General Motors’ first hybrid utility vehicle

General Motors’ first hybrid, the Saturn Vue Green Line, is also the least expensive hybrid vehicle on the market. With a price starting at $23,000, it’s about $2000 more than a standard issue Vue and returns about 20 percent better gas mileage. That’s about a five-mile-per-gallon improvement. You’ll pay about a $4000 premium for most hybrid vehicles.

The Green Line is rated at 29 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving. I got just over 26 mpg, which isn’t bad, but not what I expected. You’ll get a first year tax credit of $650 which will help offset the price, but with gasoline currently at around $2.89 per gallon in the Phoenix area, don’t look for an immediate payback — that’ll take several years.

The Green Line uses a hybrid powertrain that includes a 2.4-liter 170-horsepower, four-cylinder engine and an electric boost. The system is simpler than most, based around a large motor-generator that replaces the conventional alternator. When the engine shuts off at a stoplight and it’s time to go again, you take your foot off the brake and the engine engages after driving off the motor-generator for a few seconds.

So, where most hybrid vehicles save gasoline by moving solely under battery power up to around 20 miles per hour, the Green Line system works for only a second or two before the gasoline engine engages when you take your foot off the brake.

The battery pack that powers the BAS (belt alternator starter) system sits under the rear cargo floor like most other hybrids, and is a relatively small 10 kilowatt battery. The lone transmission is a straightforward four-speed automatic, mildly adjusted to handle the electrical boost under hard acceleration. Green Line is available only with front-wheel drive.

Unlike hybrids from Toyota and Ford, the Green Line is as simple a hybrid as one can purchase. It doesn’t use the gas-sipping Atkinson cycle engine with its continuously variable transmission (CVT) — a larger more potent battery — nor does it use electric power steering and electric air conditioning that works without the gasoline engine running. So that means the air conditioning compressor shuts off when the engine shuts down at stops. In our “surface of the sun” Arizona summers, that won’t work.

Clicking off the ECON A/C button prevents the engine from shutting down, but that completely defeats the purpose of owning a hybrid. There isn’t really any reason a vehicle has to keep burning gasoline while stopped at a light or in heavy traffic, especially because electric power steering and air conditioning technology is already in use. It should definitely be applied here. In fact, these hybrid systems could be models for all vehicles.

We’ve been so impressed with the reincarnation of Saturn this past year — with new products like the Aura, Sky and Outlook — that Green Line rates up there as perhaps the most disappointing vehicle I’ve tested, and not because of the hybrid system alone. Rather, the Vue is an aging model that just isn’t very sophisticated.

Given that the Vue gets a complete makeover for the 2008 model year and is expected to go on sale this spring, I’m at a loss to figure why Saturn just didn’t wait to introduce Green Line with the new model. First seen at the November 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show the 2008 Vue will be available in four models, including the Green Line.

The older design tested here just isn’t very impressive and is completely outclassed by others in this segment including the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Mitsubishi Outlander and Hyundai Tucson, to name a few.

Saturn did a modest update of the Vue last year. The interior benefited the most, with improved plastics, style and a more upscale appearance. The dash looks much better with chrome accents and whiteface gauges that are backlit at night. But overall, there’s just too much plastic in the cabin.

Interior room is generous given its size. Most drivers will find ample leg, head, hip and shoulder room. Seats are simple and could use more bottom length for thigh support. The back seat is split 70/30 and reclines for added comfort.

Acceleration is unimpressive with a zero to 60 mph time 10 seconds. I drove the Green Line to Tucson and back, and at higher speeds the vehicle performed better, drove easily and was generally comfortable.

Another area where the Green Line falls short is safety equipment, where there are “no’s”: No side air bags, no side curtain airbags, no stability control and no center headrest for the rear seat. Others? No spare tire, no four-wheel drive. Side curtains are available at an extra cost, bundled in an $1125 option package.

Crash test ratings of the 2007 Vue produced mixed ratings. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the Vue its best 5-star rating in front and side impact crash tests. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the Vue its highest rating of “Good” for front impact crash tests and its lowest rating of “Poor” in side impact crash tests for vehicles without side airbags.

Overall we liked the simple, inexpensive hybrid idea offered by Saturn, but don’t think the current Vue is the best example to promote the idea. Saturn would have done well to wait for the new Vue, which will arrive at dealer showrooms in the next few months.