In a world where every consumer and every manufacturer wants to be seen as “green,” it’s important for us to take a step back and define what “green” really means.   According to Merriam-Webster, green is: “relating to or being an environmentalist movement; concerned with or supporting environmentalism; tending to preserve environmental quality.”  Notice the definition doesn’t use the word perceived anywhere.  That’s something to keep in mind as you consider this vehicle.

Cadillac, like its sister divisions GMC and Chevrolet, is trying to buck up its enviro credentials by being “the first” to market with a full-size hybrid SUV.  Sounds a little oxymoronic, doesn’t it?  Yes, the Escalade hybrid is a 6,000-lb., 202-in. long land yacht, but that’s what makes it an ideal candidate for hybridization, GM executives contend.  They say that injecting hybrid technology into a vehicle this gargantuan will result in significantly better fuel economy benefits than putting hybrid technology in a diminutive Chevrolet Aveo, for instance.  That may be true, but let’s not forget that last year Cadillac sold 39,710 Escalades of all types (standard, ESV and EXT) but Chevy sold 55,360 Aveos, so there is something to be said for getting more hybrids in the market.  And while it is a good thing that the hybrid achieves better fuel economy numbers than the   gasoline-powered Escalade’s 12 mpg city and 19 mpg highway, given that base, it isn’t all that laudable.

The Escalade uses GM’s two-mode hybrid technology—an electrically variable automatic transmission and a 300-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery pack—along with the V8 engine’s active fuel management system that switches between 4- and 8-cylinders, depending on operating conditions, to improve fuel economy while providing a towing capacity of 5,800 lb.  The battery holds enough energy to propel the Escalade at speeds up to 25 mph without the engine operating.

All of these technologies are supposed to help boost the Escalade’s fuel economy to 20 city and 21 highway, but that’s not what I experienced.  On a 376-mile drive, which consisted mostly of highway driving on I-75 through Michigan and Ohio, traveling at an average speed of around 70 mph, I achieved an average fuel economy rating of 18 mpg, which was on par with the gasoline-powered model and far off from the 21 rating posted on the sticker.  A pitiful performance when you consider the vehicle as Driven carried a total price of $74,235—more than $11,000 over the base price of an all-wheel-drive gas-powered Escalade. 

Yes, Cadillac has graced this SUV with an opulent interior that’s among the most blinged out you’re likely to find anywhere, and its modern styling does stand out from the crowd.  And it wears “hybrid” like a badge of ostentation: the word appears on   decals that cover the bottom portion of the doors, along with others located on the windshield and rear glass, in addition to chromed badges on the port holes.  Even Mr. Magoo could I.D. it as a hybrid.  But for all that, it that doesn’t make up for the fact that in the real world it completely lacks green cred.

In this case, perception isn’t reality.