2009 Chevy Silverado Hybrid 4WD Crew Cab

The Silverado Hybrid is Chevrolet’s gasoline-electric hybrid half-ton pickup that returns to the lineup for 2009 featuring General Motor’s two-mode hybrid system combining a 6.0-liter V8 gas engine with Active Fuel Management and late intake valve closing technology, with GM’s Electrically Variable Transmission (EVT) and a 300-volt nickel-metal hydride Energy Storage System. This system is said to achieve 40-percent greater city fuel economy and a 25-percent improvement in overall fuel economy. The new hybrid system allows the Silverado Hybrid to drive at up to 30 mph on electricity alone and also allows the engine to operate in its more economical V4 mode for longer periods.

With 367 lb-ft of torque, this combination allows for a towing capacity of 6100lbs which is just a bit less than its gas only twin. The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid shares the same two-mode hybrid transmission, 300-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack and aluminum-block 6.0-liter pushrod V8 as the Tahoe. This transmission has four fixed gear ratios and two 60-kilowatt electric motors with planetary gear sets into the space of a conventional gearbox.

Inside, the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid you’ll find a special tach with an “economy gauge” that has a green bar which represents a zone drivers can aim for to maximize fuel economy. The tachometer houses an auto stop reading to indicate when the gasoline engine is shut off although believe me, you’ll know when it does. An 8-inch touch screen features a screen to show if the power is coming from the electric motors, the gasoline engine, or both. It will also display real-time fuel economy and when regenerative braking is charging the batteries, as well as if the vehicle is in two- or 4-wheel drive mode. Oh by the way, applying the brakes in hybrids take just a bit of getting used to.

Under very light throttle, the electric motors can move the Silverado up to 30 miles an hour and moderate acceleration will start the gasoline engine. Like other systems, the gasoline engine turns off at stoplights and restarts when you tickle the throttle. Fuel economy estimates for the Silverado Hybrid are estimated at 20 mpg city/20 mpg highway, and while I didn’t spend much highway time in my tester, I got just under 19mpg which isn’t bad especially according to GM, the electric motors will allow the engine to operate in 4-cylinder mode more often. However, I have to admit that I don’t drive to maximize fuel economy..

As far as driving goes, I’m always amazed at how nice pickups are theses days and the Silverado was no exception. This is a very nice truck, comfortable and spacious inside with plenty of rear seat room for passengers. There is a large console with plenty of storage space and it comes with three cupholders for extra thirsty driver and passengers. The ride is smooth and the big trucks handles bumps well so whether you’re on the highway or off road, the Silverado makes the ride easy and comfortable. As far as performance goes, the 1500 hybrid has plenty of punch so no worries there for sure.

All this doesn’t come inexpensively though, as the tester based at $41,176 and with a few goodies and destination charges, the total came to $42,040. Basic warranty is 36 months and 36,000 miles with a 100,000 mile powertrain which is good news.

Bottom line, the Chevy Silverado Hybrid is a very nice truck so if you’re in the market for a full-size crew cab pick up, I’d suggest checking it out. I’m not saying that hybrids aren’t the be all and end all but they’re a good intermediate step so if you haven’t tried one lately, check Chevy’s Silverado Hybrid out, I think you’ll be pleased. For more on the Silverado Hybrid, click here……

Can Congress do Better?

While hearing a lot about the demise of the auto industry recently, I came across some information in that I found very interesting, information one doesn’t normally hear a lot about from mainstream media. This information actually offers some hope for the recovery of the industry much sooner than a lot of people may think. That idea doesn’t really surprise me because I’m convinced that some, if not most of the news about how American manufacturers haven’t been building or planning the right products is, simply stated, hyperbole.

Here’s what the gist of the information is and why I believe a relatively quick recovery almost has to happen. The average age of cars on the road today is aver 9 years old. The age of light trucks is over 7 years old and by 2011 there will be some 35 million cars on the road at least 10 years old. When one does the math, even at 15,000 miles a year, a very conservative number, what that means is that those vehicles have at least 150,000 miles on them. That many miles means lots of dollars have to be spent on maintenance and upkeep.

There are some 250 million vehicles on the road, 5% of which are scrapped every year. 12.5 million cars off the road every year while at present, only 9 million cars are being built. According to industry metrics, three quarters of current sales are replacement vehicles and that demand will increase to 13 million cars by 2012. Now while some people say these numbers are a little optimistic because people are driving less and keeping cars longer, keep in mind that there are 2 million new drivers coming on line every year. Also, based on historical data, GDP directly correlates to auto sales and a 4% increase in GDP propels auto sales up some 7% and when you combine that with cars being scrapped, demographic changes from boomers children beginning to drive along with economic recovery which will happen, it isn’t unreasonable to expect sales of new vehicles to reach the 16 million mark again in 5 years. And by the way, that doesn’t include sales in China and Russia where GM has a very strong presence.

