Designing an effective gas/electric hybrid drivetrain is never easy. After all, that drivetrain must work perfectly no matter what it's asked to do, and coordinating the dance between internal combustion engines and electric motors takes serious computing. But it's tough to do with full-size pickups and SUVs that are expected to handle wide variations in their duties. After all, an empty pickup is a different animal than one running loaded with bricks and sand. And an SUV that's taking the kids to school and picking up groceries has different demands than one towing a cabin cruiser up over California's San Marcos Pass to Lake Cachuma. It's such a tough challenge, Toyota is rumored to be having a frustrating time engineering a version of its Hybrid Synergy Drive to fit successfully to the Tundra. But GM thinks it has the challenge licked and announced at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show late last November that it'll begin selling a hybrid version of the GMC Yukon during the 2008 model year.
GM is being coy about many details of the system. It hasn't shared the displacement of the Vortec V-8 being used, nor details about the batteries or where they've been placed within the Yukon. But we do know the Yukon Hybrid is a full hybrid in contrast with the light-hybrid GM pickups of the recent past. And we know that on the Yukon Hybrid shown during the model's debut, GM had the confidence to include a hitch receiver. We're assuming the Yukon Hybrid will come in many colors, but at heart they'll all be green.
• Developed in partnership with DaimlerChrysler and BMW
• In light-duty or city driving, it can run purely electric
• The IC engine can shut down completely for long periods of time
• The electric motor and gas engine work together in stop-and-go traffic
• In highway duty (the second mode), the gas engine uses Active Fuel Management
• Other technology includes late intake closure and adjustable cam phasing