A Friday afternoon spoof of figuring out hybrids in a non-hybrid world.

Today I took a test drive in one of those new Camrys, the one's that don't come with electric motors. It was a different experience for me. First, when I turned the car on and put it in drive the car wouldn't go. The salesman chuckled and said I had to start the engine. I actually had to start the engine myself. It made this really funny noise while it was doing it too, sort of like a normal electric motor but sounded more like it would blow up if it ran too long. Might take a while to get used to that I thought.

Out on the drive the engine kept revving up then down, up then down, over and over. Made the car lurch a bit. I told the salesman I think there is something wrong, but he said it was changing gears. Oh I said, not really understanding (I think he didn't want to admit something was wrong). When I came to a stop the engine stayed running. Now there is definitely something wrong I said to the salesman, but he again said that was normal. I guess I'm suppose to shut it off myself at a red light, but he said just leave it running. Kind of weird though, the battery was charged and the engine was warm. I don't know what it was doing that I should leave it running.

It had a very abrupt start from a stop without the electric motor to provide a smooth easy start, although it was quick. The FE gauge didn't come off the 0mpg mark until I got going quite fast though. I did try shutting the engine off coming to a stop at one point but the steering and brakes got really hard to use. The salesman kind of freaked out when I did that, but I responded this is a safety concern. Who wants a car that the steering practically fails if the engine should stop?

For the most part the car looks like a normal hybrid model though, except for the "Gasoline Only" logo on the fenders and the HSD (HiFuel Single Drive) badge on the trunk. The trunk was quite a bit bigger. Apparently the gas tank is bigger too as you'll need a lot more fuel to drive this car the same distance.

All in all it was quite an interesting car so I might buy one. Maybe not quite as fun to drive because the engine is running all the time and making the car jerk around a bit changing those gear thingies. But I liked how fast it went and I'll have a lot more chance to stop in and chat with my friends at the gas station. I might ask the dealer if he can get that noisy start motor to power the steering and brakes so in case the engine does stop I won't have to worry about ending up in a ditch.

Two climate control systems, one inside and the other at the tailpipe.

2007 Camry Hybrid (in service June 2006)
FE: 6.67L/100km or 35.3 mpg (6.11L/100km or 38.5 mpg in summer)