Archive for the &;Los-Angeles-auto-show&; Category
Chevy Tahoe Greenest Car and other LA Auto ShowAbsurdities
November 20, 2007
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.
Posted in Car-and-Driver, Chevy-Tahoe, DARPA-urban-challenge, Green-Car-Journal, hybrid-autos, Los-Angeles-auto-show, PC-LapTop-Magazine, Uncategorized | 1 Comment &;