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The show Mean Green Machines is all about pitting hybrid against combustion, referring to the hybrid as being both cleaner and more fuel efficient. This is a true statement for the most part, but as in anything else, there is always an exception to every rule.
What has happened over the past few years as hybrid vehicles have begun to popularize, is that they have become somewhat of a fad, part of an "in crowd" if you will. Manufacturers have played off of this designation and created a magic word that has become known as "hybrid”.
What has become of this fad, is there are a number of hybrid vehicles that do not even deserve to have the same hybrid, as their fuel rating is the same or worse than some combustion engines. Let's take a look at some examples of this:
- 2007 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid- Okay, so the conventional Silverado gets only 10 mpg, but the hybrid V8 5.3 liter is only improved by 6 mpg (16 mpg). There are so many other SUV hybrids that easily double this mpg rating.
- 2007 GMC Sierra Hybrid- Same story here, 16 mpg... which is only one mpg better than its combustion version that manages 15 mpg.
- 2008 Lexus LS 600h L- While these first two vehicles were rather large pickup trucks, the Lexus is a fairly standard sized luxury hybrid sedan you'd expect to at the very least get into the upper 20's if not lower 30 mpg range for mpg. Well, think again. The Lexus LS 600h gets a surprising 21 mpg on average. The 300 horsepower Ford Mustang is not too much worse than this in a mix of city/highway driving.
The message here is not to get too caught up in the word "hybrid". We all have heard about the Honda Insight, Honda Civic hybrid, and Toyota Prius as having great mpg. But many are surprised to find that both the Honda Fit and Ford Focus receive 33/34 mpg respectably, have clean emissions, and both run on a standard small liter combustion engine.
There is no magic is the word hybrid, even though some manufacturers will add as much as $5,000 to $10,000 to a price tag when it is part of a vehicles badge nomenclature...
The real magic is in the numbers (mpg, emissions, etc.)!
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