NEW CHEVY MALIBU HYBRID - GOOD AND BAD

The largest mainstream gas-electric hybrid car on the U.S. market isn't a Toyota or a Honda.

It's the new-for-2008, family-size Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, which stretches 16 feet from bumper to bumper, has a roomy, midsize sedan trunk and carries more than 16 gallons of gasoline.

Best of all, the five-passenger Malibu Hybrid offers the top fuel economy of all Malibus – a federal government rating of 24 miles per gallon in city driving and 32 mpg on the highway.

The hybrid car with a larger exterior is the 2008 Lexus LS 600h L, but at more than $104,000, the LS 600h L luxury sedan is hardly "mainstream."

In contrast, Chevrolet's hybrid version of Malibu has a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $24,290. Unfortunately, today's MSRP, plus destination charge, for the Malibu Hybrid – already increased from the original $22,790 starting price – no longer makes the Malibu Hybrid the lowest-priced gas-electric hybrid on the market as officials at Chevrolet's parent company, General Motors Corp., had hoped.

Both the 2008 Toyota Prius, which starts at $23,135, and 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid, which starts at $23,235, have starting retail prices that are lower than that of the Malibu Hybrid.

Add in early delays in getting appreciable numbers of Malibu Hybrids out to dealers – caused in part by leaking nickel-metal-hydride battery packs on earlier GM hybrid vehicles – and the fact the Malibu Hybrid doesn't have all the hybrid features of Toyota and Honda vehicles, and you can see why Malibu Hybrids didn't exactly start out as a hot seller.

The leaking battery pack was "a battery supplier issue," according to Chevrolet spokeswoman Nancy Libby, and has been corrected.

But because new battery packs had to be diverted for installation in Saturn Vue and Aura hybrids with the problem, Malibu Hybrid production for the 2008 model year did not crank up for the numbers planned.

The test hybrid had the clean, pleasing looks of all 2008 Malibus. Styling inside and out is modern, without being gimmicky. On the outside, the only thing that noticeably distinguishes the hybrid model from nonhybrid Malibus is the hybrid badging.

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