Anyone know what's up next in the Toyota Hybrid pipeline? It seems I have heard rumors of possible Tundra, Sienna...a new Highlander for sure for 2008 (will it offer 4cyl or V6 hybrids?) Anyone have any further info...?

What would you like to see?

 

Would love them to put the current 4 cyl HSD form the Camry into a Lexus ES. Otherwise maybe a 3.0 ES with HSD.

 

I'd love to replace my 10mpg 3/4 ton 8.1L Avalanche with a Tundra that was a similar configuration but would return double the economy..

Another one would be a Hybrid Solara - my wife would go BONKERS over that one..

 

Called my dealer. Highlander is confirmed for a redo, no details yet officially. Lexus is supposed to add another hybrid to the line before 2k9. Possible others (pure speculation) is a V6 Hybrid Tundra and a minivan.

Also, even more rumorish, they are considering eventually hybridizing the Yaris and phasing out the Prius for production efficiencies (estimate is that a hybrid Yaris might be able to beat the Prius on MPG).

 

From a marketing point of view that would be surprising IMHO. With all due respect to the Insight, the Prius is what put hybrids on the map. Also, unless you look for the badges you cannot easily distinguish a hybrid Camry or Highlander from it's gas-only powered sibling. So I would think they'd want to keep the Prius around a bit longer.

 

I doubt anything is coming out ahead of the 2008 LS600h, due out in April 07. The ES hybrid is probably 2 years away as a 2009 model. JMHO.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t131399.html

As far as Tundra/Tacoma, I would definitely have bought a Tacoma hybird pickup instead of the TCH, but this will not happen anytime soon. Why? The hybrid engine doesn't produce enough torque, which to me is a bigger factor than raw horsepower for a pickup engine. Once they can get the torque numbers high enough for heavy-duty use, I'm sure you will see lots of hyrbid pickups especially in commercial vehicles.

 

I would love a tundra/tacoma hybrid too. If toyota really wants to offer the HSD in most products, the wisest move next would be to have a minivan and pickup both with the HSD. However as you pointed out there is a torque/power issue when it comes to the truck. I think the answer is going to be multiple electric motors. THere have been some experimental trucks the military has been testing combining diesel engines and multiple electric motors on each wheel I believe. Hopefully Toyota can find an economic way to solve this problem and market it!

 

Not to be argumentative - but;

The notion that the torque isn't there is flawed..

Literally every Diesel locomotive (Train engine) in the world is a Diesel Electric Hybrid. Electric motors generate their full torque rating at Zero RPM (or very close to it depending upon design).
Most of the Tanks (Military) run off of Hybrid technology - many Buses and trucks are already in production with this technology already.
Ships / boats have been using hybrid technology since the 30's and 40's..

Toyota is the world leader in automotive hybrids and if any company can bring this already ((LARGE)) and ))small(( technology to a scale for mid-sized Work Vehicles such as full 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks - it's Toyota.

 

True, from a signature style aspect the Prius makes sense, however from a cost standpoint the move also makes sense. Especially given that one of the drawbacks of a hybrid is the markup. As they did with the Camry, by using an existing frame and many parts they can leverage production costs and facilities.

It's concievable that a hybrid Yaris could come in cheaper than the Prius, while still offering the same features and performance.

 

I'd like to see a small to medium size SUV type Hybrid vehicle....something in between the Matrix (not really an SUV), and the (current) RAV4, but with the quiet and refinement of a Camry (or Highlander)

I am not looking forward to an increase in size of the Highlander to Pilot size...and I think the RAV4 suffers in the feeling of refinement compared to the Highlander and Camry.