1st hybrid SUV wins Truck of the Year
Sunday, January 9th, 2005Yea! I’m a big fan of sustainable technology. (See my articles on driving green here.) Today, the auto journalism industry took a good, hard look and agreed:
Ford’s Hybrid SUV Wins Top Truck Honors
Business – APDETROIT – America’s “in†sedan and the world’s first gas-electric hybrid sport utility vehicle were named North America’s top vehicles Sunday at the North American International Auto Show.
(snip)
The Chrysler 300 — which becomes the 300C when it’s equipped with Chrysler’s powerful Hemi V-8 engine — collected its latest honor as 2004 North American Car of the Year. Ford’s new Escape hybrid SUV garnered the award as 2004 North American Truck of the Year.
Imagine driving an SUV and still getting 36 MPG in the city and 31 MPG on the highway! Imagine going 400-500 miles on one tank of gas! Imagine doing the patriotic thing by lessening our dependence on oil!
I still don’t think that the raised (and therefore imbalanced) weight center of most SUVs is safe. I hate driving in front of them because the headlight height seems designed to blind people in cars. And I don’t like parking too close to them because I’ve seen too many cars flattened by SUV drivers who just “didn’t see them.†But if you must drive an SUV… (Or check out the Top 10 SUV Alternatives.)
Meanwhile, the Toyota Prius hybrid has been racking up the awards, including:
Car of the Year 2005, a European award
2004 North American Car of the Year
Motor Trend’s 2004 Car of the Year
You can learn more about these two vehicles here: