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Chevy Tahoe Greenest Car and other LA Auto ShowAbsurdities
By encinoman
No, it doesn&;t run on electricity or hydrogen, but the gigantor Chevy Tahoe was named the greenest car at the LA auto show. The new hybrid Tahoe supposedly gets a whopping 21 miles per gallon in the city, (although the November/December Truck Trend says they got 18mpg in LA city driving), a &;thirty percent boost over standard V8s&; which was enough to win the award from Green Car Journal (actually a pretty good publication).
It was a good week for the Tahoe, as a robotic version built by students at Carnegie Mellon, perhaps the foremost robotics institution in the U.S., won the DARPA Urban Challenge unmanned car competition.
And really, is giving the Tahoe a &;greenest car&; award any more absurd than $50,000 Japanese &;economy cars&; that get less than 20 mpg? I looked at the entire Acura line and none get more than 18mpg city mileage. They&;re not the only offenders; the Infiniti G35 and most Lexuses are similarly challenged.
But the award points to deeper problems. In the real world, newspaper advertisements scream $11,000 off! on Tahoes&;big gas-eaters strapped consumers can&;t afford.
The automotive press is particularly cozy with the manufacturers&;you&;ll never see a car get blasted in Car and Driver or Motor Trend. There&;s a reason public relations folks refer to them as &;trade and enthusiast&; pubs. Advertising has a lot to do with it, but so does access&;say nasty things and you&;ll never get another vehicle for one of your &;unbiased&; reviews. On the other hand, stroke the manufacturer with a Car of the Year and you&;ll get plenty of advertising.
It reminds me of when I edited PC LapTop magazine; each laptop was always &;the best yet&; (since last month) from the manufacturer. The auto show is a party for the press; I didn&;t get a free car, but I did get free lunch.
This entry was posted on November 20, 2007 at 8:56 pm and is filed under Car-and-Driver, Chevy-Tahoe, DARPA-urban-challenge, Green-Car-Journal, hybrid-autos, Los-Angeles-auto-show, PC-LapTop-Magazine, Uncategorized.
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One Response to &;Chevy Tahoe Greenest Car and other LA Auto ShowAbsurdities&;
Dealers Indulge in Hybrid Price Gouging « Monday Morning Media Quarterback Says:
June 26, 2008 at 5:50 pm |
[...] frantic because the Nissan Armadas, Toyota Land Cruisers, Lincoln Navigators and Cadillac Escalades hybrid Tahoes aren&;t moving with what here in Southern California is often $5 a gallon premium [...]
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