detroit's answer to fuel crunch.....Escalade hybrid

[spanone]

Starting at $72,865* for 2009


EPA estimated 20 mpg city, 21 mpg highway (RWD)

[GodlessBiker]

1. I'm holding out for the Hummer Hybrid.

[BurtWorm]

46. Won't it be something to get a whole mile to the gallon someday?

[high density]

2. Yes, but I bet it does better 0-60 than the gas-only model

:)

[spanone]

3. probably does, but why in hell didn't they put the hybrid engine in cheaper gm cars?

people paying 72 grand for a car probably are not too concerned about gas prices

[gollygee]

You'd be surprised

I know an awful lot of people who overextend themselves buying big houses and fancy cars to impress people, but then have trouble getting groceries together. Bad priorities.

[cliffordu]

10. The lyrics to "like a rolling stone" waft through my head every time I hear about

people who have put luxury above neccessity......

I don't know why.

[donco6]

47. We had three HS kids here go together . . .

. . . to buy a big-ass Hummer. 'Cuz it's cool.

Waiting for the inevitable fight that will break out when one of them wrecks it, and they all have to pay.

Sigh.

[screembloodymurder]

8. It still helps.

Why knock it? They should put them in all their cars.

[gollygee]

4. Yeah well it's a step in the right direction

I'm happy to see any progress, really.

I drive a minivan, and I could probably get along in a sedan for my family. I do like the extra space in the minivan because we very frequently carpool. If hybrid minivans are available when mine goes south, I will snap one up with great joy.

Also, some people really have to haul things with their vehicles. Is a hybrid engine good for towing? My husband needs something he can tow with and would love a hybrid.

But of course not everyone who buys an Escalade has to haul stuff. I think if we had smaller cars that were really stylish and luxurious but got good gas mileage, they'd sell. Personally, I think buying cars for prestige is silly - a car is the way to get from point A to point B - but that seems to be part of a lot of people's decision-making process.

[spanone]

7. wrong direction...they should have started with their cheapest car..imo

[gollygee]

9. Well that would be a better step in the right direction

But I think they're both in the right direction.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

5. What I read about the Escalade hybrid . . .

. . . is that it's an extremely limited production run of about a hundred vehicles. In other words, it's a PR ploy, and it's apparently worked if we're talking about it here.

[gollygee]

6. Oh, that's too bad

Typical though.

[Uncle Joe]

11. This is like eating a hot fudge sundae without the cherry to lose weight,

good luck with that guys.

[EnviroBat]

14. Hahahah! That's great!

:rofl:

[kysrsoze]

12. I think it's a great thing - people will not stop wanting big, showy cars. It's an American thing

However, $72K is ridiculous. There are the Chevy/GMC versions, but they are really expensive too. This should be an option on all trucks and cars (would tremendously drive down cost), and GM also needs to bring out a diesel for cars, smaller trucks and SUVs. Even Chrysler has done that, though it may be too late.

[EnviroBat]

13. Fucking stupid.

And now they want a bailout.

"Oh no, it's not the products they make, it's that nobody is buying them..." Actually heard a caller say that on the Bill Press show this morning. Wanted to drive my care off of a bridge.

I'm sorry, but 20mpg is SHITTY MILEAGE. When are these stupid fuckers going to stop trying to sell morons on these shit numbers? When are these morons going to start realizing that 20mpg is SHITTY MILEAGE? Fuck me, but stupid is starting to kill us all...

"But E'Bat, gas prices are lower than they've been since blah blah blah..."

Where is my shotgun?
:eyes:

[spanone]

16. it has a 26 gallon fuel tank to boot!!!!

[Diclotican]

42. spanone

spanone

Ca 101.4 Liter... Dam this is expensive if you want something like that beast... My Nissan have 50 L and it work like a sharm... And it using ca .8 per 10 KM (One metric mile). Not as good as my Corolla who used .5 pr metric mile, But my Nissan is 700kg hevier than my Corolla was...

