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Test Drive: 2009 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Hybrid car review; How green is my bling?

The first question everyone asks about the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid is “What’s the gas mileage?” We’ll tell you what the EPA says it should be and we’ll tell you what we recorded…but not right here. First we’re going tell you about what makes Cadillac’s big green bling different from other Cadillac Escalades. And no fair skipping ahead.

 

The 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid joins General Motors models, the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid, already in progress, and the new 2009 Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid, along with the Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid, in using the two-mode system. As we’ve noted in other reviews, the two-mode hybrid system uses two strong electric motors built into a four-speed automatic transmission, combining an “auto stop”—the engine shutting down as the vehicle stops—with full-electric operation at low speed, and shut-down of four of it’s eight cylinders at light throttle with its “Atkinson-cycle” (delayed intake valve closing) 6.0-liter V-8 engine that has several other modifications to increase fuel economy without limiting performance. The engine is rated at 332 horsepower and 367 lb-ft of torque on regular unleaded gas.

 

The Escalade Hybrid is also equipped with regenerative braking, and power-saving electric power steering. It also has an electrically-powered air-conditioning condenser so the a/c can function even when the engine is in shutdown mode.

 

The Escalade Hybrid is, then, a multi-faceted threat.

 

That the electric motors do much of the pulling at low speeds required no further proof than listening. Even if not alerted otherwise by the nine badges and decals on the outside of the Escalade proclaiming that it is indeed a hybrid, passengers will notice the siren-like whistling of the hybrid transmission at work. Press harder on the throttle and the pitch rises. Back off and it falls. Practice long enough and you’ll be able to play Yankee Doodle on the trombone…or Theremin (think Beach Boys, Good Vibrations)…or the Escalade Hybrid.

 

A very slight judder can sometimes be felt when the gasoline engine starts and engages the transmission, and when the engine goes to auto stop mode, such as when coming to slow speed driving in a parking lot or side road, there’s no indication to passengers unless the schematic is showing on the LCD screen on the center stack. The same applies to switching between eight-cylinder and four-cylinder mode at highway cruising speeds.

 

We found it possible to drive to about twenty miles per hour, which meant after turning off the “main road” onto the neighborhood streets to our home was always done on battery power alone, which means that drivers must be extra alert. The Escalade can sneak up on unsuspecting pedestrians like an orca on a baby seal.

 

The proportions are just about the same, too. The Escalade is big and it feels the part, more so than the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid we recently drove, perhaps in part from its squared-off body work taking the edges out further. After driving the typical automobile, climbing into the drivers seat—made easier by the optional equipment retractable running boards—one is impressed by how much of the road, including the lane markers on either side, are swallowed up by the hood. Placing the Escalade in its lane becomes easier with practice, but the first minutes of anxiety ca be really long if they’re in traffic. Pulling into parking spaces never stopped be intimidating as docking a Great Lakes iron ore boat in your bathtub.

 

Interior volumes don’t seem match the exterior dimensions, however. Although the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid has three rows of seats, the last row is low to the floor. It’s not because of the hybrid’s 300-watt battery pack, which actually resides under the middle row seat. And indeed, both second and third rows fold flat for easy cargo loading. But that volume falls short of what one might expect, and with all three rows in use, there’s room for about five traditional paper bags of groceries behind the third row seat. And always make it “paper.” Plastic bags will tumble out when the power liftgate is opened, regardless of gymnastics used to get under it before the groceries fall out.

 

Otherwise the Escalade Hybrid is part of the General Motors renaissance and if the Escalade’s interior is any measure, good things are happening. The quality of the interior matches or exceeds anything in its price class. Front-row seats are thrones, soft touch surfaces abound even in places not usually touched.

 

Cadillac decided to max out the option list with the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. And why not? The “base level” Escalade weighs in at $61,935. Our 2009 Escalade 4WD Hybrid was priced at $73,285 before the retractable running board ($1,096). That includes 14-way power front seats with heated and cooled cushions and backrests, leather seating for all three rows, navigation system, Bose audio, tri-zone climate control, HID headlights, rainsense wipers with heated washer fluid, stability system and much more. The Escalade Hybrid also comes with a heavy duty trailering package (able to tow 5,600 lbs with four-wheel drive) and 22-inch chromed aluminum wheels. With $950 for delivery, our test 2009 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Hybrid had an MSRP of $75,330.

 

Still, that doesn’t answer the question: What’s the blinkin’ fuel mileage? At 6,016 lbs curb weight, the 2009 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Hybrid is too heavy for EPA estimates. But a conventionally-powered 2008 Escalade with 403 horsepower we drove recently netted an overall fuel mileage of 15.0 mpg in all-around use. We recorded 13.5 mpg with a 2007 model. So what did we get with the 2009 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Hybrid? Drumroll, please. We saw 16.8 mpg overall in a week’s worth of mixed general driving.

 

That bling’s not particularly green, compared to, say, a Chevrolet Aveo. But it is a significant improvement, up 25 percent from 2007 and more than ten percent over the 2008 we drove. So for those who have already decided on an Escalade, paying another $11,000 for a slightly greener conscience might be worth the price. The savings in fuel costs certainly won’t make up the added purchase price.

 

 But there you go and now you know: it's 16.8 mpg with us driving. And as they say, your mileage may vary.