I was embarrassed. There’s no other way to describe how a green, treehugging, environmental blogger such as myself felt clambering into a Chevy Tahoe outside a restaurant on the West Side of Manhattan recently. This ‘full-size’ (read that as gigantically huge) SUV was a hybrid, true, but its slightly lower emissions did nothing for the fact that driving one of these things through New York City streets makes you feel like a road hog, no matter how obsequiously you try to maneuver. Not to mention the flit of panic that cruised across my brain as I thought about parallel parking it (but no matter, it would hardly fit in a parking space on the street anyway). And be not fooled: I have city-driving skills. I’ve been driving in Manhattan since I was 17 (that’s 13 years of competing with taxis, avoiding pedestrians, and lots and lots of street parking).
I was ensconced in the driver’s seat of the not-yet-released hybrid Tahoe because GM invited me. I’ve been writing about how to live sustainably for years now, and I thought that despite my lack of love for SUVs, I should go and try one of the hybrid models out. I’ve driven my friend’s Prius quite a few times, so I know how hybrid engines handle, and I wanted to compare. The hybrid Tahoe is similar to the Prius in that also shuts the engine off at stops, utilizes braking energy to recharge the battery, and runs on battery-only at low speeds, all of which save gas. As soon as the foot hits the pedal, it’s go time, with nary a lag, in the Prius, anyway. Except that this time I was driving a super-sized vehicle, so it still took awhile to get 5,500+ pounds going.
This is the gps thing that also shows you how your car works, in case you’ve bought a hybrid without really understanding what it is (which I’m sure will happen)! But also nice to have a visual to show your friends and family while explaining how your crazy newfangled truck works.
While I was busy praying that nobody I knew saw me driving the Tahoe through the already-congested streets (I realized that I was taking up the space two cars could drive in!), my lovely guide, Mary Sipes from GM, was telling me about how this car was mainly sold to women, who either buy or influence about 85 percent of car-buying decisions. I realized with a depressing thought that us ladies were probably responsible for the whole SUV craze. Because we want to feel safe, and most importantly, we want our children to be safe (even though SUVs, with their high rollover rates, and poor rear-crash protection stats are anything but safer for kids). Still, many people still think that driving the biggest behemoth on the road is smart, ignoring completely what that means to the safety of other drivers when you crash into them.
I am especially sensitive to this last point. I drive a 1997 Saab 900, which is a smallish, zippy car (with not-that-great gas mileage, yes I know! I make up for it by not driving much, as I ride my bike and take the train 80 percent of the time). About six weeks ago, a woman in a glowing gold Cadillac Escalade backed into my parked Saab while I was waiting on line for gas (the irony does NOT escape me here). She was going about five miles an hour and totaled the driver’s side of my car with her bumper. When she hopped out (she was the solo occupant, natch) she apologized profusely, exclaiming that, “The sensor is supposed to tell me when I’m going to hit something behind me!” I guess looking over her shoulder was too much trouble, but it taught me an important lesson: you don’t want to be in an accident with a large SUV. There’s the weight differential, which automatically puts a smaller car at a disadvantage no matter what, and then there’s the fact that her bumper was just about level with my chest as she backed towards me.
It was a scary and sobering experience. The stats back me up. According to a 2005 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that looked specifically at crashes between cars and SUVs, “The car occupant death rates went up as the weights of the SUVs and four-door cars went up, but the increase by weight was much steeper when the collision was with an SUV.” And this from a 2002 Washington Monthly article, “When a car is hit from the side by another car, the victim is 6.6 times as likely to die as the aggressor. But if the aggressor is an SUV, the car driver’s relative chance of dying rises 30 to 1.” To feel safe did I need to be driving a huge SUV too? Were our highways now turning into an SUV arms race? You aren’t safe unless you have the biggest truck?
Ms. Sipes told me that there is now what GM calls vehicle-to-vehicle compensation in the new 2007 and 2008 hybrid versions of the Tahoe and Yukon, which is, “Three brackets, mounted to the frame, which manages energy in collisions with smaller vehicles. It’s really simple.” Too bad they didn’t add those earlier; they could’ve saved some lives.
Back at my test drive, I noticed I had to stop much more often since I couldn’t wiggle through spots I would have been able to in my Saab, which made it slow-going. It reminded me of the news article I read that stipulated that the popularity of SUVs was increasing congestion especially in suburban areas, since fewer of the larger vehicles could make it through an intersection in a given amount of time (3-4 SUVs could go through a light in the time it took 5-6 cars).
But onto the main reason I was here. Ms. Sipes was telling me that the fuel economy in the city for the new Tahoe and Yukon (same car, different styling), was 40 percent higher in the city, 25 percent higher on the highway, with the hybrid engine. Which is good news since the non-hybrid version only gets about 13-15 mpg in real-world city driving conditions (up to 20 mpg highway driving).
The little gauge at the upper left tells the driver if she’s driving economically or not. Hard braking and crazy acceleration will take you out of the ‘green zone’.
While I suppose it’s a step in the right direction to put a hybrid engine in a gas-guzzler, I couldn’t help reflecting on the history of the American auto industry, which has vehemently fought fuel-economy standards since the oil crisis of the 1970’s passed us by, leading to the pathetic fact that overall, cars and trucks miles per gallon efficiency has flatlined in recent years. There was a fuel-economy bill that was filibustered by the Senate in 1991 that would have raised standards by 40 percent over a decade. If adopted, we would now be saving over a million barrels of oil a day (not to mention taking a chunk of CO2 out of the global warming equation). Why was it fought so hard in the Senate? Because Ford and GM thought it would affect their profits. It is exactly this lack of foresight that has caused the American car companies to lose market share. To their new Tahoe and Yukon hybrids, I say, too little, too late.
