It looks as though the lowest price hybrid with AWD or 4WD is the Ford Escape hybrid. Not cheap, $33k new. My sister was here a couple weeks ago and was getting to like my Prius. They live in snow country and like to go up skiing and depend on 4WD (AWD would be fine). She asked if there are AWD hybrids. Best answer I could give is the Escape. HiHy and RX400h are really expensive and they don't like expensive cars. Would be nice if Toyota could make an AWD version of Prius v for all those folks in slippery snow areas. Apparently the Lexus just uses electric motors to power the rear wheels. No need to run mechanical drive line to rear. Did I miss something?
Our Lexus RX-400h is awd ... if you call it that. The rear wheels have no connection to the fwd. Iow, the rear wheels are just driven by the rear electric motor. It only provides power at low speeds or when you demand harder acceleration. But like you say ... they aint cheep. It's cousin the hyhi also comes in awd, configured in the same manner. EPA's around 30mpg.
Toyota Highlander Hybrid, tow capacity, third row, AWD. It's $38k or something. The thing is realistically AWD in modern vehicles is a waste of weight and money for virtually everybody. I've had AWD vehicles before and they are nice in the middle of a snow storm, otherwise you're just carting around that extra drivetrain mass (and its price) when you don't need to be. This must be a bit of a squeeze point for Subaru which has AWD in everything. Its base imprezza is $19k. Compare to a similarly equipped but-no-AWD competitor, it's a couple thousand bucks more.
When I lived where it snowed 10 months of the year, a Subaru Forester made a great deal of sense. Now that I live in Mississippi, I drive a Prius.
Model X? Can't think of any cars that would fit the bill, and apart from the RX400/450h I can't even THINK of any that are on the market here (including the ones you mentioned: not sold here I think...) There's a Peugeot coming, but they aim more for the European market, as they are diesel-hybrids. I wouldn't mind one to replace my Volvo V70 AWD...
They live near Boulder CO and like to go up skiing. They don't take their Camry up their but instead a 4WD Tacoma which drinks plenty of gas. Maybe a Subaru Outback would be the best alternative. Saw a lot Subies while there. btw, the AWD HiHy costs almost as much as the RX AWD hybrid.
As I have said in these Droups several times, I WANT AN AWD PRIUS! We will need to get a new car sooner or later and the ONLY AWD car that gets about 30 MPG at a reasonable cost is a Subaru (We have a 1996 Outback and it is great). Putting the HiHy rear drive in a Prius would add about $2-3k (my estimate) to the price, retain about the same MPG, improve acceleration, and would get us as a repeat Toyota customer. JeffD
If they came out with one, that would be great. I started out looking for an AWD Escape but the cost new or used was exorbitant for what you got and used Highlander Hybrids were even higher. We ended up picking up a Prius v3 and we figured that if not having AWD ended up being a real problem then we would just sell the Prius and get something else. It's an experiment...
Toyota Estima Hybrid AHR10W(2003) / HYBRID　Gselection / US$12,408 / 49,446 km / Phenix Inc. - Japanese Used Car [ tradecarview ] Toyota Harrier Hybrid MHU38W(2007) / US$26,976 / 40,265 km / Phenix Inc. - Japanese Used Car [ tradecarview ]
