Other than the fact that they’re all hybrids, obviously. UPDATE: Answer after the jump.
All three vehicles are previous winners of the GCOTY or Green Car of the Year Award, presented at the LA Auto Show by GreenCar.com (pedants not welcome). You want to talk about methodology? They want to talk about methodology. Only they’re description isn’t like to be enough for you, a member of TTAC’s Best and Brightest.
Green Car Journal staff [not listed on the website] narrow down all of the eligible vehicles to the five finalists based upon research and the driving experience. All current models running on conventional and alternative fuels are eligible for consideration. ‘Newness’ is a factor, as is a vehicle’s market significance. Finalist vehicles must be readily available to consumers during the award year. Concept, prototype, and fleet-only vehicles are not considered . . .
The winning vehicle is chosen by a select jury of highly knowledgeable experts drawn from relevant fields such as transportation technology, automotive design, environmental protection, and others. Notable past jurors have included leaders of the nation’s most recognized environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, Ocean Futures Society, and Natural Resources Defense Council as well as automotive icons such as Carroll Shelby and television personality Jay Leno.
The members of this year’s jury, like this year’s winner, must be left to your imagination.
The fact that they’re mediocre, overpriced, and offer nothing to anyone who gives a damn about driving?
OK.. I’ll bite. The fact that none of the above are setting any sales records.
3 vehicles that have never been in my living room (or driveway)?
Misery loves company?
All are about to be dropped from their companies lineups?
Made in the USA? Well, come on, pick any three vehicles and that’s gotta be pretty unlikely.
They’re all underappreciated second-string efforts to their company’s green haloes?
All three are being canned
3 vehicles that even when combined don’t add up to the cost of my S-class?
They all get the same mileage,…terrible
is it the poor ground clearance (at least for the SUV’s) ??
Sales are mixed, http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/09/hybrid-sales-up-again-in-august-carried-by-clunker-cash-and-slow-growing-acceptance.html , although with the numbers the Mariner sells at an 82.7 percent increase isn’t that amazing.
The Mariner is a really impressive hybrid, but is just a rebadged Escape, the Tahoe is very expensive, and rural buyers aren’t going to benefit from hybrid city mileage, and the Camry is redundant to the cheaper, better Prius, so if they are all being killed off that isn’t too surprizing.
They all use the same battery? I know Ford and Toyota source their batteries from the same supplier, I don’t know where Chevy gets theirs.
How about this … most TTAC participants would rather wear a pig costume in Afghanistan than be seen driving one of these things in San Francisco?
Oh … no, I have a serious answer. Since Argonne National Laboratories says it takes 38,000 BTUs to make one pound of hybrid, compared to 32,000 BTUs to make one pound of conventional vehicle, then all three of these Eco-Friendly Hybrids actually consume more energy to get to market than they will every recover through their Hybrid system?
Okay, I’ll go put my sliderule away now, teacher.
All three use “Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive”, a Toyota licensed technology.
@seanx37:
I could see the Mercury and Tahoe hybrids being dropped from the lineups, but NFW is Toyota going to kill off the Camry hybrid. Their green-jeans image is too precious for that.
Rod Panhard,
I’d like to see that report. 95% of a Prius, for example, is just like any other car. The energy cost to build that other 5% would have to be astronomical to average a ~20% penalty overall.
It takes more than 20 years to recoup the savings from decreased fuel consumption.
All three use “Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive”, a Toyota licensed technology.
The Tahoe doesn’t use anything like HSD. It’s 2-Mode system is actually very different and, in some ways, quite good. It’s problem is that it was designed for buses and has physical packaging problems. This is different from the BAS hybrid drivetrain used in the Aura and Malibu**, and also different from the Volt’s series powertrain.
Three different, competing technologies. Corporate ADD strikes again. Go GM!
Ford and Nissan use a system that’s similar to Toyota’s, but both were independently developed. Neither company bought anything other than patent-suit indemnification.
