Should Tahoe Hybrids be allowed to park in the hybrid parking stalls at Ikea?

[Hersbird]

That is the beauty of this forum, ecomoding works on everything!

[redpoint5]

The special parking spots shouldn't exist in the first place. What does a hybrid have to do with the occupants ability to walk further distances to the entrance?

That said, it is not illegal to park in hybrid, senior, veteran, or take-out parking spots. However, since it is private property, the owners may have the vehicles towed for failure to comply with their rules for parking.

That reminds me, I took advantage of many senior perks when I was a senior in high school. Most businesses were willing to give me the senior discount after I explained how I was a senior.

[kYLEMtnCRUZr]

Only if the majority of it's seats are filled.

[UltArc]

It's a hybrid. Is a rabbit that helps someone process PTSD less of a service animal than a seeing eye dog?

[Vman455]

Look at it this way:

Over the course of 100,000 miles, a Tahoe hybrid at 21mpg (combined) will save 1121 gallons of gasoline versus a conventional Tahoe at 17mpg. A Civic hybrid at 44mpg saves 853 gallons versus a conventional 32mpg Civic. If a person is going to drive a big SUV anyway, there is a greater impact overall if it's a hybrid than if the person driving a small car switches to a small hybrid.

In a perfect world, only people utilizing the extra capacity of a large vehicle all the time would drive one. In a reality where this does not happen, anything that mitigates the impact of these vehicles should be encouraged.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Vman455

...anything that mitigates the impact of these vehicles should be encouraged.

Anything?

Isn't saving enormous sums of money on fuel incentive enough?

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by kYLEMtnCRUZr

Only if the majority of it's seats are filled.

Motor cycles?
As long as they dont have a side car.
Or how about a half ton suburban towing a loaded18 foot trailer with a GVW of 16,000lb?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by mechman600

Should they be allowed because they are at least trying a bit, or is the whole idea of a Tahoe hybrid purely ridiculous to begin with?

I disagree with the way the Tahoe hybrid was conceived, it sounds kinda odd that the "greenest" version had the biggest engine, but if it's hybrid it still qualifies to the parking spots as much as a stereotypical small hybrid.

[The Other Andy]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

A spade is a spade so it gets to park in the spot , embarrassingly , with its shameless 20/23 mpg city/highway mileage.

Let's look at this from a different perspective. My Taurus is rated 18/25 according to fueleconomy.gov. We're talking about a smaller, lighter, more aerodynamic 5 passenger sedan. With the amount of city driving I'm doing as of late, I'd probably save a bunch of gas with a Tahoe hybrid. Heck, despite the EPA rating I'm willing to bet I could pull similar or even better numbers out of that Tahoe on the highway than I can with the Taurus.

We could even go more modern and do this. A 2013 V6 Camry (2013 is when the Tahoe hybrid was discontinued) is rated 21 mpg in the city. We're talking about a 1mpg difference between a lightweight, aerodynamic 5-passenger sedan and a 7-passenger brick.

Granted, moving up to a more comparable model year adjusts the highway mileage to put the sedan far ahead at 31. But the sedan doesn't seat seven, and we're still comparing apples to watermelons.

My point is, the Chevy does pretty damn well for what it is. Sure, they went nuts with the Hybrid stickers. But it does what it's supposed to; it massively improves fuel economy. Is improving the fuel economy of a thirsty, popular SUV less important than improving the fuel economy of a Corolla? GM could, and has, put a bunch of effort into smaller hybrid/gas vehicles. But rather than only do that (looking at you Japanese automakers), they've put effort into practically every vehicle across the board, including trucks and SUVs.

Hell, they should be praised for this.

There are far better vehicles to spend time hating. Toyota, for instance, that automaker so often heralded as a champion of fuel economy, makes this pig:
2014 Toyota Sequoia 2WD, 5.7L 8 Cylinder: 13/17

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by The Other Andy

... But rather than only do that (looking at you Japanese automakers), they've put effort into practically every vehicle across the board, including trucks and SUVs....

Compare Side-by-Side

Highlander- 27/28/28
Pathfinder- 25/28/26
RX 450h- 32/28/30
QX60- 26/28/26

Honda is the only one without a hybrid SUV.

Not tit for tat, since these are all 2014s vs the Tahoe, but Japan is still doing hybrid SUVs.