After seeing Toyota's race-winning success (in its second attempt at fielding a hybrid-powered vehicle) in the 2007 Tokachi 24-hour Super Taikyu race, I had to face the fact that hybrids were no longer just a fad. Even in online video clips, the Denso SARD Supra HV-R Super GT car would make any gasoline-head drool as it powers off silently from a start with just the whine of its sequential gearbox. Only several hundred feet later can the blat, blat, blat of the 4.5-liter GT-spec 3UZ-FE be heard as it fires effortlessly into life.
So I finally drove a hybrid for the first time. To make sure I got the full mundane commuter experience, I opted for the Camry Hybrid instead of the Prius or the ber-luxurious Lexus LS600hL. Even in its simplest, most mass-market form, Toyota's hybrids are simply fantastic works of mechanical engineering and engine/powertrain programming. To really appreciate it (which I doubt any hybrid owners do) you have to look into the guts of the hybrid drive system.
The mad scientists from Toyota figured out an ingenious power split planetary gear unit with sun, ring and carrier gears all linked to different parts of the drivetrain. This allows the engine, as well as drive and starter motors, to switch on and off or alternate between charge and drive modes with no interruption of power-somewhat like an automatic transmission, but with multiple inputs and outputs.
Then there's that addictive fuel economy and drive mode display in the center console. It turns a boring commute into a video game as you try to get the highest mpg. Call it a nice carrot on a stick to further help the hybrids' fuel-sipping reputation.
As the novelty wore off, I came back to the same conclusions and critiques I had from the get-go. In theory, the hybrid idea is great for commuters. The electric motor does all the stop-and-go work while keeping the engine off. Under constant cruising conditions, the engine is doing the work as well as some charging-like a normal car, except hybrid engines typically run higher compression and are thus more efficient. I'm sure Toyota and Honda both decided that, for the dynamic range of driving conditions, hybrids are the best answer (as opposed to turbodiesels for many European manufacturers), but the cost/benefit practicality is still in question.
Most hybrid systems are targeted to save gas for commuters stuck in low-speed, stop/go traffic. And if there's one thing drivers stuck in traffic have in common, it's that no one's paying attention to their driving. They'd rather be doing their make-up, listening to the radio, yapping on the phone or screaming at their spawn (or their friends) raising hell in the back seat. Granted, letting go of the brake pedal every now and then to move five feet requires little attention and is absolutely boring, but the end result is that drivers are hard on the gas, then hard on the brakes. Even in a hybrid car, this is bad for consumption, since a quick stab at the gas will still kick the engine in for full power.
Under mild acceleration, the consumption gauge skyrockets like any car, but the hybrid is sluggish, on account of the CVT transmission. Even at mid-throttle, the revs and the mpg gauge climb, but the car just putts along. To get it to really move so three other cars don't sneak into the gap between you and the car in front, you have to bury the gas. This switches off the electric motors, making hybrid assist seem moot.
There's also no braking effect, whether from the driveline or resistance from turning the charging motor(s) when off the gas. Hybrids simply keep coasting, making cruising or traffic driving excruciatingly painful. There's just no connection with what the car is physically doing. In traffic, you have to resort to using the brakes, which means free momentum energy squandered into heat instead of charging the batteries.