Hybrid Pickups?

I hope Pat doesn't mind, but there really needs to be a King Cab option as well. I hope Toyota is capturing all these free designs.

 

Re: Hybrid Pickups? Why not Both?

I kept my Ford F250 Crewcab 4x4 Diesel PU and added a Prius. The truck sits most of the time while the Prius does what it is supposed to - save fuel and oil. If I average the MPG of the two vehicles together my truck gets 30-40 MPG. Not too bad. BTW, we have two Prii besides the truck.

Good luck.

 

Hey that is good, I agree with the king cab a little but I wanted to keep a small turning circle and easy parking while maintaining a large enough tray to carry a motorbike. I did add a little to my cab otherwise a driver over 5 feet tall wont fit.
I'd really like to see a small car remain small too, remember when a Corolla was a small car? somehow Toyota have snuck a Yaris in under it now preceded by the Echo and before that the Starlet. I never understood why a car has to grow bigger with each model upgrade, watch the Yaris grow over the next few models. That is one reason I kept my Camry so long, Toyota didn't make a wagon the same size any more, I thought it was the perfect size.

I love your 2008 model ute, but are the wheels and tyres practical for outback camping and gathering fire wood on forest trails?

 

Yeah, I was looking for a used Honda today, and I thought the same thing about how cars grow from little babies. If it does the same thing as Honda Accord, Prius could become a bus or a prime mover. Maybe I'll build one out in my shop.

1977 Honda Accord


2008 Honda Accord

 

As something of a small pickup afficianado, I've gotten a charge out of the concept Prickups in this thread. One problem comes to mind, however, that being front-wheel drive. Back in, I think, the late 70s or maybe the early 80s, VW put out a number of front-wheel drive pickups which looked like a two-seat Rabbit with a bed. I thought that they were an intriguing idea, one of the problems with a rear-wheel drive truck (which almost all are, including 4WDs when not in 4-wheel mode) was that the light weight in back when the truck was empty makes for treacherous handling on icy roads. And admittedly the majority of pickups being driven hither and thither on our roads and highways are actually empty of cargo. But it was quickly discovered that front-wheel drive was very problematic when the truck was loaded, especially if it was quite heavily loaded. Traction at the drive wheels was seriously reduced and thus the hauling capacity of the trucks was as well. So, the Prickups need to have a rear-wheel design, or perhaps AWD. Can that be achieved?

 

I don't see any reason you couldn't have AWD similar to the Highlander Hybrid. There is an electric motor to power the rear wheels. Ford Escape Hybrid also has a AWD version.

 

This isn't a problem as long as people load their ute properly. Keeping rear overhang to a minimum will also help The Prius has little rear overhang so we are fine with front wheel drive. The Proton Jumbuck is front drive and a lot of vans have front wheel drive now days with few issues and more room in them for lack of drive train incursion into the cab.

 

In the end, we agree in principle, just not in what it will take people to change. And I think you took my smaller vehicles to only mean small cars. I am referring to smaller vehicles than large trucks/SUVS. I think making a hybrid RAV4/Honda CRV or ute like people have already mentioned that already gets decent mileage would really get SUV minded people looking at hybrid options more. I really don't think it has to be anything drastic, just let gas prices to continue their gradual climb and at each price point you will get more and more people downsizing to vehicles that would probably get even better mpg than a full-size hybrid truck. There isn't going to be a mass change overnight without something drastic, but $3.50 to $4 per gallon is really going to get people looking at fuel economy in their buying decisions. So just let the economy of it make people change (which isn't that far off IMO). Toyota is already talking increasing 60% Pri worldwide in 2009, throw in some other nice midsize vehicles and let see how long people will pay until they rethink their priorities. This does assume that companies continue to come up with attractive models in a variety of smaller sizes but lots of functions.

In the end, there are always going to be ignorant people that will get the biggest, baddest vehicle that can afford (or borrow to pay for). And I don't see any reason to make it easier on their conscience (or pocketbook) to do so. It's like going to a fast food restaurant and buying a salad with dressing instead of a greasy burger. You are still eating fast food and it may be only marginally better.

 

Unfortunately, the target market is the people like this guy, who gunned it past me so that he could wait at the next light. My crappy cell phone camera cannot resolve the detail, but there is a bumper sticker on the left side which reads something like "Go Nuclear - Clean Air for Everyone".

