Yeah, full tax credit available--but it's lower than TCH's was (implying less efficient), may have increased wear and tear, and these days people are getting TCHs at some very nice prices--definitely better than I paid for my 07 in June 2006 even with full tax credit. So people getting a TCH now may be able to get more for their money even comparing with a NAH with tax credit. (And I will say the Altima I rented when I was near Denver last year just seemed so rough driving compared to my TCH, I just don't feel too impressed with the Altima in the first place.)

And I think it was the Altima Hybrid's wikipedia page where I saw they were claiming only the 2007 model would use Toyota's technology, after that they were planning to have their own, and who knows how that will fly.


As for stop and go, as someone brought up--serious stop and go is just bad. If you never get to drive at a reasonable speed for any length of time you never get to regenerate electricity into the battery and once you creep along in EV mode until you get too low, that ICE kicks in with a vengeance and there's nothing you can do about it. So you end up sitting there getting 0 mpg for minutes. Slow traffic is fine, you can get great mileage that way, but nearly-stopped will hose you.

 

While Nissan did license the technology from Toyota, Ford's is their own technology. It is very similar, but they did develope it on their own.

I personally think the TCH would be better, but my opinion is biased from 50,000 miles behind the wheel of my TCH.

You child is 7 now, but in 5 years he/she will be 13. I assume you will keep the car 5 years. The back seat of the TCH will be better for a teenager than the HCH.

The TCH does better in stop and go driving.

With all that said, the HCH is still a nice vehicle, but when I bought, I wanted the extra space the TCH gave me. Also the TCH has more power available if you want it, if you don't you don't have to use it and it still gets great mileage.

 

It seems to be somewhere in between, viz -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escape_Hybrid
"The Escape Hybrid uses technology similar to that used in Toyota's Prius. Ford engineers realized their technology may conflict with patents held by Toyota, which led to a 2004 patent-sharing accord between the companies, licensing Ford's use of some of Toyota's hybrid technology ... Both Ford and Toyota state that Ford received no technical assistance from Toyota in developing the hybrid powertrain. Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd., a Japanese automotive components supplier belonging to the Toyota Group, supplies the hybrid transmission for the Escape Hybrid. While Toyota produces its third-generation Prius transmission in-house, Aisin is the only supplier of hybrid transmissions to other manufacturers."

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/87/ford.html
"The only Toyota patents that it licensed, he says, were to avoid patent infringement."

One licenses patents, in my experience, because one has purposely, or inadvertently, copied, or duplicated, someone else's creation ...

Not as clear as I thought it was.

 

Get the TCH - the HCH sucks!

Actually, I drive my HCH2 as a 75mi/day commuter car with no problem. I do, however need to convince my Wife to sell our (guano mpg) grand caravan and buy a TCH for her... The TCH is a great vehicle and the prices you stated are too!

 

I chose the TCH due to it's nice ride at 3750 pounds. I also liked the Toyota advanced technology with their hybrid system. Their method of variable cam timing is better than the other brands.

 

I would recommend the TCH also. I got the $650 tax credit when i bought it. The TCH is a great riding car with nice handling as well. The HSD technology is very good as well. Toyota resale value and reliablity also are better than Nissan as well. I bought my TCH loaded in August for close to $30,000 out-the-door.