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[jmowreader]

32. 20mpg isn't bad for something that big

It's still reprehensible, but not as bad as it could be.

The problem isn't that they made a hybrid Escalade, but that they branded a truck Cadillac. Suburbans in their proper role are fine--they're great work trucks, and highway construction companies like them for transporting work crews to jobsites. There's no proper role for an Escalade, though--it's too fancy to transport mud-caked workers in and you sure as hell wouldn't want to carry work tools in it.

I think you should need a business license to buy a Suburban.

[ContinentalOp]

33. Even that is just an image thing IMO.

Why is a suburban necessary to transport work crews to jobsites? Why not a station wagon? Why not two smaller sedans that get twice the mileage? It's every bit as much about image as buying a luxury car.

[Fumesucker]

39. As a long time construction worker I can tell you that jobsites aren't always paved and dry..

Jobsites are almost always a nasty mess up until close to the end of the build, paving is one of the last things that gets done after the building itself is nearly finished.

I used to paint and painters are among the last crews on the job, we rarely had paved lots to park in, drive on, carry materials and equipment through, etc, etc if it was a brand new structure.

You want those tall wheels on something like a Suburban, they go through mud much better than the short wheels on passenger cars. Take a look at real mud bog racers, the wheels are ten feet tall.

[jmowreader]

56. There are a few reasons...

Ground clearance is important in unimproved areas.

You can tow large trailers--air compressors, big generators, big pressure washers, cargo trailers--with a Suburban that you can't tow with a station wagon.

It's easier to maintain two kinds of vehicles--specifically, full-size pickups and crew vehicles--when they've got the same mechanicals.

And station wagons BREAK in horrid terrain. Suburbans won't do that.

As for the "two sedans" thing...cutting down the number of vehicles on site is one of the major reasons to use a carryall.

[high density]

44. When you're buying a $70k car you do not care about gas mileage.

The hybrid in this situation is for better acceleration. Lexus has offered similar performance hybrid models.

[magellan]

15. Why would I buy this?

My 1996 Jeep cost $7k used, runs great and gets the same mileage.

Of course, I'm not a "soccer mom". But one wonders how "soccer moms" dealt before minivans came along. I guess no one hauled bunches of kids and equipment around before "soccer moms" and minivans. :eyes:

Husband and I are now looking again at the Prius, since demand for them has dropped with gas prices. A lot of people are going to be caught out soon on that....

[kick-ass-bob]

28. No, but they (soccer moms) had bigger cars and/or station wagons.

The family station wagon turned into the family minivan.

[gollygee]

31. How about if you just call us moms

And unless it's part of your life, you probably wouldn't know. But as the other poster said, they used to have station wagons. Not many of those being made but I'd be OK with one of those too.

[originalpckelly]

17. GM = Stuck on fucking stupid.

[JVS]

18. More Detroit Brilliance

[originalpckelly]

20. Now remember, it's not the cars they're making!

:rofl:

Yeah, right.

[vinylsolution]

19. All GM has to do is ....

... start selling the small diesel-engined cars that it sells in Europe and the rest of the world.



These vehicles get 50-60mpg, day in, day out... which is EXACTLY what US car buyers want.

Why is this such a difficult concept for GM and Ford to grasp?

[originalpckelly]

21. Diesel costs more here than in Europe...

when compared to gas.

[Lance_Boyle]

37. the fuel efficiency more than makes up for it

not to mention the benefit of being able to run biodiesel, and flip the bird to every "gas station" you pass.

Seriously - a diesel car getting 50MPG on $3/gal fuel is far more cost effective than a gas engine getting 27MPG on $2/gal fuel.

on edit - diesel fuel costs *far* more in Europe than it does in the states, as does gasoline.

[hogwyld]

22. What the government needs to do

is to tie any financial help onto regulations that severely restrict people from buying trucks unless they have proof of commercial use. SUV's ought to be outright banned. A station wagon is a better option. Mandate that all non-commercial vehicles get at least 50 mpg.

