Going from 15 mpg to 20 mpg is good news but not enough for customers to run up to the dealers to buy this oversized dinosaur.

A half size mini-Escalade, similarly equipped, could be a better idea.

Putting lipstick on a pig.

They should not sell any other kind of Escalade.
Seriously.

The $3600 "premium" for the Hybrid buys 800-900 gallons of gas.

AT 12 mpg and 15,000 miles/year the standard Escalade uses 1250 gallons per year. The Hybrid uses 750 gallons per year.
The Hybrid technology pays for itself in 20 months, and (depending on maintenance requirements) is probably financially net positive for the rest of the vehicle's service life.

The Hybrid probably has more power, too. They should take the standard Escalade off the market.

I was just thinking the same thing. The price premium is less than tax.

Lipstick on a pig? Yes. But have you seen one? Pretty hot. Pigs with lipstick I mean.

I'm no fan of the Escalade [all big vehicles are awful for cyclists like myself], but going from 15 mpg to 20 mpg results in far more savings than going from 35 mpg to 40 mpg, so I'm all for the transition.

Of course, arguing that the surcharge is breakeven in 20 months is tough with the Escalade -- I mean, nobody is buying it because they're particularly financially or environmentally conscious...

In gallons per mile, this saves ~50% more gas in gallons per mile than going from the regular civic to the civic hybrid.

I find the comments about how going from 15 mpg to 20 mpg saves more fuel than going from 35 to 40 a bit misguided. Nobody needs a vehicle this big. Rather than making the Escalade hybrid the only Escalade available, how about eliminating it altogether. Trade in the old Escalade on the upcoming Subaru Outback Diesel and go from 15 mpg to 35 mpg. Now that's a savings worth talking about. Not to mention that the Subaru is about half the price of an Escalade. Seriously, why would anyone shell out $70K for what is essentially a covered pickup truck with leather upholstery? But I digress. Check out the European car market. A vehicle this size with this size engine does not exist, period. Last I checked, they manage to get by just fine without them. I know, some people will say we should have the choice. I disagree. Some people will claim they need them because they have 6 kids. Use contraception. There is no place in the future for a truck that gets such horrible mileage.

@Healthy Breeze: "They should not sell any other kind of Escalade. Seriously... They should take the standard Escalade off the market."

Absolutely! The appropriate metric is gallons per mile (the Europeans use liters/100 km), not miles per gallon.

A part of me wants to outlaw SUV's completely, but... as a compromise I'd be willing to permit their continued manufacture, provided that:

A) they conform to a reasonable (automobile-like) pollution standard, and

B) the new models are all hybrids which deliver the performance gain that this new Escalade gets over the old one.

Finally!! Now I can trade my Prius in and get a real car. NOT!

Although, I will agree with Healthy's comment, it should kill the standard Escalade. As long as the hybrid is reliable, it would be stupid to buy the standard Escalade.

I can only hope that GM sells (people buy) these in lieu of the conventional Escalade – if GM does continue the normal model, maybe having the choice will sell MORE hybrids because they can show judgment by choosing green bling.
Going from 15 to 20 mpg IS well worth while.
We do have the choice. Fortunately Peter is not the “decider” (we know who else thinks he is).
I’m trying look at the bright side. If GM goes under we might all soon be fighting for those jobs at McDonald’s.

I agree, kill standard guzzlers and offer only hybrids for conspicuous consumption vehicles like this. It'd be nice if there were gov't incentives that put the price of the hybrid lower than the standard, if they feel they must keep making them.

GM should abandon making a couple thousand of these over priced 'pimped' & bloated Chevy's and concentrate all their resources on the Volt before it's too late.

"Some people will claim they need them because they have 6 kids. Use contraception."

LOL. Or get the Subaru, tell three kids to walk.

First off, since the hybrid comes fully loaded and you can buy a less-optioned version of the standard Escalade, I assume that one can get a non-hybrid Escalade for significantly more than $3600 off the hybrid price. Many Escalade buyers will see the (could be) $12K price difference and take a pass on the hybrid.

Second, I agree that talking about the gas saved by buying a *new* monster to replace the *old* monster misses the point. If you regularly need to transport 4-6 people, the mileage per person isn't so bad. If you're driving 30+ miles to work alone on a crowded freeway at rush hour, you're helping degrade the planet in a completely unnecessary way.

Given the discounts GM is giving on big SUV's at the moment, I hope they are including the hybrid in the discounting, if that is the case why would anyone buy a non hybrid.

If they did take the non hybrid off the production line, that would actually say a lot for GM from a green perspective, yes of course we want the Volt, but the only auto manufacturer with a hybrid only SUV will speak to some potential buyers.

If they did the same with the chevy suburban, think how many federal SUV's would radically improve their fuel consumption over the next 5 years,

They make such a huge margin on the regular model, they thought that they would throw is in at a low price. Few will buy them because few will be available.

I have heard the comments that you save more fuel with large hybrids, but you could save even more with a hybrid road grader. I still would not like people driving one of those, when a more fuel efficient vehicle would do just fine and save us all a lot of fuel.

This is good news. More HEV's like these will save GM long before any Volt will leave the car dealer's lot.

"Some people will claim they need them because they have 6 kids. Use contraception."

People have been having large families since before there were even cars. My mother-in-law's the oldest of 8, and they only had one car growing up.

But let's face it, the Escalade is one of those cars that people will buy no matter the mileage. I virtually guarantee that there will only be a few hybrids sold. If you cared about mpg, you'd buy a Prius, or an efficient sedan or maybe a Highlander hybrid. You're not going to pay an extra $3600 so you can feel good about driving your Escalade around town.