A Green SUVLarge SUVs are notorious for poor mileage. But for drivers who regularly transports lots of passengers, cargo, or tow a trailer, a supersize SUV is worth its salt. With that in mind there is good news for anyone in the market for one: Namely the 2009 Tahoe Hybrid. It boasts the same muscle, cargo and passenger carrying abilities as an old school truckster. For the record, the 2009 Tahoe shares its basic design with the GMC Yukon and premium-large Cadillac Escalade, and its towing capacity is a whopping three tons.
Jointly developed with Chrysler, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, Tahoe’s two-mode hybrid system mates a GM Vortec 6.0-liter V-8 with the company's new Electrically Variable Transmission. EVT boasts two electric motors and four fixed gears. In mode one the hybrid powertrain assists low speed maneuvers while mode two does its good work on the highway. Also GM's Active Fuel Management conserves fuel by deactivating four of the eight cylinders whenever its running under light loads. The electric motors allows the gas engine to frequently operate in four-cylinder mode. The electric motors and gasoline engine synergistically produce 332 horsepower. The 300-volt Panasonic battery pack, strategically located beneath the second-row seats, powers not only the electric motors, but also the power steering and the electrically driven air conditioner compressor. Regenerative braking charges the batteries. Plug-in charging is not required.
With just a light touch on the throttle I noted the electric motors propel the Tahoe up to about 30 to 32 mph. Just like competing hybrids, the gasoline engine shuts down at stoplights and then restarts when you hit the gas. So just how good is Tahoe hybrid mileage? Try 22 mpg on the highway, or about 2 mpg better than the conventional gas-only version. City mileage really shines, as much as 33 percent better when compared to a gas-only Tahoe. Given the near parity on the highway, spending a few thousand dollars more for a hybrid probably only makes sense when most of your driving is on city streets. Even then it would take many tens of thousands of miles to pay back the investment. While fuel economy is improved for 2009, towing capacity is down with the Hybrid will be rated to trailer up to 6000 pounds with rear-wheel drive and 5700 pounds with four-wheel drive.
No big surprise, Tahoe’s additional hybrid hardware adds about 350 pounds worth of weight. To compensate, the hood, front bumper beam, rear lift gate and driveshaft are now aluminum. Installing lighter weight seats and forged aluminum wheels also shaves pounds. Another trick of the trade guarnteed to help milage, the recommended tire pressures has been bumped upwards by 2 psi to reduce rolling resistance. Then to maximize aerodynamics lower front fascia is devoid of holes that would otherwise trap air. And ground clearance too has been decreased in order to reduce the volume of turbulent air flowing under the truck. Up top, a roof-mounted spoiler smoothes airflow.
Singing the praises of cutting edge technology is one thing. But what’s it like to actually drive the Tahoe hybrid? I had one for a week. Day-to-day driving I averaged about 18 mpg. Acceleration came on plenty strong whenever I stomped down on the pedal. More particularly, starting from a dead stop performacne was a little anemic, but from midrange to Wide Open throttle came on strong. The zero to 60 mph elapsed time came in at about eight seconds. That’s pretty darn good.
As for handing manners, Tahoe as fairly agile, especially given the fact this is a large SUV. Tahoe’s inherent size and weight enhances passenger safety. Proof of that is found in government crash tests where Tahoe gets a lofty five star rating in both frontal and side impacts. Standard safety items include a driver and passenger front impact airbags, and an overhead airbag Available safety items include ABS, traction control, antiskid system, and curtain side airbags. Blind-spot alert is newly standard on the more upscale LTZ.
My test ride came with the power sliding sunroof option priced at $995. I know it’s called a sunroof, but I really like the glass expanse overhead on cold winter nights when you can look overhead and see the stars above.
Finally, one of the big concerns with any hybrid is the anticipated cost, many miles down the road, when it comes time to replace a battery or an electric motor. GM’s warranty allays much of that concern. Tahoe comes with an extended eight-year or 100,000 mile warranty on its hybrid components.
Wheelbase 116”
Engine 6.0L V-8
Power 332 @ 5800 rpm
Trans 2 mode hybrid
Mileage 21/22 mpg
Fuel 26 gallons
Curb weight 5900 pounds
As tested $51,485
