2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid

Description:

Most of us are busy replacing our standard cars with hybrid cars since we want to contribute to reduce CO2 emission and also save oil at the same time. Truck owners too are trying to contribute in their own way by opting in for hybrid trucks. Check out carefully and you will observe that these trucks constitute about 50% of the nation’s vehicle. You should not forget that the average pickup truck gobbles far more fuel than the family car and can easily consume in excess of 1,000 gallons of fuel per year. Trucks, therefore, constitute a large market as far as saving fuel is concerned and it is not amazing to note that the manufacturers of such trucks are converting them to hybrid models.

Currently most trucks in the US are manufactured by models manufactured by US automakers, hence this presents a tremendous opportunity for manufacturers like Chrysler, Ford and GM to manufacture trucks that are super efficient, regardless of the fact that they use the hybrid technology or not. Now that the hybrid technology has proved its worth in the family vehicle segment, it will not prove tough to implement the same into trucks and they can be easily manufactured using this technology. If it is possible, then why are hybrid trucks not being manufactured? For those who do not know, a type of hybrid truck was marketed for a short period of time during 2004.

During that time, General Motors had introduced an extremely light hybrid truck that was based on their Sierra and Silverado models. Though 3,000 such vehicles were manufactured, nobody knew where it be purchased from. After just 2 years the hybrid version’s production of GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups were stopped. Before you start investigating as to why these models were stopped, here are the facts. These models, that were capable of enhancing fuel economy by just 10-15%, have been phased out for full hybrid models of the Sierra and Silverado that are expected to deliver a 25% enhancement towards fuel efficiency. The two trucks that were phased out had some nifty features that are a bonus.

They acted more like power generators using two conservative, 3-pin power outlets that were nested under the rear seat. Two more were there at the back of the bed. These 120-volt outlets, rated at 20 amps provided power supply for hairdryers, grinders, laptops and electric saws. The power supply used to last as long as the truck was running. Keeping the shifter in `park’ mode this vehicle could be used as a standby generator and the driver could easily take a stroll if so required. The inbuilt ground fault detection system protected the power supply circuits hence there was adequate protection against short circuits and overloads. A full tank was sufficient to allow the vehicle to supply non-stop power for 32 hours. A nifty feature turned of the generators before the fuel tanks were drained completely. This system was implemented to ensure that there was sufficient fuel left to drive back the vehicle.