Hybrid Highlander: Better MPG?

HyHi made at The Most Fuel-Efficient SUVs | Best SUVs for fuel economy - Consumer Reports. HyHi and non-hybrid are at Best & Worst Fuel Economy | Most & Least Fuel Efficient - Consumer Reports.

I strongly suspect self-selection bias (see Full review of the 2013 Ford Fusion [Hybrid trim gets 40mpg combined in the real world] | Page 2 | PriusChat) on Fuelly. After all, look at how many 2012 Priuses are at Toyota Prius MPG Reports | Fuelly vs. 2012 Tahoes at Chevrolet Tahoe MPG Reports | Fuelly.

From http://media.gm.com/content/dam/Media/gmcom/investor/2012/Deliveries-December-2012.pdf, you can see GM sold 149K Tahoes in 2011 to 2012 combined. Toyota sold ~373K members of the Prius family in that time period per Toyota | December 2012 and Year-End Sales Chart but look how many more Prius reports there are and that of efficient vehicles vs. inefficient ones.

The Highlander non-hybrids folks who don't even track their mileage or care about it (other than maybe whining) likely haven't reported their results to Fuelly.

Also keep in mind "gallonage": Car and Driver: Mileage? No, it's Your Gallonage that Really Counts | PriusChat. Try running some gallonage calculations of your own, to see what I mean.

 

i looked at the hihy, but the highway mpg's aren't there for the extra money imo compared to the hycam. must be the weight or Cd or something.

 

I would instead compare the 7 passenger Highlander to the 7 passenger Mercedes GL 450 or GL Diesel, not Camry hybrid. Compare Side-by-Side

 

you're absolutely right. i just mean toyota was able to make a large improvement in highway mpg's with the hycam over the standard camry. not so with hihy vs standard highlander.

 

Toyota is about to unveil a New Highlander for 2014 in NY Autoshow next week, we'll see what kind of improvement they made to the Hybrid model. They released this teaser photo!

Toyota headed to New York with 2014 Highlander, revised Scion tC

 

I don't track mine on Fuelly, so far only fueleconomy.gov. I've averaged 31mpg overall over 2 years, with a roughly even split in city-highway miles. Highway is usually around 28-30mpg, maybe a hair more in summer and a hair less in winter. At highway speeds, aerodynamics are a much greater force, and the regular Highlander is essentially identical in shape. I usually drive with cruise control on highway trips and don't take advantage of P&G or other hypermiling tricks, so it's not surprising I don't beat the EPA highway estimates by much.

I do a lot better in the city; mid 30s spring through fall and high 30s in the warmest months, but it drops to the low-to-mid 20s during the winter. If I was in the south and could avoid cold winters, the mileage would be even more impressive for a 7-passenger AWD SUV. Most ICE SUVs I've driven for reviews do not even achieve their EPA ratings around town, though some manage on the highway. I'd be surprised if anyone even remotely competent with basic hypermiling techniques would fail to get 25% or 50% better overall fuel economy in the Highlander Hybrid than any other 3-row midsize SUV in an urban or suburban area with a lot of commuting. If you drive mostly highway miles, especially in a colder climate, then the 4-cylinder standard Highlander and a few other SUVs would be very close in mileage for a lot less $$$.

Obviously, if you can make do without the third row and don't need the towing capability or 0-60 in <7.5s performance, then you'll do a lot better with a Prius V, Camry hybrid, Fusion hybrid, etc.

 

I have the GL450 for review next week, so I'll have a better comparison soon. The Kia Sorento might have the best fuel economy for non-hybrids with a third row, though it is a little smaller than the Highlander and when I tested it a year or two ago, the fuel economy was about the biggest deficit from the EPA numbers I've seen, at least in the AWD trim they provided.

 

Hard to say- as there are no hills here at all. I'd say about 40% of my driving has been highway overall, due to some road trips and such, but daily, almost all of my driving is around the suburbs. In the summer, I can keep EV mode on quite a bit on roads up to 40 mph or higher, which helps. In the winter, the system rarely allows me to keep it in EV mode, even at full batt.

On the flipside, with our Prius, I can do even better on the highway than around town at any time of year.

I like the Highlander, but if it wasn't for the hybrid, I'd have probably gone with a minivan. Lots more space, more flexible seating and with something like the Odyssey Touring, the mileage is as good or better than most 3-row SUVs. Even the AWD Sienna would have been my choice over most of the SUVs if I actually needed AWD. Of the 3-row models I've reviewed, I think I'd prefer the Pilot, MDX or CX-9 over the regular Highlander. If cost was no object, I really like the high end trim Jeep Grand Cherokee with Quadra Drive for AWD performance. All of those fall well short on fuel economy, though.

 

Toyota | All-New 2014 Toyota Highlander SUV Makes World Debut at 2013 New York Auto Show

 

Surely they must be getting close with Ford on a new hybrid drivetrain for small trucks and SUV's because this seems like more of the same.

 

Hopefully the 2014 Highlander Hybrid model retains at least the 28 mpg combined on regular gas since it is bigger/longer.

Infinity just unveiled their QX60 hybrid at the NY Autoshow.

2014 Infiniti QX60 hybrid debuts at New York auto show - Autoweek

 

Has a bit of a Chrysler front end look to it, but still much better looking than the current hybrid model. Assuming they don't ugly stick the new hybrid again.

 

And looks like the new Nissan Pathfinder hybrid will only get 26. But maybe it's a bit heavier, not sure.

 

Sounds like the lithium battery is relatively low capacity and unlikely to power it in pure EV mode in typical circumstances. If so, it may be much less likely to significantly exceed EPA estimates, especially around town like you can with the Highlander. On the plus side, it will have more passenger and cargo space, as it is larger than Highlander overall and the smaller battery allows for even less compromise of passenger volume.

 

Toyota is still using a V6 and pushing for power with it. So I don't expect a big jump in fuel economy, like between the Camry hybrid generations. I think a decrease in price would be more important to increasing sales than fuel economy.

 

I was going for a 40mpg tank and was up to 42mpg after 50 miles driving around town. An unexpected 90 mile round trip on the expressway with 5 people and full A/C brought that down to 35mpg lol. So, I have no doubt someone who uses a HiHy for suburban community (non-expressway) in a warm climate and doesn't frequently carry spouse/kids could routinely get 40mpg+ city. Unfortunately, with 3 kids and lots of short trips and A/C use, I don't think I'll beat my record of 39mpg on a full tank. July/August offers the best chance in Chicago weather, so I might get a couple more chances this year.

 

That really is pretty incredible. Thanks so much for the updates!