Interestingly it seems as though used car prices are starting to rise which makes new cars more attractive and with the inventory of new homes finally dwindling, construction will spool up and that means sales of trucks will improve. Also, congress is mulling the idea of a 3 to 5 thousand dollar voucher to people to junk older cars, which will not only help stimulate sales but will help get polluting cars off the road.

A lot of people are unaware of is the fact that the Buick LaCrosse and Chevy Malibu have earned best in class in reliability studies from J.D. Powers & Associates, and the Ford Fusion won a comparison study against the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The Edge is a very solid car and the new F150 is top drawer once again. The problem U.S. automakers face is one of perception and that takes a lot of time to overcome. While Ford, GM and Chrysler are working on smaller platforms, we need to hope that China doesn’t import the Chery and India doesn’t bring the Nano to America before U.S. automakers get it together.

With regards to the Congressional Auto Task Force, well let’s just acknowledge that there have to be some changes made with the Detroit three but those changes have been in the works for some time and I’m no fan of government dictating to the auto industry. There need to be some serious changes and that will be painful. And like it or not, new labor contracts have to happen to make profitability possible on smaller, lower grossing platforms. But all of that will take time and serious negotiations and sacrifice as well trimming the number of dealerships across the country, something that will in fact be very painful but will have to be done. U.S. automakers may have been a bit slow on the uptake, but they didn’t and don’t need government telling them how to build cars.

Are U.S. Automakers really building cars no one wants to buy?

by Bill Zervakos
December 2008

There is a lot of hyperbole about how bad the vehicles coming out of Detroit are; ergo American automakers are in trouble. Are American automakers really building inferior products? Let’s look at the numbers from November of 2007 through November 2008 for a few of the key players:

Chrysler, down 47% Nissan, down 42.2% General Motors, down 41.3% Toyota, down 33.9%
Honda, down, 31.6% Ford, down 30.6%

You’ll notice that Ford is down less than anyone else and Nissan sales are even worse than General Motors.

No doubt labor costs for unionized shops are higher than those of non-union shops but are labor costs the reason for the collapse in sales? Leaving aside all the differences in compensation between the U.S. makers and importers, I don’t see how any manufacturer can exist for long with over 30% losses in sales.

We’ve clearly seen the incompetence of CEOs’ on Wall Street, seemingly without consequence or accountability and certainly without any oversight, given billions of dollars specifically, we were told, to loosen up credit for consumers. Instead they chose to use those billions to pay dividends and bonuses while buying other financial institutions, choosing to do nothing about making money available for loans. To then watch Congress address the CEOs’ of the U.S. automakers as though they’re inept seems a bit self serving.

It’s important to point out here that Ford President Alan Mulally has been with the company for just over 2 years, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli has been with them since 2007 and GM CEO Rick Wagoner took over the controls of General Motors in 2005. So while there were problems in the past, linking the ills the industry faces today exclusively to these executives performance is short sighted, and appointing a car czar is not the answer.

Rick Wagoner of GM has acknowledged that allowing the EV1 to be eliminated was not the right thing to do. But GM, Ford and Chrysler have made huge strides in developing electric vehicles, some that will be on the road by 2010. They’ve been doing this without government or a car czar telling them they had to. But here’s what we must remember: Detroit built what people were buying. It’s true that some gas guzzlers were incentivized but in a capitalistic society businesses are all about making money and big vehicles were money makers. Proof of that is the 22% increase in truck sales this November, with gas under $2.00 a gallon, over July sales when gas was $4.00 a gallon. The consumer drives the market and will continue to do so.

With legislators pontificating and blustering about how outraged they are with the big 3 CEOs’ and the media right there with them, talking about how irresponsible Detroit has been in product development, without laying out all the facts, it’s no wonder that people aren’t buying American cars. The facts are that there were several automakers, including some importers, that made some pretty bad cars in the past, but today everyone is building pretty solid vehicles. The prevailing perception is that American cars aren’t as good, yet in a Consumer Reports study as far back as 2006 provided results showing that the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan outperformed the Honda Accord V6 and the Toyota Camry V6 in reliability studies. Interestingly those same studies indicated that people will still buy the imports. Perception is true even if it isn’t fact and when a false perception is promulgated, change takes even longer.

So, are U.S. automakers really building bad cars? Not at all, and if people would do their homework and not buy into all the negative hype, they’d be very pleasantly surprised with what’s coming out of Detroit.Other countries are supporting their automakers and we should do no less. If we were in a normal economy and automakers weren’t manufacturing the right products, then the market should be allowed to correct itself. That isn’t the case today.

Generally speaking, I’m not for government intervention but this is a critical industry for America and the three CEOs’ weren’t the cause this financial crisis and they can’t fix it. But allowing any one of the heretofore big three to die could create a tragedy of epic proportions. The facts are, until the consumer starts buying again, all automakers are in peril.

