What is it?
2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode Hybrid
What's special about it?
Here's one very special thing about the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode Hybrid: With seven distinct segments in its official name, it has the longest moniker in the business.
"But didn't Saturn offer a hybrid version of that last-generation Vue, the one with the tiny, square front grille," you ask. Yes, it did. But this puppy is vastly more complicated, has a 3.6-liter V6 as its gas-ingesting portion and looks considerably more like a meatball than the old one.
The last Vue Green Line was powered by the same 2.4-liter inline-4 with mild electric assist that lives on in the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and the Saturn Aura Green Line. When we tested that 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line, we considered its leisurely 10.7-second time to 60 mph "painfully slow." Its lack of oomph might have been a blessing, as we described its braking performance as "miserable." And at an observed fuel economy of 24.8 mpg, one must wonder what the point to the whole exercise might have been. For perspective, a 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, the Green Line's closest competitor, proved to be more than a half-second quicker to 60 mph and returned an observed fuel economy of 28.6 mpg. And its braking performance was merely poor, not miserable.
So in place of that mild hybrid powertrain comes the two-mode system first introduced at General Motors by full-size utes — the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, 2008 GMC Yukon and 2008 Cadillac Escalade. As a full hybrid, the 2009 Saturn Vue Two-Mode Hybrid will be able to run on electrical power alone at low speed. The system uses two 55-kW electric motors integrated into its automatic transmission that are fed current from 22 nickel-metal-hydride batteries tucked under the backseat.
All this means that the Two-Mode will get to 60 mph in an estimated 7.3 seconds, return an estimated 28 mpg in combined EPA-calibrated driving, and hopefully stop a little better. Also the '09 Vue Two-Mode, which goes on sale near the end of 2008, will be able to tow up to 3,500 pounds. If all this turns out to be true, then the Two-Mode will match or better the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid in acceleration and fuel economy.
How much will this cost? Saturn isn't saying. But based on the price premium of the Tahoe Hybrid versus the standard Tahoe, we figure the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode will be about $30,000.
And for reasons clear only to Saturn (well, cost actually), there also will be a mild hybrid version of the 2009 Vue with the familiar 2.4-liter inline-4 and electric assist.
What's Edmunds' take? As a basis for GM's upcoming plug-in hybrid, the Vue Two-Mode looks promising. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode Hybrid
What's special about it?
Here's one very special thing about the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode Hybrid: With seven distinct segments in its official name, it has the longest moniker in the business.
"But didn't Saturn offer a hybrid version of that last-generation Vue, the one with the tiny, square front grille," you ask. Yes, it did. But this puppy is vastly more complicated, has a 3.6-liter V6 as its gas-ingesting portion and looks considerably more like a meatball than the old one.
The last Vue Green Line was powered by the same 2.4-liter inline-4 with mild electric assist that lives on in the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and the Saturn Aura Green Line. When we tested that 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line, we considered its leisurely 10.7-second time to 60 mph "painfully slow." Its lack of oomph might have been a blessing, as we described its braking performance as "miserable." And at an observed fuel economy of 24.8 mpg, one must wonder what the point to the whole exercise might have been. For perspective, a 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, the Green Line's closest competitor, proved to be more than a half-second quicker to 60 mph and returned an observed fuel economy of 28.6 mpg. And its braking performance was merely poor, not miserable.
So in place of that mild hybrid powertrain comes the two-mode system first introduced at General Motors by full-size utes — the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, 2008 GMC Yukon and 2008 Cadillac Escalade. As a full hybrid, the 2009 Saturn Vue Two-Mode Hybrid will be able to run on electrical power alone at low speed. The system uses two 55-kW electric motors integrated into its automatic transmission that are fed current from 22 nickel-metal-hydride batteries tucked under the backseat.
All this means that the Two-Mode will get to 60 mph in an estimated 7.3 seconds, return an estimated 28 mpg in combined EPA-calibrated driving, and hopefully stop a little better. Also the '09 Vue Two-Mode, which goes on sale near the end of 2008, will be able to tow up to 3,500 pounds. If all this turns out to be true, then the Two-Mode will match or better the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid in acceleration and fuel economy.
How much will this cost? Saturn isn't saying. But based on the price premium of the Tahoe Hybrid versus the standard Tahoe, we figure the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode will be about $30,000.
And for reasons clear only to Saturn (well, cost actually), there also will be a mild hybrid version of the 2009 Vue with the familiar 2.4-liter inline-4 and electric assist.
What's Edmunds' take? As a basis for GM's upcoming plug-in hybrid, the Vue Two-Mode looks promising. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
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