At this point in the climate-control game, hybrids, especially on such large fuel-suckers, are a feel-good choice for soccer moms, not a serious solution. What we need now is cars that run on batteries that we can charge up at night from our solar panel, wind turbine, microhydro system or even coal-burning power plant (still cleaner than burning fossil fuels in an internal combustion engine, according to this information.
Good thing GM’s working on the Chevy Volt. Now that’s a car I can get behind without embarrassment, and it looks like it’ll even fit in the streets of New York.
This puppy’s got hybrid decals all over it but it’s promotional only. The final model will have three slightly less obnoxious silver tags on various parts of the truck, because as Mary Sipes said, “Hybrid drivers want other people to know they’re driving a hybrid.”
Article reprinted with permission from The Huffington Post. Images by Starre Vartan for Eco Chick.
Bravo – an excellent in-depth look at the absurdity of these vehicles. One thing I didn’t see mentioned was that besides being gas-guzzlers, the amount of energy that goes into building these behemoths – hybrid or not – (steel, plastic, etc) is phenomenal.
When I was a kid in the late 70s, I remember seeing all of the huge old pre-gas crises cars driving around and thinking, wow, people used to be really stupid.
I can’t even believe how much worse it got. I wonder what our children will think of us.
08/03/07 » 7:01 am »
You know, I have a friend that always talks about the energy it takes to build a car and wonders what it is compared to how much energy it takes to fuel an inefficient car. Is it worth it to get rid of a less-efficient car and buy a new one? It would be interesting to see the data on that.
08/03/07 » 7:23 am »
One of my favorite things about living in Germany is the rarity of these monstrosities. When will people toss out the excuses for driving SUVs and start driving real cars? Who cares if it’s a hybrid and gets gas mileage that’s equivalent to the average mid-sized sedan? Bigger is not better and there’s no excuse for needing to drive something so large. Sorry, Starre. You did a nice job covering this, but I still can’t get behind GM’s greenwashing here.
08/03/07 » 8:04 am »
Starre, I do not have data on that per se – but I did recently come across a piece that showed that older cars are much more fuel efficient than new ones, including the Honda Civic. I think that the 1990 model was about 700 lbs lighter than the 2007 model. The only model that has improved/maintained its gas mileage in the last 18 years is the Accord. This isn’t the original article I read (sorry, can’t find it) but it give similar information:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/.....cars_N.htm
So in a lot of ways, buying an older car is more eco-friendly than buying a newer model. (reduce, recycle, reuse).
08/04/07 » 6:21 pm »
I don’t think that you did much except talk about yourself. I think that it is a pretty lame “review”!!!! You failed to mention many things about the truck and its features and spent a lot of time trying to make yourself credible. That is really sad. Also I would like to see some information on the batteries and how they are going to be disposed of and how toxic they are. Are hybrid engines the most efficient way to go?
08/05/07 » 2:12 pm »
Hey Yahoowhoo,
Sorry you don’t like my writing style! To each his or her own. If you want more info about the specs of the car, definitely check out
Lyle’s review of them (he was at the same event I was). He is a real car guy and knows what he’s talking about.
No, I don’t think hybrids are the most efficient way to go, I like battery-only vehicles, preferably charged up from a renewable source of energy.
08/05/07 » 2:58 pm »
Days 161-165: MLwC and Hybrid SUVs « What it’s like
[...] Just so happens that EcoChic has a very recent article on her blog about a recent test drive of the GM Yukon and Tahoe SUVs. Alas, the story isn’t altogether a pleasant read for those considering hybrid SUVs–she found the whole experience of driving such a large hunk of metal embarrassing and uncomfortable. [...]
08/06/07 » 6:42 pm »
I agree with Katy’s sentiment that this review continues to expose the absurdity of these vehicles — that’s what always gets to me, actually, when I drive around my little town. I live in one of the oldest neighborhoods (about 100 yrs old) with small and narrow streets. I oftentimes find myself squeezing me eyes shut as I pass an SUV in my little Toyota Camry.
And other moms who drive the SUV’s, etc., aren’t one bit shy in asking why I drive such a small car and aren’t my kids squished and uncomfortable in such a small space. I think the safety think is part of the appeal to mothers, yet I also think more space (i.e. McMansions) is an issue as well.
To add to the absurdity of big vehicles in America, I came out of the store last week and found a monster truck parked next to me. The bumper was exactly level with my head when I got into my car and pulled away. I did not comment or prompt any conversation about this to my 8 year-old son who asked as we drove away, “Mom, if that truck crashed into us on the road would it hurt your head?”
Thanks again for the great piece.
08/07/07 » 11:43 am »
Anonymous, as they say, “Out of the mouths of babes…”
Interesting point that other moms hassle you about the smallness of your car! I wonder if you ever say anything along the lines of “well, you might talk about your children’s future, but I’m actually doing something about making a better world for them”. I guess that would be ‘mean’ but oh-so-true!
08/07/07 » 12:49 pm »
Hugg and Digg Starre’s Posts Here:
http://www.hugg.com/storylink/7803
http://digg.com/users/danitygo/news/dugg
08/24/07 » 10:27 am »
Inane. Cars should be banned in Manhattan. I don’t care if they’re hybrids or not.
08/24/07 » 11:46 am »
Why I Don’t Own A Hybrid Car
[...] of its full-sized Tahoe, with limited availability this fall. Environmentalists are finding it hard to love, even with up to 40 percent better fuel economy on the highway, because it’s just so big. [...]
11/13/07 » 2:53 pm »
Why I don’t own a hybrid car | Gfeen.com
[...] are finding it hard to love, even with up to 40 percent better fuel [...]
02/09/09 » 4:26 pm »