Hybrid system in Highlander's...wat'cha think?

Erm... I'd love to have one? ;P

It's got the same size electric engine as the Prius powering the back wheels, and a new electric engine that is over twice as powerful hooked to the V6 in the front.

Should have lots of power and satisfy the SUV crowd quite nicely.

 

I think this belongs better in the "other cars" forum.

Very curious about the milage.

Brian

 

Well I can't get my father to buy a prius, he is used to larger cars. But he does seem interested in the hybrid highlander. Does anyone have any information on the potential price differential between a regular highlander, and its hybrid version?

 

I can't seem to get a handle on that and it doesn't appear as if dealers have any pricing information at this point in time. Regardless, some have suggested around a $3k premium but I don't think they're factoring in discounts offered on the non-hybrid version.

For example, I priced a loaded Highlander Limited on CarsDirect.com. I wound up with an MSRP of around $39.5k but a CarsDirect price of $35.4k! If the hybrid version has a built-in price premium, is selling for straight MSRP, and discounts on the non-hybrid versions (like the one above) are available at this time next year, that "hybrid premium" could be a lot more than $3k.

 

I see that the upcoming Toyota Highlander (Hybrid) will get over 600 miles on a full tank. With the tank at 19.1 gals, that figures out to 31.41 miles to the gallon. What will city driving figure out to be? Also will Toyota also offer 4 and or 6 cycl engines? I would prefer the 4 cycl w/o the third row seat.

 

There have been a number of discussions here on PriusChat about the 2005 Hylander.

I, too, would prefer my hybrid vehicle not to be loaded down with unnecessary extra-cost features such as the 3rd-row seat, and I, too, would prefer a more economical 4 cylinder version. It appears that Toyota's plans are otherwise, at least in the near term. I suspect that there are a number of reasons for this: First, given the current low manufacturing capacity for hybrid components (probably including the limited supply of the needed batteries), Toyota can make more money in the short term by targeting the technology into higher-margin vehicles. (If this theory is correct, then don't expect much higher production next year of the Prius, which Toyota claims is profitable but, probably just barely so.) Second, it's easier to hide the extra cost of the hybrid drive train (estimated at "a couple of thousand dollars") within a more expensive car whose price is already padded. Third, there appears to be an advantage in marketing hybrids as a prestige high-tech luxury feature rather than an economy feature. (Doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not in marketing.) Fourth, and this relates specifically to the choice of putting the hybrid drive into the 6 cylinder Highlander rather than the 4 cylinder version, Toyota can highlight the benefit of giving a more powerful car (more horsepower than the current V6) rather than reducing consumption. The fact that the hybrid drive also reduces consumption is then presented as a secondary bonus: oh, by the way, not only do you get this huge horsepower, but also you'll use less fuel than with the current underpowered 4 cylinder Highlander. My own personal politics are such that I'd rather stress reducing consumption of scare resources, but Toyota marketing will probably be more successful with a happier message: you can have it all! Get more (even, in my opinion, more horsepower than most people really need), but consume slightly less. More consumption, less guilt. Moreover, and this probably qualifies as a fifth reason overall, it will be easier for hybrids to gain broad acceptance if the technology is proven first in larger, overpowered, expensive vehicles. It would be harder to get a Lexus buyer to accept a feature associated with economy cars than to get an economy buyer to accept a feature associated with luxury/power cars. (And note that the Lexus RX 400h will be released before the counterpart Hylander.) As production ramps up over the coming years, hopefully the cost of the hybrid drive will decrease somewhat, and then Toyota can afford to put it in more affordable models. In the long term, that appears to be Toyota's strategy: to make hybrid drive available up and down the entire model range. In the short term, though, I'd expect hybrids to be available primarily at the "up" end of the range.

 

If I were an engineer at Toyota, I wouldn't put in the third row seat on the hylander. I'd need room for the HV battery, but not want to impact the cargo area significantly.

 

Tech talk:

If the motors attached to the rear wheels are the same as the drive motor of the prius what mechanism is there to prevent theses motors from exceeding their 10k rpm limit. If they are directly connected this may be a problem. But we know toyota knows what it is doing, just spec tech talk.

 

Engineers are not deciding that but marketing people. They love "First in the whole world" stuff, like "First 7-seater hybrid SUV". So it'll be STANDARD. 8) 8) 8)

There is workaround, though, "negative cost option" called "w/out 3-rd row" cost minus $XXX.