Hybrid is so underrated. I have always said this is the way!
The key is they have hybrids at "normal car" prices - the basic Sienna is hybrid and comparable in price to the Kia Carnival and other non hybrid minivans; and much cheaper than the plug-in hybrid Pacifica.
The basic model Sienna just doesn't actually exist anywhere for purchase.
From the article: "In the U.S., hybrid demand significantly exceeds production capacity, leading to tight inventories at dealerships, Miyazaki said."
I'll further my point about hybrid being such a low-hanging, realistic solution.
The core technology has been there since the late 90s. Every single major manufacture can quickly produce them. This doesn't have to be just daily family cars, the luxury market (Ferrari) and the 4x4 segment can also take advantage of this. There is already a hybrid Tundra available.
Lets take London for e.g. there are about 2.5 Million cars, lets assume if all of all them were to be hybrid, you would have SIGNIFICANT reduction in fuel consumption and costs to the owners, without ANY lifestyle change. You are not giving anything up as there is something available for everyone's taste.
No range anxiety.
I seriously do not understand why governments don't take this seriously.
The reason government incentives aren’t pushing hybrids now is that government policy is driven off of idealism instead of practicality. In the ideal world, a brand new hybrid is too little too late. A 2024 hybrid will almost certainly still be operating in 2040. By then we really need to be at near-zero carbon emissions if we want to have any hope of avoiding climate catastrophe. On the other hand the status quo means people are just buying gas guzzlers since they can’t afford/can’t practically use BEV.
But you could make it so it has different size batteries installable, either by end-user or dealer.
You sell the car with a 30 mile battery, and a year or two later it pops up a note that says "for only $Z you could upgrade your battery to one that would have meant you only filled up on gas once last year".
Range anxiety? Nonexistent.
Upsell? Present.
Improved mileage and emissions? Golden.
There's nothing under-powered about the gas engine. F-150 daily drivers may cringe, but that's a cultural problem not a problem with the vehicle.
Call it a cultural problem if you want, but a F-150 is damn useful even if it is not utilized all the time. When you do need it though, it's there and ready to work. There is a reason it's the best selling car in America.
Also keep in mind that the electric tends to handle low speed movement which it's just great at (instant torque), while the gas engines tend to handle highway / steady state driving which they are just great at. And overall they are each getting less usage than if they were the only powertrain.
The reason they are efficient is something like this:
A cars engines efficiency/fuel economy is constrained by its max output. Ie when you have an engine capable of very rapid acceleration, that engine is going to be too big across all other scenarios - ie two cars of the same weight going the same speed , the one with the bigger engine will consume more fuel.
The hybrid lets you take advantage of this in two ways. First it allows you to have a smaller engine because the electric motors kick in when you need the acceleration. So it lets you get away with a smaller engine that is more than enough for your driving and that gives you efficiency.
Then it also uses the fact that even the smaller engine is still oversized for things like coasting or going steady so it uses the extra engine output to charge the battery at the right times. Regenerative breaking is another efficiency play
Curious what will happen to the battery over time but for the past few years the hybrid highlander is great.
Generally. But that bigger engine might be producing more power at a lower RPM and there might be some cases where the difference isn't as noticable.
99% of my daily local trips are under 40 miles, so short range isn't a factor.
I mean, that's just me, but for me it's a near-perfect fit.
Until batteries and chargers get better, anyway.
A full electric on the other hand, needs a very huge battery as it need to give you about 300 mile range, to cover the edge cases. That is a lot of battery weight (and expense) you are carrying around. So the tradeoff is do you want to lug around a huge battery that you will mostly not use, or lug around a gas engine that you will mostly not use? About an equal tradeoff (esp. since the gas engine only needs to be enough HP to maintain cruising speed, acceleration can be handled by the battery, or have it set up as a serial hybrid).
Personally I'd rather have the gas engine as my range extender, instead of the larger battery, since I can quickly fuel up in about 3 minutes vs. 20 - 30 at a minimum. But once battery tech improves and recharge times are in the 10 minute range, I'd say that would be the end of gas engines.
I don't think "state of the art" is the word when there's no variability or development because that is the engine style mandated by regulations for that time.
The design of most Toyota hybrids is quite simple, there are two electric motors and one gasoline engine coupled by a simple planetary gear set. This eliminates the need for a mechanical transmission -- varied wheel speed is accomplished by simply varying the relative speeds of the electric motors. Contrary to a popular misconception, there is no mechanical cone-and-belt CVT in Toyota hybrids, like people might be familiar with in other CVTs. Also, because the engine is linked to the drive motors, this eliminates the need for a starter motor. And because all of the engine accessories are electric on most Toyota hybrids (because they need to operate when the engine is off) there is no accessory belt.
These components (drive belts, transmissions, starter motors) aren't uncommon issues in ICE-only vehicles, so this does translate to improved reliability and lower maintenance.
Plug-in is where it gets interesting as you can go mostly without fillups for commutes/shopping if you have access to charging at home/work.
> Honda’s two-motor hybrid system can operate as either a series or parallel hybrid. The majority of the time, the system operates as a series hybrid. Its electric propulsion motor drives the wheels directly, while the gasoline engine connected to the electric generator/starter motor functions as an electrical generator, supplying power to the hybrid battery and/or the propulsion motor. Under certain driving conditions, such as steady-state cruising at highway speeds, the system switches seamlessly to parallel hybrid operation, with the gasoline engine connecting to the front axle via a clutch, and vehicle speed is proportional to engine speed (rpm).
Source: https://hondanews.com/en-US/honda-automobiles/releases/relea...
I don't think I've ever had an actual drive-train issue.
I did this every 6 months for my Tacoma, which was the required schedule for a new car to maintain the warranty.
I've taken my Bolt in once for a battery recall / cabin air filter in 6 years of ownership.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/01/hertz-is-selling-20000-...