New for 2009 is the first hybrid full-size pickup. GM’s Silverado and Sierra Hybrids are dual-fuel, meaning they run on regular gas or electricity.
It’s a slick system. Their battery pack is under the back seat and because it recharges the battery using the energy you create when you brake the truck, you don’t have to plug it in.
The hybid delivers about 25-percent improved overall fuel economy. You can take off and run on the GM Hybrid truck’s electric power to about 40 km/h, even when towing something. When you get to that speed, the 6.0L V-8 gas engine kicks in, with transmission gears returning to a traditional shifting pattern.
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Remember too that with both the hybrid and regular GM trucks, the gas engine saves fuel by running on 4, 6 or 8 cylinders, depending on how much power the truck requires for the job.
It was January when I drove this truck and I immediately noticed that until it warmed up, it ran on the fuel. We don’t have a garage for our pickup and we do mostly short drives in a rush — go feed the heifers, drop off someone at the dairy barn, pick up a part from the shop and race back to the chicken barn to turn on the feed or home to our office. If the truck sat in electrical mode, after a while the fuel engine would start up until it was warm enough again for the electrical to take back over.
Up to about 40 km/h maximum the electrical system ran the truck. That might work in city driving but I go faster than that down my lane. Also, the V-8 engine kicked in when going up hills. During heavy acceleration both the engine and the hybrid electric motors supply power.
Personally, I didn’t feel the shifts between electric and gas power. It was seamless. During the spring, I’m not sure the electrical system would get used at all, except in reverse which is always electrically driven. Maybe I should slow down a little.
The hybrid drove like a car. This pickup has specifically tuned shocks and a new hydraulic body mount. It was so quiet that when I stopped I thought for a moment that the truck had stalled. It’s really quiet starting too. That was nice first thing in the morning. The battery has an eight-year warranty and you can’t run the truck without it.
For a half-ton, it didn’t shrink away from towing. We put a cattle trailer on it and hauled nine heifers back to the dairy barn and it ran electrical at the lower speed. The load set the back springs down but the truck handled it surprisingly well for a half-ton.
The hybrids only come with four-doors (crew cab) and a short box — about 70 inches. To put a big square bale in we put down the tailgate but a big round bale would fit in. It has a maximum payload of about 1,400 lbs.
It doesn’t matter how smooth it is, if you’re going to pay a premium for the hybrid you have to save gas. Fuel efficiency rating in the city is 27 miles to the gallon and 29 miles to the gallon on the highway. On one of the gauges is a reading of what system you’re operating in and the fuel efficiency.
The premium you’d pay for a hybrid system on a 4WD work truck package Silverado is about $5,500. GM calculates that driving a hybrid Silverado 2WD with a 6.0L engine can save $2,790 over five years, assuming you travel 15,000 miles in a year at 22 miles to the gallon, compared to the same truck non-hybrid.
