Camry carries hybrid power into mainstream

By RICHARD WILLIAMSON
Five months after sales began, the 2007 Toyota Camry hybrid has found 12,409 buyers.

While that's a small percentage of overall Camry sales, which totaled 42,227 for August alone, the new version boosts support for tandem gasoline-electric engine technology. With the inclusion of its luxury Lexus brand, Toyota Motor Sales has delivered 126,249 hybrid vehicles in the first eight months of the year, including 25,994 in August alone.

The pioneering Toyota Prius has found more than half-a-million owners since its 1997 Japanese introduction, which was followed by an American debut in 2000. In 2005, sales of Prius in the U.S. reached more than 107,000, making it Toyota's third-best selling car after the Camry and Corolla.

The hybrid fleet will continue to grow with the April 2007 launch of the Lexus LS 600h L hybrid sedan, the first vehicle powered by a full-hybrid V8.

Beyond that, Toyota is working to develop a "plug-in" hybrid that can travel greater distances on its electric motor, requiring less use of the gasoline engine, according to Jim Press, president of Toyota North America.

"We estimate that all the hybrids we have sold in America have saved more than 155 million gallons of gas, enough to fill five tanker ships," Press said. "And we're not alone in our confidence about hybrids. Honda has three and plans to add a fourth. Ford has two and plans to add three more, and nearly every other automaker, from Hyundai to Porsche, plans to introduce hybrids in the very near future."

Indeed, hybrids are just one segment of a group known as alternative fuel vehicles. The group includes cars and trucks running on clean diesel, ethanol and natural gas.

With 9 million alternative fuel vehicles on the road, automakers have set a goal of selling a million hybrids, diesel and ethanol vehicles in 2006 and 2 million by 2008, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

While Press says that Toyota is working assiduously to bring down the cost of hybrid components, the dual-powered vehicles still command higher prices than their traditional siblings. For the $25,900 Camry hybrid, buyers will pay nearly $1,600 more than they would for a V6-powered Camry in SE trim with automatic transmission. The base 4-cylinder model with automatic is priced at $19,320.

Unlike those traditional models, however, hybrids enjoy tax breaks and HOV-lane privileges in some states because of their fuel economy. The combined gas-electric engines carry the Camry 40 miles per gallon in the city and 38 on the highway, inverting the typical fuel economy ratings for most cars.

By comparison, the best fuel economy you can expect from the Camry with 158-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine with five-speed stick is 24 city and 34 highway mpg. Combined city/highway ratings are 39 mpg for the hybrid and 28 for the most fuel-efficient 4-cylinder version. Both carry 17.1 gallons on full fuel tanks.

The hybrid will certainly enjoy a strong tail wind from the Camry redesign for the 2007 model year. As the best-selling car in the United States for the past four years, Camry looks like a sure thing for 2006, as well.

Calling its gas-electric motor combo Hybrid Synergy Drive, Toyota pulls 147 horses from the 2.4-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine and 45 horses from the electric motor. Where the electric motor really produces results is in its torque rating of 199 foot-pounds. Engineers equipped the package with a small inverter and compact battery and transaxle for seamless performance.

The hybrid power requires no sacrifices in standard equipment, which includes tire-pressure monitoring system, halogen headlamps with automatic on/off, a premium JBL audio system with an auxiliary audio jack and Bluetooth technology, cruise control, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control heating and air conditioning, an eight-way-adjustable power driver's seat, a 60/40 split fold-down rear seat, 16-inch aluminum wheels, heated outside rear-view mirrors and other features.Because there are situations in daily driving in which the gas engine in a Toyota hybrid is completely shut down, air-conditioning and power-steering run on the electric power, rather than the gas engine to prevent loss of service.

"Increasingly Americans realize hybrids are a simple way to make an important difference in curtailing foreign-oil dependence air pollution and greenhouse gases all at once," Press says. "Plus, they're a heck of a lot of fun to drive. Being able to thumb your nose at gas stations on a regular basis is icing on the cake."

WHAT'S NEW: Hybrid version of redesigned model.

PLUSES: Fuel economy, comfort, performance.

MINUSES: Batteries must eventually be replaced, unknowns of relatively new technology.

BOTTOM LINE: Hybrid power is now mainstream.