LA 2007: Live Blogging the Green Car of the Year award
We're here at the Los Angeles Auto Show for the announcement of the 2007 Green Car of the Year. Three of the five finalists for this year's prize originate from within the halls of General Motors with the other two coming from Nissan and Mazda. The Two-Mode Chevy Tahoe hybrid, the Saturn Aura hybrid, the Chevy Malibu hybrid, Nissan Altima and Mazda Tribute hybrid are all lined up here.
The show starts in about five minutes and apparently the Governator is supposed to be part of the event. Keep following the live coverage after the jump.
The Malibu and Aura seem like unlikely candidates for victory due to their mild hybrid systems and the Tribute is a re-badged Escape hybrid. The leaves the Altima and Tahoe as best bets. I'm guessing it will be the Tahoe because of the innovative Two-Mode hybrid system.
The show is now beginning. This is the third annual award and Ron Cogan of Green Car Journal is now on stage. He is talking about the increasing awareness of efficiency as gas prices continue to climb. To qualify for the award the nominees have to be available by Jan. 1While PHEVs and BEVs are great they aren't readily available and affordable. The focus for this award is vehicles that can make a real impact today.
Carol Pope, Jean Michel Cousteau, Jay Leno, Carrol Shelby and others joined Green Car Journal editors in choosing the award winner.
And the winner is....
The 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-15-2007 @ 1:40PM
Throwback said...
Let the whining begin!
Reply
11-15-2007 @ 1:54PM
MikeW said...
Does it have a spare wheel?
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11-15-2007 @ 4:02PM
John said...
Great job GM!! Keep up the good job.
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11-16-2007 @ 10:01AM
Pete said...
I'm still waiting for the hippies to bitch...
Reply
11-16-2007 @ 11:02PM
Chris M said...
Ironic that the greenest car by far at the LA show was carefully omitted from this contest, and not even mentioned. Of course, the Big Auto companies would rather that we forget about Tesla Motors and all those other pesky electric startups...
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 8:58AM
Sam Abuelsamid said...
Chris, You apparently the missed the part about qualifying vehicles having to be available and delivered by Jan. 1 which won't be the case for the Tesla. Believe me no one is ignoring it, it just didn't qualify for this year. It may well be the winner next year.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:28PM
Brak said...
I hope the losers running G.M. see more of the same success they've experienced this year. This giant turd on wheels is a prime example of what makes most of the world laugh at American cars. OK, it's not a car. What and who exactly is this gem designed for?
What are the specs that won it this laughable award?
I'm sure it's great for making all those tiny women feel safer while talking the their cell phones as they drive 6000 lbs to pick up little Jimmy from soccer or to haul home that sack of groceries.
Bravo G.M., give an earth mover leather seats and pimped out rims and cheesy American buyers will run to the dealers offering cash back incentives to offset the fuel cost. I don't care if it runs on recycled rednecks, it's still wasteful and irresponsible to sell these to witless consumers.
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11-19-2007 @ 9:37AM
MarvyMarv said...
"Insecure and vain... nervous about their marriages... self-centered and
self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors or communities."
-- GM internal marketing profile of SUV drivers,
according to the book "50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know"
I see GM is still using the same marketing people.
Reply