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Full 2013 GMC Yukon Hybrid Review
What's New for 2013
For 2013, the GMC Yukon Hybrid is essentially unchanged.
Introduction
As most any owner of a full-size, truck-based SUV can tell you, average vehicular thirst of 15 mpg or less is a sad fact of life. But it doesn't have to be that way, as the 2013 GMC Yukon Hybrid (and its Chevy Tahoe Hybrid twin) is rated at 21 mpg in combined city/highway driving. And little sacrifice is made in terms of passenger or trailer-toting capacities. Other than the hybrid powertrain, the Yukon Hybrid is functionally little different from a standard Yukon. So you still get a powerful V8, the ability to transport up to eight people and a towing capacity of up to 6,200 pounds.
To achieve this level of fuel efficiency in a near-3-ton SUV, the Yukon's 6.0-liter V8 engine is paired with a hybrid system that features two 60-kilowatt electric motors packaged within the transmission. If that sounds complex, well, that's because it is. It is essentially two transmissions inside one. For light load conditions there's a continuously variable drive unit, while a standard four-speed fixed-gear type takes over when load demands increase.
Thanks to this engineering prowess, the Yukon Hybrid can (under low-load conditions) move up to 25 mph solely under electric power, a feat that allows it to earn its impressive city fuel economy rating of 20 mpg. That's about 50 percent higher than what a standard Yukon 2WD with the 6.2-liter V8 rates (14 mpg city). Of course, all that hardware adds weight, so to minimize the gain, this GMC sports several aluminum body parts and even the front seats have been slimmed down. Sadly, the heavy and awkward-to-remove third-row seats didn't take part in the diet.
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