Do you all think it was a good move for Toyota to move towards hybridization for the new Venza and Sienna? None of them have a regular gas engine.
Its a great idea for them! Toyota is trying to raise its fleet line-up mpg so hybrids would get them closer to their goal, and they would be able to sell more because of the better fuel economy. I personally would have though a gasoline/hybrid choice would be good but not for business you want the hybrid to be what you get at the starting msrp to show how fuel efficient it is or how enviornmentally friendly it is...
I am not thrilled by a hybrid-only lineup, more things to break if you own a vehicle long time and rack up the mileage, and less DIY. I won’t be recommending them for long term ownership. It will never last as long as a gas powered version. But it’s a business decision and to satisfy CAFE; I just wish they offered both hybrid and non-hybrid in their lineup to give the consumer more options. At least they are not moving to all electric-only versions.
From a business perspective, I think it was brilliant. Car manufacturers are under huge pressure from the government to have their corporate average gas mileage be as high as possible. Toyota applied hybrids to 2 vehicles that gave only okay fuel economy as gas only engines before. Most people who buy Venzas and Siennas use them as family cars, so having great gas mileage is a huge selling point and a big benefit - I think the new Sienna gives like 35 mpg on the highway! They almost had to do that because Toyota has quite a few fuel in-efficient vehicles: Tundra, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, 4Runner, and even the Tacoma. Toyota makes the best hybrid systems in the car industry and they've been refining it over the past 2 decades, so they should last a while. At the end of the day, car manufacturers have to improve their fuel economy to be able to sell cars going forward.
It’s the most brilliant business move because of government regulation fleet mpg requirements.
From a consumer perspective, it’s a bad move! Toyota assumes that everyone wants/needs a hybrid. This is not so. Some customers mostly do a highway travel. Some do mostly short trip travel. Some customers park their cars for extended period of time. Some do a 50/50 split between highway and city, …
To boot, some customers don’t like the way hybrid behaves,… but some just love them!
Mostly highway driving is not the best suited for hybrids. Economy gain is not there, … and battery life is compromised because it never has a chance to go through its full charging cycles. Never gets fully charged, never utilizes regeneration, and hysteresis rears it ugly head early, too.
Hybrid cars don’t do very well when they stored for a prolonged period of time, as well. Again, … battery life is compromised.
And driving! You must like to drive a hybrid, … I don’t. I don’t like how it feels, how it sounds, how it brakes. Many folks don’t, either.
Summa summarum: … folks who don’t want hybrid, or hybrid don’t suit their need or style will go elsewhere! Will that be a lots and lots of folks? Only time will tell, … I’m just musing out loud.
Anyway, … got to go. Other matters pressing! But I will leave you with this vid to ponder upon:
F.S.
