Well this all comes down to opinions. So we all have our likes.

I sat in the brand new dakota at the the auto show, it has a poor interior. The new body shows well though. I used to live by the nissan plant were they make the frontier, nice engine and tranny but I thought those interiors had too much cheap silver plastic. We had that in our altima and it looks bad after 3 years. With the ranger going away the Colorado is the oldest and it shows, I still think it does okay. When looking at sticker prices I think the colorado loses in that its sticker is too high compared to these newer models.

 

Hybrids increase a vehicle's fuel economy in two ways: by capturing braking energy via regenerative braking; and by helping the gasoline engine to run under higher loads a greater percentage of the time (because gasoline engines are not very efficient at part loads). Since Diesel engines don't share a gasoline engine's part-load inefficiency, there's less to be gained in that area. So that leaves the main benefit of a Diesel hybrid to capturing braking energy, which may not be worth all that extra hardware.

 

actually, I was thinking about the full-size trucks. The two-mode system & the 4.5L V8 are already designed to fit in that platform, so putting them together should be extremely easy.
The two-mode hybrid Tahoe gets about 30% better fuel economy than the standard model despite using the 6L. We don't know what kind of mileage the diesel will get, but it's a given that it should be much more than the 5.3's. Combining the 2 technologies can only make things even better!!

 

I think a hybrid Silverado would be better off with the 2.9L V6. It would be cheaper too.

 

Biggest ????? is likely the price point of a diesel hybrid combo.

Take the two mode system in the GMT-900 SUV's. $10k or there abouts. The Duramax offered in the GMT-900 trucks is $7k.

So $17k when combining those two examples, and that's even before a truck is wrapped around it.

 

they put the 6.0L in the Tahoe hybrid over the standard 5.3L. Why would they not use the V8 diesel?

 

you are talking about the wrong Duramax...

 

Its more expensive and has more power than needed. Plus that 2.9L Diesel puts out more torque than the gas 6.0L. If they use bigger electric motors then they could probably get away with using a 4 cyl.

 

You can't go too small ... with a hybrid, you have to take into consideration that the batteries will not always be charged enough to help. So your IC engine will need to be big enough to do whatever the job the truck is designed for, without the battery's help.

 

I think on here we lose focus on what these diesels cost, and then add a hybrid system to it. I think the current duramax option costs roughly $8000. Divide that by $3 per gallon and mulitply by 15 mpg and thats 40,000 miles of gasoline, dont forget the diesel is 10-20% per gallon in most parts of the country. Sure they last longer but there are some drawbacks. Even the extra costs of fianancing the $8000. Hopefully the 4.5L and 2.9L will be more cost effective. Jeeps 3.0L TD costs $3750. Does that mean the 4.5L will be about $5000?

 

For most people that would be something between a 300tq 4cyl. Diesel and GMs 400tq 2.9L V6. The current 6.0L is rated at 367tq

If you want to see a hybrid Suburban powered by a Saturn 1.9L check this out = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_09tPHmDR_c

 

I don't think that guy knows what he is talking about ^.... More power than the "5.4" eh

 

To address your question, "hybrid-diesel" is known as "diesel electric", and has been used in freight trains for ages.

Two reasons come to mind for why it isn't used much in passenger cars:

1) Dear lord is that combination going to be heavy and expensive...

2) Emissions. Diesels have (had) problems with emissions.

 

You're thinking of a series hybrid, whereas I'm pretty sure Threxx was asking about a more conventional parallel hybrid such as the Prius. Also locomotives do not recapture and store braking energy.

Regarding emissions, mentioning it as a drawback to a Diesel hybrid is irrelevant ... Diesel engines will meet upcoming emissions standards whether they are in a hybrid or not. But yes, cost and weight are huge drawbacks.

 

So you have the cost for the 4.5L Duramax handy? T purpose of my statement was used to establish some form of cost around GM's current technology for a hybrid and diesel applications, then combine them to reflect an estimation of green backs one would need to part with, that's all.