improvements.

In defense of the Chevy, all 3 versions of the 5.3 liter 4wd get better mileage than the Titan [gas only, flex fuel, and hybrid]. Not that fuel mpg is the dealbreaker with buying a V8 truck anyhow...

 

[JHZR2]

its only a 14 kW motor... how can you expect more than that, when youre only providing 14 kW, and likely not a whole lot of torque as a result?

Ill bet the refurbishment costs of the smaller batteries, etc in this are much more friendly than what they will be (not to mention environmental impacts and costs of battery recycling) in a prius/insight type case.

I think the question really becomes how much more $$$ is it, and how much of an impact on everything ate the battery packs?

JMH

 

[eljefino]

I understand there's a built-in 110v a/c generator option to go with this.

My wife does environmental cleanup and always rents vehicles, generators, water pumps, etc. She'd be psyched to rent one of these... less junk to lug around when time is money.

If GM can implement this faster over more of the fleet it'll have the same average effect as a limited production run of "halo" super-efficient vehicles.

PS where's my Saturn VUE hybrid? (delayed)

 

[pa04prius]

I remember seeing a display by GM at the NAIAS in Detroit two years ago. This is a really lame excuse for a 'hybrid' system, one that I suspect was concocted to get the word 'hybrid' into the sales brochure.

 

[gudmund]

It's NOT a real Hybrid! The 14kw motor does NOT supply any power for the running of the vehicle. It is used mainly for a start/stop system so as there will be no idling in stop/go driving. The other selling feature is that the generator can be used as a power generator for powering tools, lites, whatever at worksites for contractors or whoever needs a power generator.

 

[TheTanSedan]

2 mpg is still around 10%. And with no idling, the wear on the motor is strongly reduced. The payoff is obviously aimed toward users with high annual miles/engine hours in this initial offering.

Be pretty nice to have portable power wherever one is (especially in these days of climatic change, unpredictable weather), and to not have to double up on machinery, associated capital costs, insurance and maintenance.

It's a step in the right direction.

 

[gudmund]

A 2mpg increace makes a BIGGER savings difference with a gas hog than a 2mpg increace with say a car like mine, it may sound great(Suzuki Swift) but a increace from 44 to 46 does not save as much as going from 16 to 18. 100,000miles of driving getting 46mpg will save 100gal of gas over 44mpg where getting 18mpg over 16mpg saves ALMOST 700gal which is a much greater savings I'd say(do the math-doesn't lame to me). GM stated this FACT a few years ago when they said they were working on this idea of this truck and being there are so many more trucks being sold in relation to cars, they made the point that more gas could be saved by just getting a mile or so more mpg out of trucks over a simular mpg increace in a car. Now they need to put this idea with Dodge's latest new truck coming out that will be using the cylinder deactivation in their Hemi PU for next year. It is suppost to get 2 or 3 mpg better also. GM already has this same system also in their 5.3 V8 in the new Pontiac GP/Chev Impala coming out next year. So this may not be a so called 'HYBRID', but if it saves fuel, lets do it!! What is very lame is a HYBRID claim of so many MPG and after buying it, it NEVER gets the MPG it claimed it would get!!! LAME

 

[gudmund]

what also lame is re-reading what I just wrote and posted and finding even more mistakes!

 

[bulwnkl]

Yeah, this hybrid thing is really bone-headed to me. Small diesels are cheaper, simpler, and would achieve the same end to a greater degree.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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Yeah, this hybrid thing is really bone-headed to me. Small diesels are cheaper, simpler, and would achieve the same end to a greater degree.

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I've even seen hybrid diesels ..homegrown naturally. They can achieve, with an older VW 1.6 non-turbo engine ..about 90 mpg.

I think that it would make much more sense to have a diesel engine running at one fixed speed that was hooked to a generator ..charging your batteries. It would either run ..or not run. It would never need to be throttled which would allow more latitude in engineering it for efficiency. This type of setup, if engineered properly with the engine being dedicated to doing nothing except power generation, would allow the use of ...what's that xxxxyyyzz cycle engines

, since it would be unburdened by having to cycle with the vehicle speed. This would be the perfect way to allow "load averaging". Right now we still have to waste too much power in on demand ouput in hp for accelleration ..when our cruise demands are typically in the 10-20 hp range. Yet this simple method appears totally unexplored in any way with hybrids.

 

[bulwnkl]

Gary, in the application you talk about (on at full load or off), would a turbine be fuel efficient?

 

[T-Keith]

It's a mild hybrid that costs a fraction of the full hybrids.
Percentage wise 2 mpg is a lot at that level.

It's a stop gap until GMs new hybrid tranny comes out. They've been
running for a few years in buses with a 60% gain in fuel mileage.
Obviously you won't see that in a passenger car or truck due to the
drive cycle, but it will be good.

Remember it takes over 100,000 miles by one figure I've seen to justify
the added cost of the Hybrid Civic, at which point the batterys are out
of waranty.

I think this new technology will be a significant improvement.

-T

 

[mikemc]

I do think we will see more diesels in the future. Most of the public is unaware of how far diesel tech. has come in the last 5 years. Much cleaner and quieter than earlier models. If auto makers can get people to see this AND get the initial purchase price down a bit, diesels could really take off in sales.

 

[k1xv]

[/QUOTE]I've even seen hybrid diesels ..homegrown naturally. They can achieve, with an older VW 1.6 non-turbo engine ..about 90 mpg.

==========
I would love to see a hybrid diesel on the market.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

What's the cost of a new battery when it goes?

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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Gary, in the application you talk about (on at full load or off), would a turbine be fuel efficient?

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I guess if it was properly sized. I don't know much about turbines ..except that the problems in automotive applications is that they don't like to run at variable output. It would lend itself to a wider range of fuels.

quote:

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What's the cost of a new battery when it goes?

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Batteries don't need to be a super major component of a hybrid vehicle. Sure they're a part of it ..but the "trick" to the whole efficiency equation is producing enough on demand power ..without suffering the losses when the power is not needed. a 40 hp diesel would be able to propell a decent sized vehicle down the highway at a decent speed very economically ..but it would accellerate like a tug boat. So the batteries only need to provide that surge demand in those instances. The smaller your power plant ..and the more demands you put upon it for on demand power ..the more batteries you will need. Your car engine may run for several hours after you arrive at work. Variable ratio transmissions will surely be a part of this ..but they still can't solve all the challenges to this situation. They can surely make a low hp engine move a larger vehicle ..but they can't replace displacement for performance.

These cars will require a different type of driver.

[ June 21, 2005, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by bulwnkl:
Gary, in the application you talk about (on at full load or off), would a turbine be fuel efficient?

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Bt the time you add the necessary clap trap to a turbine to get reasonable efficiency out of it their price gets pretty gross for the power they put out. Then their efficiency still sucks at anything less then near full power.