Jay Leno Explains the Tahoe Hybrid

When it comes to cars, Jay Leno has become the celebrity expert. So much so he was recently asked to vote on the Green Car of the Year, a vote he placed for the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. Since then, he's been defending his position. His latest defense comes from the UK (Source: Motormouth: Jay Leno - Times Online)

The basic difference between England and America is size. For instance, in England your "jumbo king super-large" beverage is our small. So there’s nothing funnier to me than when English people come to America and we say: "Would you like something to drink?"

And they say: "Yes." "Would you like a large?" we say. "Yes . . . I’m quite thirsty," they say, and they get a 44oz tub that they could bathe in!

He goes on to say Americans are afraid they will be forced into tiny vehicles. That they will be forced to live so frugally they must turn their thermostats down to 52 and only watch 20 minutes of TV a day (I wonder which 20 minutes Jay wants you to watch?) and so on... It's quite amazing how he sees the two sides of America.

Most Americans don’t want to live like that. Most Americans want to continue to live the way they always lived and if possible do it more economically.

I don't have an issue with the way Jay voted. The nominees for the 2008 Green Car of the Year Award were restricted by their 'newness.' Given that criteria, and the list of nominees, the Tahoe was probably the best choice he could make. But his depiction of Americans is kind of pathetic. I'm probably making too much of it, since he's probably just trying to be funny, but it did bother me.

He goes on to say the Volt (or vehicles like it) will take over for hybrids.

I think all hybrids are stopgap measures because manufacturers are forced to make two power trains and they’re expensive and nobody discusses the energy involved in making some of these hybrids with the batteries and the power trains and all that sort of stuff.

But that doesn't really make sense to me, since a Volt has two powertrains and is more expensive than non plug-in hybrids. The advantage the Volt (and other plug-ins that will be coming) is they move the power source from the pump onto the electric grid. Our oil dependence will be lessened and if we upgrade the laws governing how that electricity is produced, we will all be better off.