I live in the mountains. Most of our driving is highway driving. We frequently drive 100 miles to the city over 2-3 mountain passes. We need a car that has plenty of power to maintain highway speed but with great mileage. We drive two cars 15-20,000 miles a year. We have a Toyota 4 Runner and a Chrysler Pacifica.

Will a hybrid work as well with a majority of highway miles? And will a hybrid have enough power for this kind of terrain? If not what vehicles would you recommend.

I don't see why any full electric-gas hybrid would suffer any from high use of highway milage, in fact, you may see a boost because of it. My 80 mile commute is 99% highway, and I usually average 33 MPGs or better on the trip; in hybrid drive the battery and the fuel engine are providing power at highway speeds, which help make it more efficient.

I can't speak for all the hybrids, but it seems the Escape Hybrid has plenty of power to meet your needs, without sacrificing much space, if you're use to a pacifica and a 4-runner.

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Our mountains (yeah we call them that in NJ) are rolling hills in your environment. The HCH performs well. The caveat is: You need to manage your battery. As you go down the hills, you need to be sure that some of the momentum is used to recharge the battery, as you will need it for the climb. Even with a low/no battery power, climbing steep hills is OK. I drive about 35k per year and my lpmg is 52 and I am currently getting about 60 on my last 10 tanks.

Because of the terrain, the HAH maybe a good choice for you.

-Charlie...

If I was u I would look into the Lexus 400H since it can match up with 4Runner u already have. The lexus is a little bit smaller but its way bigger than the Ford Escape Hybrid.

I'd suggest the Toyota Highlander Hybrid before the Lexus - they're virtually the same "under the hood" - just a higher price tag for the Lexus goodies. Mine performs well going up and down 3000 ft per day and my last two tanks have been close to 30 mpg - that's about 1/2 at "highway" speeds and the rest "in town"

What you lose in MPG going uphill you tend to get right back when you go back down.

Yeah I just remembered about the Toyota High Lander that will the better choice.

Accord hybrid...if you're looking for a sedan. 255HP...yet to be beaten uphill or off the line (when I cared). And you can see my mpg over 7K miles.

I took it on a 400mi round trip through 3300ft elevation change, still got >36mpg on that tank, and that was before I knew how to drive for mileage!

A Prius can handle mountains and highway driving, we have heard from people that use it for that and it's no problem at all. Minimum mileage you should expect is around 40 MPG but more realistically 45-50 depending on how you drive.

2001 Prius Photos       2005 Prius Photos
1992 Mitsubishi Delica Diesel-WVO Hybrid Photos