We are seriously considering the purchase of a HiHY but really wanted feedaback for real MPG over short distances in cold weather. We live in Northern BC, Canada and the vehicle would be used for 5-10 mile trip city driving. Morning drive is expected to be below freezing for 5 months of the year. Temps below 0 F are routine through Dec-Feb. Does anyone have experience with a HH in these conditions, and what kind of mileage numbers did you see? Basically trying to decide buying a hybrid will yield much advantage. I know it won't make money, but am willing to make the investment if it decreases our family's carbon footprint. If the difference relative to the ICE version is going to be negligable, we'd get the standard model and put the difference towards something more environmentally beneficial.

You should consider the 4 cylinder model. It will save you lots of money, and also it gets good gas mileage. Most hybrids get good gas mileage after they have warmed up. This includes the battery pack. Batteries are very inefficient when they are cold. Good luck in your choice.

In Chicago we have had a fairly brutal winter for us; My mileage has dropped form 32/33mpg during the summer to 26/27mpg during the winter. If you look around, there are a lot of people who don't get summer mileage about about 27/28, so I'd expect their winter mileage to be as low as 22/23 mpg.

One issue that will make a considerable difference is whether you will be able to purchase and use a block heater. That combined with a front grill cover, to reduce cold air entering engine compartment, could give you around 50% or more of the mileage you would loose to cold weather back. That could make the car more practical.

Yes, have that covered. Block heater is standard on all vehicles sold up here. Vehicle will be garaged overnight too. Never realized until reading here that still plugging it in would improve mileage. I can't believe that block heaters aren't standard for you folks in Northern States. Based on what I've read a battery blanket/warmer would seem a very useful option too. We have them as factory options for the regular battery from many vehicle manufacturers such as VW, Subaru, Hyundai. Is there a reason this isn't offered for the big battery?

Yeah, you're doing better than me in Chicago. We have a new 2008 HiHy and it's still in a break-in period (<1000 miles) and we're still adjusting to driving differently with a hybrid. Outside - no garage or block heater with pretty brutal temps has us hovering around 20-21mpg unfortunately. Looking forward to summer now!

The one bright spot was my drive home from the gas station a while back -- it's down the street from me so was able to drive home in EV mode. Seeing the mpg's go to 89mpg on the new tank was quite a bit of fun

Well I did test drive loops of both the reg. Highlander and the Hybrid. Did the work-home leg. Wait 20 mins then home-work and back to the dealer which is less than a mile away. Both vehicles were cold and hadn't been driven for 2 days. Temp was 34F, but that was the high for the day and it had been sub-freezing for close to 24hrs preceding the test (10F overnight). Results come only from the on-board computer readings which I know aren't perfectly accurate but they are all I had. Hit all the same lights as luck would have it, although I did have to go through amber for one and slow down a little early to stop at another to keep it even.
Hybrid 10.6L/100km (22.1 mpg) and I forgot to set to ECON mode for the drive from work to home.
Highlander Limited 16L/100km (14.6 mpg).
Both were as expected well below EPA but the relative economy difference was maintained. That would mean about $800 per year gas savings at current prices for us on top of the gov't rebate and tax break. It actually makes the HY financially worthwhile in less than 5 years of use .

How is Highlander Hybrid in the snow? I currently live in nyc and it snows alot less than chicago but I worry that maybe the hybrid can not handle as well as my subaru outback in the snow. can u give some input on how it handles in bad wheather?

thanks

The HiHy's traction control is pretty agressive. It makes for a fairly safe and easy drive with one possible exception....sometimes you can't get enough power to get up a hill. If you could turn off the traction control, you could easily power up the hill with wheels spinning, but that isn't an option on the pre2008s & I don't think its an option for them. Having 4wd instead of front only probably would have been better, but when the worse weather strikes, we switch to the 4wd truck which normally only gets a few utility miles a week. I feel safer in the HiHy, but feel more secure that I won't get stuck in the truck. The same problem exists for the Prius and you can read a lot more about it there.

As far as the actual handeling...the HiHy is pretty smooth. It won't pull hard enough to get you in trouble, and the feeling when it reduces power is obvious along with the blinking lights on the dash. Feeling/seeing that, I know to keep my stops long and slow. I took the car into an empty parking lot filled with snow, punched it and slowly I gained speed. Turning sharply (low speed), the car accelerated even more gently and donuts were impossible. Not a lot of fun, but very controllable.

That seems to be an issue with Toyo traction control period. I have heard the same complaint about TC in the Sienna minivan. The new HiHY is AWD only which should address city driving in the snow without issue and help in the TC department. I disagree with Edmund's take on the Hy being a poor choice for snow driving. It's true that the rear can't put out high horsepower alone, but most cases of getting stuck in snow are very low speed, low RPM situations where ICE vehicles generate much lower power anyway. Although the HP is relatively low, the electric motor generates all it's torque from a standstill. Torque is what gets the work done here. I have no concerns having driven it in snow on two test drives. Climbed my steep icy driveway without hesitation even on all season tires. I actually preferred the HY to the standard Highlander when it came to the "wheel-spin, kick in AWD" transition. Unless you want to plow through very deep snow at high speed I really doubt you will exceed the capacity of the rear motor to do it's share and keep you going.

Bought mine last year and have used it all winter here in Colo. It is a great Ski car. It has no problems with the mountian passes ( Vail , Hooser, Wilkerson) and is much eaiser to drive than my explorer in the same conditions. I have have it in up to 8 inches of heavy snow with no problems. I did put a good set of snow tires on it based on the advice of this group.