NOTE: Pricing based on data collected March 2011. Costs of hybridization and forced features are UCS estimates based on information available on manufacturer websites.
* Silverado XFE
**The cost of the aluminum wheels is included in the cost of hybridization.
See full Hybrid Scorecard methodology
Vehicle Summary
General Motors introduced the two-wheel-drive (2WD) Chevy Silverado Hybrid in model year 2009. The full-size pickup gets a combined EPA estimated fuel economy of 21 miles per gallon (mpg), making it and its twin, the GMC Sierra 2WD, the most efficient vehicles in the standard-size pickup class. The Chevy Silverado Hybrid and the GMC Sierra Hybrid are the only hybrid pickup trucks currently available on the market. The Silverado Hybrid 2WD is a full hybrid, offering electric-only operation under certain conditions, idle stop/start, power assist, and regenerative braking.
Environmental Improvement Score
With a 14 percent reduction in global warming emissions compared with the conventional Silverado 2WD, the Silverado Hybrid 2WD is toward the bottom of the overall hybrid pack. To compare the hybrid system on as level a playing field as possible, we compared the Silverado Hybrid 2WD with the conventional Silverado equipped with a 5.3-liter V8 engine and six-speed transmission, which is the XFE model. The conventional Silverado comes with a smaller 4.8-liter V8 option as well. Despite modifications to improve its efficiency, the upsized gasoline engine (6.0-liter V8) gives the Silverado Hybrid 2WD more peak horsepower and peak torque, making it a “muscle” hybrid. Using the more common 5.3-liter V8 engine would have delivered better fuel economy, though it may have compromised towing capacity. The Silverado Hybrid 2WD’s impressive two-mode, full hybrid drivetrain could have been used to bring far more to the table as the first full-sized hybrid pickup truck.
A poorly performing tailpipe emissions-control system compromises the smog-forming emissions performance of the Silverado Hybrid 2WD, earning it an EPA air pollution score of 6 out of 10, the lowest among all hybrid vehicles. This score, combined with the global warming emissions reduction, give the Silverado Hybrid 2WD an overall Environmental Improvement Score of 3.7. Hybrid technology and modern emissions control systems offer the unique quality of providing a “no compromise” vehicle that does not trade smog-forming emissions for global warming emissions, and vice versa. The Environmental Improvement Score of the Silverado Hybrid 2WD could be greatly improved if GM focused two-mode hybrid technology on maximizing fuel economy, and made an effort toward reducing smog-forming emissions akin to other hybrid manufacturers.
Scorecard Environmental Improvement Score methodology
Hybrid Value
GM is charging about $5,000 for the hybrid system in the Silverado Hybrid 2WD. With a 14 percent reduction in global warming emissions, this gives the Silverado Hybrid 2WD a Hybrid Value rating in the “Very Poor” range. We should note that hybrid drivetrain technology often becomes more expensive when it needs to be upsized for larger vehicles. However, its twin, the GMC Sierra Hybrid 2WD, has a hybrid system that is about $1,000 cheaper despite the fact that the two vehicles utilize the same technology.
Scorecard Hybrid Value methodology
Forced Features
GM does not add any additional features to the Silverado Hybrid 2WD beyond those on the Silverado 2WD XFE that we used as our comparison model, giving the Silverado Hybrid 2WD a Forced Features rating of “None.” Note that while the conventional Silverado 2WD XFE is the version with the most modest option package while also having horsepower and torque comparable to the hybrid drivetrain, another conventional model—the Silverado 2WD WT—comes with fewer options than the Silverado Hybrid 2WD. Even so, the fact that the Silverado Hybrid 2WD is not loaded with large amounts of forced features is evidence that GM has the potential to bring more cost-effective choices to pickup consumers.
Scorecard Forced Features methodology
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Additional Info
Visit the Who’s Got Hybrids section to read comments and stories from actual hybrid owners.
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