Although I've seen very little comment about it, I'd have to say the CV transmission is just as important to the hybrid experience as the addition of an HV battery and electric motor. The smooth uninterrupted application of power throughtout the entire speed range is fabulous. During our test drive of the TCH, I was trying to explain to my wife what the CV transmission does. To make it obvious, right have the TCH test drive we took out a regular Camry. After the first couple of gear shifts she says "Oh I understand now, we gotta get the Hybrid".

The new 6speed auto on the regular Camry sounds good on paper, but to me it's just one more gear for the transmission software to try to figure out when to upshift, downshift, left shift, right shift, and just plain bad shift . When I bought my 04 Sienna in early 03 the new 5 speed auto was something that appealed to me. While the van itself has been really nice, the auto transmission turned out to be the greatest dissappointment. Although it works better now after several releases of new transmission software by Toyota, it still is a reminder how much I dislike auto transmissions (give me a manual anyday, if my wife could drive one ).

To end I'd say, the tranny in the TCH is the best automatic transmission driving experience I've ever had!

 

Well said, and I fully agree. Toyota hit a home run with the CVT tranny. However, I wish there were some need for steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, just cuz they're cool.

 

If I lived in a flat area, I woudl probably prefer a manual transmission for the sake of having more control (though a manual tranny would not work on a Toyota System which is an electric CVT). For driving over lots of hills, my Honda CVT (and I'm sure the Toyota eCVT) is very nice to have. RPMs simply gently vary between 1800 and 2500 during the climb to my house, depending on incline. It also means the acceleration performance for sudden passing maneuvers is very good for the amount of horsepower, as it doesn't need to gear-hunt when dropping out of over-drive. Other cars climbing my hill with automatic transmissions shift as many as 27 times in a couple short (but steep) miles. Driving a manual would be an outright pain and owuld probably require more frequent clutch repair. Brakes are also lasting 3-4 times longer on my car than others in the area as well due to the regenerative braking, and the fact most people driving automatics don't downshift going down hills.

As an alterntative, I would like to see steering-wheel mounted assist-logic controls, such as using a higher electric/gas power ratio for climbing short hills, and a more gradual ratio for longer hills (to make sure the battery is used to its fullest capcity rather than emptying too soon, or being too full at the top). There could be "stages" similar to gears. A "neutral" mode could cancel charge/boost altogether if so desired, without unclutching the engine. People might be more inclined to use such a system if it resembled something they were used to (paddle shifters)

However, even with a CVT, there are still some options that could be useful (though I'm thinking more of a mechanical CVT, not sure how it would work on Toyota's system), such as "power" versus "economy" and maybe "normal" (a blend of the two) modes, simialr to some automatics. Economy would accelerate at open throttle positions but hold the RPMs in the efficient sweet spot as long as possible -- cutting on pumping losses but not accelerating as fast (similar to the manual transmission technique of WOT, shifting early), a CVT could accomplish this flawlessly though, with no deviation from peak efficient RPM. Power mode would acclerate full-out by pegging the RPMs at the peak power sweet-spot early, but varying the ratio for fast acceleration.