Two for the Road Drives the 2008 Malibu

There's been an awful lot of hoopla from GM about "the car you can't ingnore" and I'm here to tell you, I'm a believer. I always find it interesting when a manufacturer sets the bar high when unveiling a new or re-modeled vehicle. It's a very high risk-reward gamble and after spending some time in Tennessee as the guest of General Motors, Cathy and I are pretty sure they got it right with the new Malibu. The redesign has been a 3-year plan for lead exterior designer Tim Kozub, who's sketch you see at the top of the blog, and as you can see by the video below, the finished product isn't far off the drawing. With models ranging from the 4-cylinder LS to the V6 powered LTZ and a hybrid version the Malibu will appeal to a very eclectic group. We enjoyed driving the V6 and the hybrid and we'll have a lot more to talk about in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy the video to get an idea of what this car is all about, and go to; www.twofortheroadusa.com for more information.

News from Chevrolet

What’s coming up for Chevrolet as far as new product goes? Well for starters there is talk about restyling the Malibu for 2008 which finally shows some styling elan. While the new iteration is a very nifty looking car, for me, I can't help but think back to the days when the Malibu morphed into the ultra cool Chevelle line that brought us the likes of the 396 and 454 cubic inch rat motors in the Super Sport Chevelles of the 60’s and very early ‘70’s. While it would be nice to see something like that happen again, I'm not sure I’ll hold my breath on that ever happening again but who knows.

Clearly the big news for Chevy is what I hope will be a 2008 debut of the all new Camaro. Lines are forming as we speak for this renaissance of an icon that has been missing far to long. While Ford owners as well as Ford may not be quaking in their garages, you know they’re fully aware that with this new iteration of the F-Body, and Dodge’s Challenger coming back, the pony car wars will be on full force. For those of us fortunate enough to have been there at the beginning, it can’t happen soon enough.

Other plans for the lineup sometime in ’09 include refreshing the HHR and the Colorado, a new mid-size CUV will be debuted, and an even more potent Corvette will happen. While Pontiac and Buick are in a way trying to reinvent themselves, Chevrolet is not a brand that has that problem. GM is just trying to make their lineup even better. To that end some future improvements, beyond what I’ve already mentioned will include a rear-wheel-drive Impala which I truly hope happens, and a microcar that was introduced at the New York auto show in April, in a 3 and 5 door configuration.

The car is even smaller than the new Mini Cooper and the Aveo, which is the smallest car Chevy offers to date. There have been questions as to whether or not the car would sell in the U.S.
but to my way of thinking, with the Smart Car making such a splash, the Microcar may just work. Don’t expect it before 2010 or 2011 though.

Clearly aimed at the youth market, the models feature very interesting color schemes which to me clearly define not only the demographic but also the psychographic of the target buyer. ‘There is some concern in the upper echelons of the industry that hip young people have no aesthetic sense but when I think back to my youth, what we did with our cars could certainly beg the same question.


Unique color choices range from an electric green for the Beat to a blaze orange for the Trax, and the most understated of the bunch is the dark purple that’s on the Groove. And how about those names, Cath and I keep threatening to do a show devoted to names of cars past and present one of these days.

Truth is though, with the ecology and economy growing ever more important in our lives, this little trio may jump start the American manufacturer’s development of small fuel efficient yet fun cars. All I can tell you is that after spending a full day on an Arizona road trip driving the tiny Smart Car for an article we did in AZ3Sixty’s magazine recently, I found the Smart Car more than capable and not uncomfortable at all. Except for the times an 18-wheeler blazed by us on the highway making us feel very small indeed.

Only time will tell whether or not we’ll embrace the “little” fuel efficient cars. I for one hope we do, at least for buzzing around town in. It would save a lot of money and actually, they're kinda fun to drive.

More info at, http://www.twofortheroadusa.com

Chevy Volt, Hype or Hyperbole

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation report I read 0n GM's Chevrolet website, seventy-eight percent of commuters drive 40 miles or less back and forth to work.
What the General is trying to do is offer the Volt as an opportunity to save gasoline and money with the use of electricity, E85 and biodiesel along with gasoline fuels.

As you can see in pictures of the prototype, the Chevy Volt is one sexy little car, and Chevrolet is introducing it as a new kind of electric vehicle called, Concept Chevy Volt. What sets the Volt apart from previous electric vehicles, is its innovative rechargeable electric drive system, and range, and extended power source. It can be configured to run on electricity, gasoline, E85 or biodiesel. So, according to the information on the General Motors website, you have at least a couple of options for the most efficient drive possible all due to GM’s innovative E-Flex Propulsion System.

All that sounds wonderful but the question remains, will the Volt in actuality be built? In conversations that we had with GM Vice President Bob Lutz in Phoenix in may of this year, the answer is an emphatic yes. General Motors is very excited about the possibilities that the technology in the Volt offers albeit there is still the ubiquitous problem of battery technology that seems to be lagging.

Because Cathy and I test drive for the manufacturer we are often questioned about the development of alternative fuel technologies and what our thoughts are. I am a fan of hybrid technology today because I feel something is better than nothing. That said, I have to be quick to point out that the cost involved in aquisition of a hybrid vehicle most likely will not be recouped as quickly as the consumer may think, but it is a green car and does in a small way help.

The question of the day is, do you believe that the hype around the Volt is the real deal, or is it just more hyperbole from Detroit?