Talking about hybrids is like talking about politics. Everyone has an opinion. Some folks feel they’ll single handedly save the earth. Others believe they are a passing fad since the cost of the hybrid drive outweighs any savings from the increased fuel economy.   

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According to GM, Greenline boosts both city and highway mileage by about 20 percent over standard Vues.

As a guy who often breathes air to stay alive, I understand people who want to dwell on the green aspects of this technology. But today I’m concentrating on the economic side. Do hybrids save enough gas to pay for the extra cost of the system?

The complex formula requires Alan Greenspan’s brain. The last I heard it takes around eight years to break even in this proposition with gas at $3.00 a gallon. Mr. Greenspan would probably say the price premium needs to drop while gas prices rise.

The folks at GM have come up with an answer to the sticker shock: a light hybrid system. The Saturn Vue Greenline is outfitted with a simplified gas/electric propulsion system that commands a premium of just under $2,000. Ford’s Escape hybrid will set a buyer back by over $5,000. So out of the gate the Saturn seems promising.

Hold on though. GM’s light hybrid isn’t as advanced as the Ford, Toyota, and Honda technologies. For example, Ford and Toyotas systems can creep along using only electric power. You can’t do that with the Saturn Vue, the gas engine is always running when the car is in motion. The advantage to the GM light hybrid is that you can go eco green for less wallet green.

The Greenline’s 2.4L VVT four-cylinder gas engine has a large electric motor bolted to it that provides extra power. It’s interesting that this is an improvement in power over the 143 HP made by the 2.2-liter engine in the standard four-cylinder Vue. This gas/electric team produces 170 horsepower and 0-60 times in the slower 10 second bracket. The electric motor becomes a generator to charge a battery pack when coasting and braking.

Hybrids are famous for shutting down at stoplights to save gas and the Greenline is no different.  Lift a foot off the brake and while it’s on its way to the gas pedal, the engine restarts. The electric motor assists in acceleration adding to fuel economy.

To save buyers money, Greenline does not have a fancy LCD display in the dash that displays power routings and such. A simple “eco” light glows when driving economically. A simple gauge tells if you’re using or generating electric power. Finally, there’s a clever tachometer that has a step below 0 RPMs for the engine’s Auto Stop feature.

For extra efficiency there’s a setting that shuts down the air conditioning when the Vue is stopped. Why?  Because the engine remains running at stoplights if the AC is on.  That’s why.

A four-speed automatic does the shifting. Vue Greenline is only available as a front drive vehicle, there’s no all-wheel drive option. The suspension is set for comfort, not sport. The electric power steering provides a numb feeling. For its intended mission this is OK I suppose. Vues will seldom be pressed into autocrossing competition. Still, when doing family chores, what’s the harm of having some sharpness baked into the chassis?  

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So, how much gas is being saved? According to GM, Greenline boosts both city and highway mileage by about 20 percent over standard Vues. I averaged 26 MPG. Pretty good for what in reality is a roomy tall station wagon.

How does that compared to the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, and Toyota Highlander? The more sophisticated Toyota and Ford hybrids score up to 50 percent better in city driving over their gas only models. But remember, they cost much more. If you do mostly highway driving, the Greenline’s inexpensive light hybrid makes sense. In short you’ll have to figure out what kind of driving you do to make this decision.

Of course people don’t buy cars simply for their power train so let’s look at the rest of the rig. Vue recently received a very welcome interior redesign. Although it’s much better now, you’ll hardly mistake it for a Cadillac. There are some cheap feeling plastic parts on the center console. The window controls are mounted there and that takes some getting used to.

My tester suffered with a center console door that really didn’t want to open easily. The steering wheel doesn’t telescope and cruise control buttons are very small and hard to operate. Fortunately, there’s an iPod jack. The front passenger seat folds flat to be used as a tray or to accommodate long things like ladders.

In the back seat there’s a decent amount of room for three. As expected they split and fold to expand cargo. The seatback reclines but they don’t move back and forth to expand cargo or legroom. There’s no fold down arm rest. No headrest for the center passenger either.

Got kids? The rear upholder is mounted low so they’ll eventually annihilate it by tromping on the thing.

Moving farther back to the cargo area, Vue has a little surprise. Made of hard plastic, a pop up grocery bag corral springs from the floor. It stows away easily when not in use. In the toilet paper test Vue score well with 11 packs, two more than a Jeep Grand Cherokee. And remember, toilet paper is recyclable.

A lot of things have happened in the Saturn universe lately. Sure, they’ve kept their legendary no-dicker sticker policy, but Vue is among the last Saturns to still have plastic body panels. The redesigned Vue, due out in the spring of 2007 will have metal panels that fit much more precisely than polymer.  

GM intentionally made this hybrid system simple and affordable. In fact, friends of the earth who have their eyes on the stylish Aura sedan will be happy to know it gets a Greenline power train for a price under 23 grand this spring. Vue Greenline starts at a haggle-free $23,500 price. Saturn crows it’s the cheapest hybrid SUV on the market.

These days fuel prices are low and it will take years to start recouping the extra cost of the gas/electric drive. Maybe Allen Greenspan would advise against it purely on a financial basis, but it always good to be nice to Mother Nature. Vue Greenline is an economical and ecological way to get people and stuff down the highway.