 

Looks like a Duramax diesel pickup. I'm willing to bet the redneck also ripped off the DPF and put in a Tune kit. So when the light turned green there was a huge cloud of black smoke from the tailpipe

Just let Darwin's theory catch up to these folks. We don't owe them a living, and if they chose to starve instead of acting responsibly, TFB

 

Yes it was. The reason I took the picture was that I thought it was particularly ironic that his bumper sticker indicated that he was concerned about air quality. Unfortunately you can't make that out in the photo.

 

No doubt!

Again, let Darwin work and hopefully that person will be out of the gene pool

 

I was out at the local Toyota dealership today picking up a bed-mat for my Tacoma that I'd ordered earlier in the week.....quick service. Anyway, I got to visiting with the owner and the salesman I'd dealt with when I bought both my Prius in December and my Tacoma a couple of weeks ago. They told me some interesting things. First, they said that diesel pickups were very unpopular right now (they've been extremely popular in this neck-of-the-woods for years, but the worm has turned) and that they get about 5-10 people per day coming in wanting to trade in their diesels on Tacomas or even, occasionally, a Prius. They'd sold three Prii yesterday (this is probably a "small" dealership in relative terms, serves a county area with a population of about 85,000) and only had five left on the lot, all package 4 or higher. Oh, and used diesel trucks are selling dirt-cheap right now, nobody wants them apparently.

They also said that Toyota was raising the price of the Prii, that since they are made 100% in Japan and the dollar has been taking a beating, plus they are popular now, the price is going to go up. They claimed not to know the amount or percentage of anticipated increase. They did say that Tacomas were not going up because they are mostly made in the US these days and are not as affected by decreased in the value of the dollar.

Sorry, a bit off topic, but hopefully at least marginally relevent to the discussion.....

 

Same here, the 3/4 ton Chevy/Ford/Dodge are sitting on lots

Fuel is getting pricey, and those turbodiesels guzzle fuel. I suspect a lot of them were sold due to the "cool" factor. I guess having a motor that sounded like marbles rattling around inside an empty coffee can is "cool" to some. Ditto the fuel stench and black smoke

Unless the person has a legitimate need to regularly tow +15,000 lbs, the turbodiesel HD truck is a dinasaur. They can always try to blame some sinister global conspiracy for making fuel so expensive.

Or they can STFU and live within their means

 

I know it sounds like a major cop-out, but "because it's a Toyota" was a very large part of it. I took a quick look at the smaller trucks made by Dodge, Ford and Chevy and rejected them out-of-hand. A little less money in some instances, but I just didn't trust the quality/longevity. Nissan? Not bad, but similar reasoning. Honda only has the Ridgeline which is too big and not a "real truck" IMHO. Plus I'd had an '89 Toyota 4x4 back in-the-day which I'd loved, and this new one seemed like a sort of reincarnation of that truck. I think if you were to go sit in one, drive it, you'd appreciate that it's just a great, solid little truck. Mind you, Tacos can get big and expensive if you go for the extra-cab or double-cab V-6 variants; mine is a regular-cab, base model 4WD.

I've only got 500 miles on it and can't give you real good data mileage info yet, but I have hooked up a scan-gauge and it has given me a lot of great insights. You can actually 'hypermile' in this truck and get decent highway mileage, I'm thinking you could do high 20s on a trip even though it's only EPA rated at either 21 or 22 highway (the 4x4....the 4x2 does better). Around town you're going to be looking at high teens. So, compared to a Prius, pretty bad, but compared to other pickups, decent. I agree, that a hybrid truck from Toyota is a few years off.

 

DISCOUNTED INSURANCE SALVAGE

Hello All
This is not a photo shop image, and I noticed the gas mpg dropped to mid to low 30's.
I removed the rear hatch ( that had been shortened by about 11 inches)
and the MPG's increased to about 43.
I can only assume the aerodynamics were all screwed up without the top.

Please dont laugh, the poor Prius had a tree fall on it..

 

Hi Hardcase,

There is a guy who goes the moniker "Aerohead" on the various websites who put an aero shell and other modifications to his older (smaller?) Taco. He gets 35 mpg on the highway in it.

 

Hi Woody,

What a great picture !