Saturn to have lowest-priced hybrid SUV

Saturn adds a new twist to the gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle debate this summer when its first hybrid debuts.

The 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line sport utility vehicle offers improved fuel economy over gas-only Vues and yet carries the lowest starting price of any hybrid SUV in the U.S. market.

Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $22,995 for a Vue Green Line is some $4,500 less than the MSRP, including destination charge, of $27,515 for the previous lowest-priced gas-electric hybrid SUV in the United States -- the five-passenger, 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid.

It's also some $3,200 less than the lower, $26,240 starting price for the 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid, which Ford has already announced.

Toyota, whose gas-electric hybrid vehicles are the best sellers in the country, has more premium-priced gas-electric SUVs.

But note that Toyota as well as Honda offer five-passenger hybrid cars -- 2006 Toyota Prius and Honda Civic -- that undercut by a few hundred dollars the Saturn Vue Green Line's starting prices.

In addition, the Vue Green Line is $3,300 more than a comparable, four-cylinder-powered gas-only Vue.

The Vue Green Line comes with front-wheel drive, four-cylinder engine that burns regular gasoline, seating for five and four-speed automatic transmission.

On the outside, most observers won't see the subtle front air dam styling updates that differentiate the Vue Green Line from other Vues. They're more likely to notice the new, hybrid badge that's on this Vue.

Overall, though, the Vue Green Line has the same pleasant, mainstream styling of all five-door Vue compact SUVs.

The vehicle looks pretty normal inside, too. While a new indicator tells when the electric power is being charged or is being used to assist the gas engine, there's no central graphic display on the dashboard showing the hybrid system at work, the way there is inside a Toyota hybrid.

And there's no bar chart in a display on the dashboard to show a driver how his or her driving is affecting fuel economy, the way there is inside Ford's Escape.

Indeed, because the Vue Green Line is based on an aging Vue SUV, with its old electronics communications "bus," drivers of the Green Line don't even have an onboard computer telling them the fuel mileage they're getting.

They must figure this out for themselves -- say, at the gas station when they fill the tank. They then can manually divide the gallons it took to refill the tank into the miles that they traveled on the previous tank and discover what mileage they got.

It's not a sophisticated system especially considering that the majority of American hybrid buyers purchase their vehicles to boost their fuel mileage and want to readily see the mileage they're getting as they travel.

Additionally, it seems odd that a hybrid, considered high-tech, doesn't include an on-board computer for fuel mileage when so many other, nonhybrid vehicles do.

Saturn officials did add an "Eco" light in the instrument cluster that goes on whenever the system detects that the vehicle at that moment is getting more than the government "average fuel economy ratings." But this appears to be vacuum-operated, not computer-calculated, and comes on at predictable times -- whenever a driver lets off the gas and is coasting, for example.

All this has nothing to do with how the Vue Green Line rides and operates, however.

Like all Vues, the ride is rather pleasing and not at all bouncy or truck-like. Some rough road bumps come through to passengers and are noisy, but most are well-managed by the suspension.

Passengers have a high ride height for good views all around.

There are some road sounds that come through via the tires and a bit of wind noise at highway speeds.

The hybrid system in the Vue is much simpler than the one used by Toyota and Ford, which explains why the pricing can be set where it is.

Final government ratings haven't been posted. But Saturn estimates 27 miles a gallon in city driving and 32 mpg on the highway, for a combined 29.5-mpg rating.

This is 5.5 mpg more than a gas-only, four-cylinder Vue with automatic, for a 23 percent fuel economy improvement.