Rich Rambles:

              My contact at GM had come through for me again, and I’ve gotten a chance to briefly test drive the upcoming Saturn 2 mode Vue Hybrid.  This is a small SUV, in the same category as the Ford Escape, and is a potent hybrid for a good price.  $30K for 31 MPG, and some nice features. 

              First and foremost, I recieved some rather crushing news:  GM had decided to fund my team to do the Great Race, and to do it in this model, however the delay of the race and the harsh economic times have put those plans on pause, though there is hope that when they get through the times and the economy recovers and Great Race gets back on track, I’ll be able to race again with them, and if it’s late enough, maybe even in a Volt or other newer model hybrid*

                  As to the VUE itself, it’s a nice vehicle, with it’s new streamlined body and much nicer building materials, this is a well made vehicle.  I found the arm rests and the seats to be very comfortable, and most of the controls rather intuitive and easy to reach.  I did have a few complaints with the MFD (Multi-Function Display) being so far down on the console; I would’ve liked it high like on the Prius, Escape, Civic, or just about every other hybrid out there and it still has that useless GM “Heavy – Light” needle that barely moves.  Supposedly this needle tells you if you’re going to heavy on either the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine – Gas) or the EV (Electric Vehicle – Battery), however, it’s a pretty silly and downright useless needle to anyone who’s ever driven a hybrid before, or isn’t an idiot. 

               However, on the other end of the spectrum, it’s got the greatest needle gauge display ever, and one I think every Hybrid model should have, and that’s a battery charge level needle.  With one quick glance you can see exactly how much charge is in the battery, which enables smart battery management and some really effective EV to ICE transitions.  This needle alone makes the VUE a fantastic hybrid.  Seriously, the usefullness of this kind of gauge cannot be understated.  Other hybrids lack this kind of feature alltogether, or have a graphical approximation.  Both the Toyota and Ford hybrids have a nice display, but sometimes it’s difficult to impossible to know where your SOC (State of charge – juice in the battery) really is; is it a hair over 3 bars?  Is it just under 4?  There’s no way to tell.  With a needle, there’s no guesswork involved.  With smart battery management you can maximize your efficiency starting up to get to cruising speed, in stop and go traffic, alone on slow speed limit roads, and braking to a stop.  All of which a smart driver can do better knowing their exact SOC. 

              The hybrid system itself works like any other HSD-style system, that is it’s an electric vehicle that works in tandom with a gasoline engine to serve up a regular driving experience.  At low speeds, stops, slowing down, and other times when there’s no need for gasoline assistance, said gasoline engine drops off and stops consuming fuel.  I had some difficulty getting up above 20 MPH with the model I tested, but how much was due to the high winds and cold temps that day, I don’t know.  I also found the brakes to be very touchy, especially in the transistion from the regenerative brakes to the actual brakes, causing us to jerk to a stop on more then one occasion until I had figured it out. 

            My biggest problem with the new VUE has nothing to do with the hybrid system at all, but with it’s jellybean shape; the tapered back end results in a very narrow trunk, so narrow it’s actually surprising and disapointing.  If you’re in the market for a small hybrid SUV to haul stuff around in the back, you may be disapointed and have to exclude the VUE from your list.  It does however boast a nice towing capacity, and with the back seats folded down flat, you can pick up quite a bit of space if you don’t have multiple passengers.  So, if you can live with a narrow “behind” and want/need a hybrid SUV, this should be a serious consideration for you.  On the page, it competes very well with the Ford Escape Hybrid, and it seems like a quality made vehicle.

              Bottom line, this is a good hybrid, highly recommended.  Had I gone/were I to go on The Great Race with this vehicle, I would’ve been happy to do so, and probably would’ve come back loving it. 

           *This was before the Obama and GM people decried that the Volt wasn’t likely to be a profitable competitive vehicle.