My Hybrid Vehicle Shopping Experience
It’s been a while since I wrote about hybrid vehicles. Too long – I need to update my readers.
Back in May or June, I test-drove a Ford Escape Hybrid. This is a small SUV – about the size of a RAV4 or so. It’s a hybrid, so the engine does stop at stop signs and such. I drove it on a rainy day with reasonable temperatures (actually a little cool).
I discovered that it’s small. Really small. Like – if you have the back seat up there’s barely enough room behind it for groceries. I also found it underpowered – when getting onto I-95 I floored it. The engine revved up extremely loudly and at a high pitch and it still was lacking in “safe merging onto an NJ highway” power. We headed back and I discovered that the wait for an order was 6 weeks. I left – this was not the vehicle for me.
I had been planning to look at the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, but at the time I was told that the local dealers wouldn’t have any available THIS YEAR unless I already had a deposit down.
Flash forward to a few weeks ago. I checked again with Team Toyota in Langhorne, PA. They listed 5 in stock on their website (actually, some were reserved already). I set up an appointment for last Monday to take a test drive with my wife. She would come out to Langhorne from home and meet me at work.
We got there about 5:00pm. It took a few minutes to find the Internet salesman. After talking for a few minutes, he went out and got the one Highlander Hybrid 4WD that they had.
Only one was actually available and it wasn’t a configuration that I wanted (white, no navigation system). I test drove that one.
The test drive was in light/moderate rain (better than the downpours we had earlier in the day). The salesman went and got it from the lot and only took 60 seconds or so from the time I saw him disappear to when he pulled up
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I noticed that acceleration was smoother than I’ve ever felt in any car – no power/acceleration drops for shifts. It felt almost linear. Braking had the usual new car grab to it. The display showed that it was taking power to the battery, but I couldn’t feel it. It rained hard enough that I couldn’t hear the engine starting or stopping – it was really quiet.
When we entered the highway I intentionally floored it. It has more pickup than my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee V6 and I actually had to back off to avoid running into somebody in traffic. The engine wound way up when I floored it, but it was just audible – in the Ford Escape the same noise was overpowering.
So, it drove like my Jeep but a bit better – more car-like if anything. I had already determined that the interior/exterior/features were to my liking from an earlier test drive of a non-hybrid Highlander.
I bought the HH 4WD-i Ltd with Nav. The accessories on this one include port-added floor mats. I got it in Silver with Ash interior. I will be paying MSRP minus a $200 savings coupon on the dealer’s website (to their chagrin they agreed to honor it). Because I’m a Tier 1 Plus credit risk, they agreed to match my credit union’s 5.5% for 60 months.
The vehicle is scheduled to arrive early next week and I should be able to pick it up about 24 hours later. The Jeep is being traded in.
The Highlander Hybrid has a “Hybrid Synergy Drive”. The engine is connected via a Continously Variable Transmission (no gear shifts) to the front wheels, and also to a generator for the batteries. There are also two electric drive motors on the front wheels and one for the rear axle (making it a 4WD). The computer figures out whether or not the engine is required and what RPM to run it at and where to get the power from. Extra power from the engine or power generated by braking is routed back to the battery, and when the engine is off or additional power is needed, it is supplied from the battery. It will drive as fast as 25MPH on just the battery, and the engine shuts off at stops or long downhill stretches.
More later when I actually have the vehicle.
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