Hybrid Cadillac Escalade Coming Soon

Author: Iver Penn

Media reports are saying that General Motors Corp.’s Cadillac luxury-vehicle division is currently mulling over making hybrid versions of all its models. This comes in the midst of the brand’s declining sales and with U.S. gasoline prices staying near $3 a gallon.

In an interview in New York last week John Howell, Cadillac’s product chief said, “Pretty much every program I am looking at going forward has got a hybrid as part of it.” He didn’t give a time frame for adding the gasoline-electric versions.

Cadillac is finding ways to resuscitate demand for its vehicles after its U.S. sales dropped 3.4 percent last year, the first annual decline since 2001. Sales this year dropped 7.2 percent through May.

Cadillac, known for larger cars and sport-utility vehicles, has been one of the hardest hit by the surging gasoline prices this year and in 2006.

According to Howell, Cadillac’s first hybrid will be the 2009 Escalade SUV. It will have the so-called two-mode system that increases hybrid fuel savings by more efficient adjustments to different engine speeds.

GM’s Displacement on Demand technology will also be likewise used to reduce fuel consumption by the gasoline engine. GM officials also noted that the batteries for this hybrid will be supplied by Panasonic EV, the same company that currently manufacturers the batteries for the Toyota Prius.

GM – maker of quality GMC performance chip, also reportedly plans two-mode hybrid versions later this year of its Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon large SUVs and has said fuel economy will rise 25 percent from gasoline-only models.

There have already been reports about sightings of the “Green” Cadillac Escalade — a symbol of excess among wealthy American consumers — with spy photographers bringing proof that the big SUV is soon to show us its greener side.

Cadillac engineers have reportedly been caught testing an Escalade Hybrid prototype in the Nevada desert sometime late last month. Unlike the Tahoe and Yukon Hybrids, the Escalade Hybrid reportedly won’t feature any unique styling cues to make it stand out like a sore thumb in the road. Instead, the vehicle will feature on the subtle badging to announce its eco-consciousness.

U.S. hybrid sales last year increased 23 percent to 253,652, led by Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius car, the poster child of hybrids since its first debut in the market. Hybrids reduce fuel use and emissions by combining a gasoline engine, an electric motor, a battery pack and brakes that capture energy from stopping.

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