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Are there slightly less-gloomy SUV options?

02.02.2009

Submitted by tmeronek on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 1:09am.
The Bite:
It's sunny you ask... Our maybe-not-so-bright idea for this week's tips: Bring you the greenest of the nongreen. And what better way to kick off the week than with something only CEOs wearing golden parachutes can afford right now: SUVs (the most eco of which are - wait for it - actually greener than regular passenger cars).
The Benefits: 
  • Lightening your impact. Since calculating fuel efficiency is a fancy, nonintuitive equation, increasing your gas mileage from, say, 14 to 16 mpg saves as much gas as increasing it from 35 to 50 mpg.
  • They're SUVs. There's all that room for skis and bikes and dogs (yeah, yeah, we ski like once a year, we know...).
Personally Speaking: 
Nobody on the editorial team drives an SUV, but (shh!) there are a couple closet coveters of the Escalade Hybrid. Not that they'd ever.
Wanna Try: 
The three most efficient hybrids (all get about 32 mpg):
  • Mercury Mariner Hybrid - Bill Clinton drives this rugged-looking number, which comes with a lotta trimmings, such as MP3 player plug-in and fog lights ($29,750 and up).
  • Ford Escape Hybrid - the sleekest-looking of the three, it's the most gas-efficient SUV available in the United States ($29,305 and up).
  • Mazda Tribute Hybrid - the one with the lowest starting price gives you the power of an Escape, but with a beefed up look ($20,400 and up).

 

Cocktail Fact

The rollover rate of SUVs is three times that of passenger cars.

Bang For The Bite

If 10,000 Biters opt for a Ford Escape Hybrid instead of a nonhybrid one, we'll avert the CO2 caused by driving the hybrid around Earth's equator 1,057 times.

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samantha  on November 13, 2009 at 07:09 AM 1
Nobody on the editorial team drives an SUV, but (shh!) there are a couple closet coveters of the Escalade Hybrid. Not that they'd ever. games adventure games

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