** Honda uses a similar system to GM’s BAS. So does Mercedes in the S400.
psarhjinian – pretty sure Nissan lifted their system right out of Toyota’s hands with minimal changes, at least for the Altima.
Bar that they’re Hybrids, nothing really.
Do i get a prize?
@ Rod Panhard & Richard Chen
So a relative difference of 6,000 BTU/lbs on a 3263 lbs car (Camry Hybrid) is ~171 gallons based on the common 114,000 BTUs/gallon.
If I do a side-by-side on fueleconomy.gov of the most efficient non-hybrid Camry (2.4L 4cyl 6MT) and the Camry Hybrid, I get a relative difference of ~132 gallons/pa saving.
The Hybrid Camry would have recovered the additional energy cost of construction before the end of Year 2!
What am I missing???
@PeteMoran: I was referring to cost to the end-consumer, pulled a number out of my @$$.
Real world: my daily driver goes ~6000 miles per year. A Camry Hybrid is at least $3K IIRC more than a comparably equipped Camry XLE, so it would take quite a while to make up the cost out of my bank account. We’re assuming current fuel costs, and YMMV.
PeteMoran,
You’ve hit the nail on the head.
I think Richard Chen’s probably off by a factor of 3 at current gas prices. But, he’s forgetting that a lot of us boring people out there keep our cars for a long time. My wife’s Prius was bought new in 2004, and we’ve put 108k miles on it, and she really doesn’t want to replace it – though she might make an exception if I buy her a Volt (if that car happens to materialize in a few years). So, even if the hybrid payoff happens at 7 years, we’re on track to get it. But, as gas prices rise (as they surely will), that payoff gets shorter and shorter — and we’re also insulated from the volatile nature gas prices a bit more than the average driver.
But, he’s also missing something else. It’s not like she would have bought a Hyundai Accent or a Geo Metro if she couldn’t get a Prius. Her previous car was some sort of midsized Volvo, and she probably would have bought a brand-new Volvo. So, right off the bat, the Prius saved her money by being cheaper than the semi-luxury brand that she would have preferred. Also, when I drag her on a drive through a new car lot, the mileage stickers turn us off from all of the schnazzy cars in the lot. And, lastly, if we go somewhere fancy where most people drive luxury cars, people assume we’re living a tastefully-greenwashed lifestyle, rather than cheapskates who just happen to like driving around in a well-worn hatchback. Add that to 108k of trouble-free driving and pittance-level fuel-costs, and the Prius has about the best TCO of any practical car out there.
Of course, the Prius isn’t for everyone. It’s a small hatchback household transportation appliance, and anyone who wants more than that out of their driving-experience should probably buy something else.
Anyway, I’ve had a chance to ride in some of the other hybrids, and the numbers just don’t add up. The Tahoe Hybrid is in the $50k range, as is the Lexus 450h. As a guy who likes driving around in a well-worn little hatchback and may spend a significant amount of time vacuuming cheerios out of the cup-holders over the next few years, they just aren’t the vehicles for me. The Camry Hybrid would be a possibility if they made a wagon version. The Ford Fusion Hybrid gets great press, but it also doesn’t have a wagon version. I’ve looked at the Mariner Hybrid, and it seems to get good reviews, but its looks just don’t appeal to me, and MPG numbers in the 30s just don’t do it for me in anything other than a pickup truck.
So, my answer to “What Do the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid Have in Common?” question is: they’re all underperforming hybrids. Underperforming in MPG, in utility per dollar, and probably in sales too. Hybrid drivers are just as aggressive about keeping score as sports-car drivers, we just keep score differently.
Jill Wagner is now selling hybrid Tahoes and Camrys, too?
Hey cheap Luke42, Your main battery has a 100,000 mile warranty and you have 108,000 miles on the car. When the battery goes it’s $3,500… so much for your cheap car.
Are you trying to tell me that the Chrysler Aspen Hybrid never won GCOTY?? Sob…