[opihimoimoi]

23. Just wait till them Chinese take over the Company...you will see cars with 70 mpg or better...

20 mpg is stupid and not visionary at all...

[donco6]

24. Where is the American "Prius"?

I see hundreds of them on the road.

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. those things are huge! Always see folks driving to work alone in those things.

[orleans]

26. link? (is this a joke or are you serious?) n/t

[spanone]

30. here you go...

http://www.cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/model/landing.jsp?model=hybrid&year=2009&seo=goo_|_2008_Cadillac_Retention_|_IMG_Cadillac_Escalade_Hybrid_|_Escalade_Hybrid_Awareness_|_escalade_hybrid

[orleans]

51. omg!

shame on these assholes.
volvo=14 mpg
bmw=17 mpg

what a bunch of assholes to do this to the american people--and our environment.

thanks for the link--it is shocking.

[codjh9]

27. Yeah, I laugh at these mongo hybrids that still get fairly crappy mileage...it still doesn't address

the issue of driving giant, ridiculous vehicles.

[taught_me_patience]

29. This enrages me.

Let these shitty companies fail. Seriously, managment cannot be treated seriously.

[Sanctified]

34. Well I guess you can throw 4 wheels on any turd and sell it.

If the big 3 want to save their sinking ship they need to make inexpensive, quality, low gas consumption vehicles like Germany did in the 1930s with the Bug.

[supernova]

35. That's it? A fucking Escalade is their big solution?

:banghead: :banghead:

They really need a complete brain overhaul.

[OwnedByFerrets]

36. Detroits MANAGEMENTs answer to the fuel crunch....

the workers have no say in these decisions and should not be punished for the sins of their masters.

[MineralMan]

38. And there you have it...

the reason the Big 3 are in deep, deep trouble. Instead of producing an affordable hybrid car, they come up with this abortion. It's designed to produce big profits per unit, but that all depends on selling a bunch of them. If that doesn't happen, they've just invested in another turkey.

Instead, how about doing a hybrid version of one of their smaller cars, then market it to be less expensive than the imported competition? But, that would make real sense, and that's not something the Big 3 have demonstrated anytime recently.

Take Ford. They have a decent smaller pickup in the Ranger. But...do they make improvements in that vehicle? Nope. Instead, they shut down the plant that builds them in Saint Paul, MN. Then, they make a bunch more F-150s that aren't selling just now.

I'm sorry, but the American car companies are dumb as any bag of hammers. They're still operating as if it were 1975. Idiots.

[Fumesucker]

40. Unfortunately, F150s are selling again...

Lower gas prices = big cars and trucks sell again.

[MineralMan]

41. Nothing wrong with F-150s

If that's what you need. They have a valid function, especially in the workplace, and folks who tow stuff need something large.

[Fumesucker]

45. The great majority of people with pickups could do just as well with a compact car..

And a folding trailer you can tuck in corner of the garage.

And I speak as a sometimes pickup owner myself, I don't have one now but I've had several over the years, used them for my work too.

I was just pointing out that your claim that F150s weren't selling was incorrect.

[LSK]

49. Ford Escape Hybrid? Saturn Vue Hybrid????????????

:shrug:

[spanone]

52. my son has a ford escape hybrid.....30 mpg

[LSK]

54. so why wouldnt you make a post called

Detriot's answer to the fuel crunch.... Ford Escape Hybrid???

:shrug:

[AngryOldDem]

43. And they wonder why they're going under.

....also, this is example A of why there should be no bailout.

[LSK]

48. CARE TO COMMENT ON THE LEXUS SUV HYBRID???????????

[spanone]

50. it's worse

City / Highway MPG 17 / 22

http://www.lexus.com/models/RX/detailed_specifications.html

[LSK]

53. but but but but but almighty green Toyota?????

:shrug:

[Stop Cornyn]

55. Does it run on coal?