Junkyard Find: 2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
After months of seeing only 20th century vehicles in this series, a car from our current century was last week's Junkyard Find. We'll remain in the 21st century this week, with a very rare example of one of GM's early attempts to sell hybrid-electric cars.
The first mass-produced hybrid-electric car sold in the United States was the 2000 Honda Insight, joined in the following year by the Toyota Prius.
Toyota and Honda remained the only carmakers selling new hybrids here until Ford introduced the Escape Hybrid as a 2005 model (unless you count the no-regenerative-braking 2004 Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra Hybrid, which I don't). GM got serious about its hybrid game for the 2007 model year, when the Saturn Vue Green Line hit showrooms.
In recent years, I've been making an effort to find discarded examples of early hybrid efforts that have faded from our memories. Some standouts include the 2007-2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid, the 2013-2016 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid and the 2011-2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 7.
The Malibu Hybrid was introduced for the 2008 model year, with retail sales continuing through 2009. Fleet-only sales continued for a while after that.
According to the Department of Energy, 4,162 Malibu Hybrids were sold for the 2008 and 2009 model years. I found this car in Northern California, as you'd expect.
As we can see from the graph of GM's U.S.-market hybrid-electric vehicle sales for 2007 through 2019, the Malibu Hybrid was discontinued and revived multiple times over three generations.
Our reviewer liked this generation of Malibu — the eighth since the Malibu name began life as a Chevelle trim level for 1964 — well enough.
However, the "mild hybrid" powertrain (which replaced the starter motor and alternator with a belt-driven motor/generator that made just five horsepower and 48 pound-feet) offered neither exceptional fuel economy nor a pleasant driving experience.
Fuel economy for this car was rated at 26 mpg city, 34 highway; the Ecotec-only version with 6-speed automatic (there was also an available 4-speed automatic) got 22 mpg city, 33 highway.
However, the purchase price of a 2009 Malibu Hybrid wasn't a huge jump over the cost of its gasoline-only sibling; $26,040 versus $23,920 (about $38,823 and $35,663 in 2024 dollars). If you did a lot of city driving, fuel savings would pay for the cost difference fairly quickly (though not as quickly as with the 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid).
The official vehicle of the Canadian Olympic Team.
From Fairfax Assembly directly to California's redwood forests.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid in California wrecking yard.
[Images: The Author]
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Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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RIP Malibu - 1964-2004
No computer screen tacked onto the instrument panel. All tactile controls. Was this among the last generation of primarily 'mechanical' vehicles?