Tag Archives: toyota sienna
Cheap Hybrid Cars
One of the newest types of hybrid vehicles on the market are the new plug-in version of hybrid cars. These vehicles can run completely on electricity and are able to be recharged through common household electricity. Much like when hybrid cars were first introduced, automakers are doing their best to ride out the recent obsession on the next step in environmentally friendly car technology; the problem with these vehicles are that they have not been proven to be feasible in real world scenarios yet. Some car makers are still focusing on other environment friendly concepts and others are working to bring inexpensive hybrid cars to dealerships and help more people take advantage of the improved gas mileage.
American Hybrid Cars
The term American made is becoming harder to distinguish nowadays, but most people when they use it are referring to the major American based car companies: Ford, GM, and Chrysler. One of the companies had simply refused to engage in the hybrid market, because it wasn’t cost feasible, and the other two were late to the game, but all of them are quickly taking steps to catch up to the Japanese competition. When hybrid cars were first introduced, many considered them to be gimmicky and unrealistic, similar to how the first electric cars were received, and this thinking might have kept American hybrid cars from getting serious consideration.
Ford’s original stance when it came to the hybrid vehicle was to aim at one thing Americans truly love: the SUV. One of their first models was a hybrid SUV; the company is still adding more hybrids to their production line. Although, their approach to selling their hybrids was much more conservative than the Japanese, they are starting to turn a profit, which will allow them to continue to expand their hybrid offerings and keep them competitive with foreign car companies.
Hybrid Vans
Are you looking to save on gas ,but have a family and still need the size , versatility and functionality of a van? Luckily for people like us there are now available on the market a few hybrid vans that not only save on gas , but also cut down on harmful emissions that are polluting our world. I personally have a family with three kids so if we want to go out together we need a van and of course my daughter always wants to bring a friend so we need the space. I’m now looking for our new van.
I decided it was time to go with a hybrid that was easy on gas and I also felt good about driving. Until recently there has been a hole in the market for hybrid min-vans here in America. They have been available for some time in European and Japanese markets, but now this year there are some available. I narrowed down my choices to these vans. The Toyota sienna hybrid which is similar to the Toyota Estima Hybrid Minivan released in japan it has a 2.4 four cylinder that seems pretty peppy.
It also has a optional 4 wheel drive which is called E-four by Toyota and is automatically engaged when it senses slipping. I like the 4 wheel drive because the winters are icy where I live. To top it all off this van is reported to get around 40 MPG!! This is a very tempting car. The next hybrid van I looked at is the Honda Freed minivan. It is being released in may this year so I haven’t had the chance to actually drive it , but I’m very excited about it as I think Honda is a great company and there products are all ways of good quality. The Freed minivan is really cool looking I can just imagine my family in it. It is like one step closer to the future, it looks like a Jetsons car on wheels.
It will probably have a 1.5 liter engine that will put out 118- horses. That seems low , but when it is hooked up to the continuously variable transmission it should get you up the biggest hills no problem. Unfortunately right now in the U.S. there are not many options when looking for a hybrid van , but it seems that we will be getting some options soon. I think all of us can look forward to lower gas usage and the good feeling that we are part of the wave of environmentally friendly families across the land by switching over to hybrid vehicles.