Can Hybrid SUV's Survive This?

I wouldn't buy any of these stone age hybrids that achieve almost the same fuel consumption as conventional gas motors for an extra $10,000. If the automotive companies got there act together and produced something with power and efficiency you can count me in!

GM's "dual mode" hybrid system (which is the only hybrid system used in the Tahoe/Yukon SUVs mentioned in this story) is far from "stone age". Perhaps you're thinking of their mild hybrid system...and even that one has merit. God forbid you actually do any research on your own...

You are right when you compare it to the rest of the hybrids that you can buy today it is comparable if you were to take the size into account but it is stone age when you compare it to PML's mini cooper! If you put PML's flag ship cars internals into this suv it would be better on gas than a Prius with 640 BHP. So all current hybrids for sale today are stoneage when you compare it to what can be done. With sales sliding so much and Billions of dallars lost I can imagine the auto industry will eventually out perform PML's mini cooper.

Not that I've looked hard but I've yet to see an article where someone has actually driven this thing. I did see a price tag in one article that mentioned $350k price tag. Todays hybrids are in showrooms now, have price tags close to their gasoline only counterparts, and come with warranties.

Of course the technology sounds promising, as does the Chevy Volt or Honda FCX, but until you can go down to a local dealership and buy one for under $50k and get a warrenty with it then it's not a fair comparison. When PML gets to that point let me know.

Yes the cost was $350,000. for PML's flagship car but if they mass produced this technology with metal at 50ish dallars a ton why wouldn't it be competitive? When any manufacturer makes a one off it probably costs a lot more than $350,000! Any you pointed out the painful truth that the pml is not available and the current hybrids do not excite me at all, although the Volt sounds promising! Still not as cutting edge as pml, and I will defiantly tell you when this technology is available on the showroom.

Air molecules aren't impressed with the front clip on this SUV. I suspect dropping the hood about 4 inches would have a much bigger impact on fuel economy than adding all the hybrid goodies. But the owner's ego would have to be reduced by a similar amount, as it would start to look like--gasp!--a minivan.

oxymoron.

SUV:
12,000 miles/yr x 1/14mpg x $4.00/gallon = $3428.58/yr (857.15 gallons of gas used)

12,000 miles/yr x 1/20mpg x $4.00/gallon = $2400.00/yr (600 gallons of gas used)

Savings of roughly $1000 or 257 gallons a year.

Sedan:
12,000 miles/yr x 1/25mpg x $4.00/gallon = $1,920/yr (480 gallons of gas used)

12,000 miles/yr x 1/36mpg x $4.00/gallon = $1,333.34/yr (333 gallons of gas used)

So only $586.66 saved and 147 gallon of gas saved.

My only point being here that although its still not worth the $10,000 premium for a hybrid suv, the saving are much more impressive than you think. And hybrid technology is far more beneficial for larger vehicles. I'm not saying people should go out and buy hybrid suvs for that reason, but for those who need a tahoe or a big suv, and are going to put a lot of miles on it, then the hybrid technology will pay for itself much faster than that in a car. Clearly, the greatest saving would be to move from an suv to a sedan hybrid. I personally would still like to see this type of hybrid technology be applied to a turbodiesel of small displacement and see what the savings would be!

They have to shed a bunch of weight to accommodate the extra hybrid components obviously; however, to maximize the fuel economy they also make the SUVs more aerodynamic via front bumper and other parts (e.g. look at the visual difference between a Tahoe and Tahoe Hybrid). Why don't they just shed the weight that they can and make them aerodynamic in the first place? They could improve the fuel economy to near hybrid levels just by doing that.

They need to take this a lot further to make me want to buy this! How about more HP and full electric drive with a generator to charge the batteries and way better fuel mileage.