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Originally Posted by Sledge
From today's Autobeat Daily
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I'm sorry to hear this but we always wondered why a minivan was not the follow-up hybrid electric. We had been watching the Toyota hybrid minivan, Estima, closely and several years ago, I sent an e-mail to Toyota America asking to be on the list.
Compared to an SUV:
- minivans can be used by businesses to haul stuff and make deliveries
- minivans attract 'value' buyers vs. 'muscle' owners
- minivans are entered horizontally versus 'climbing up' or 'squating down'
- more space for larger, batteries and EV only mode
As a general rule, minivans, all vans, maximize the volume and longest dimensions to weight ratio. Thus large sized loads can be protected from the weather. Only pickup trucks haul larger loads by sacrificing weather and security.
Now I can appreciate that hybrid SUVs and large luxury cars address the least fuel efficient vehicles. But I also associate SUV and luxury vehicle buyers with those having the least concern about fuel costs and efficiency. A hybrid hummer looks like an oxymoron gathering no respect.
One of my speculations is the thought of blue-printing a Prius engine-transaxle and installing it in a Scion xB or VW minivan. This would be a hybrid-electric, microvan with great utility and excellent efficiency. My wife and I could then go on camping-vacations and not think about the price of gas.
Bob Wilson