Amusing Anomalies

I mentioned earlier that we were in the process of buying a new car. The photograph on the right is a fair representation of the car we purchased, a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The decision to purchase the Highlander Hybrid involved an evaluation of personal need, personal preference, and a bit of political philosophy.

Let me start with a bit of a description of the car. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid is a mid-sized sports utility vehicle with approximately a 268 horsepower hybrid technology electric/internal combustion engine powerplant (As a comparison point, our 2002 Subaru Forester had a rated 165 hp engine). Essentially the car has both a gas and an electric engine that sometime operate in tandem or separately to power the vehicle. The particular model we have can seat 7, (if two of the 7 people are midgets) and our model is a two-wheel drive vehicle (although there is a awd version). The Highlander Hybrid has an efficient, if not exciting interior and is comfortable and reasonably well designed.

The Dance of the Engines

The feature that stands out for this vehicle is the gas/electric hybrid engine and the technology that surrounds it. Rather than getting into the details of the technology I'll discuss how the technology is experienced by the driver. The first time you notice when you turn the key on this SUV is that "nothing happens". I mean, the dash board instruments come on and a ready light blinks on, but you don't hear a starter and you don't hear the familiar rumble of an internal combustion engine (ICE) turning on. Why? The ICE doesn't turn on. The electric motor is what powers the vehicle initially (although if the battery is low when you turn the car on, the ICE will turn on to charge it). So you sit there in silence for a moment and finally convince yourself that the car is really running and press the pedal gently---the car moves forward.

After you get the car moving a bit you'll fell an almost imperceptible tremor--that tremor is a sign that the ICE engine has decided to show up. Here's where it gets interesting. As you drive the ICE and the electric motor start this interesting little tango, sometimes together, sometimes apart. For example, if you're going up a hill using mostly gas power, if you need step on the pedal for a quick burst of speed you'll see the electric motor kick in to provide additional power. When the batteries that power the electric motor start to run out of charge, the gas engine sends power to the batteries. If you're moving at a decent cruising speed and the electric batteries don't need a charge, the ICE will cut off and the electric motor will be used to power the vehicle.

One of the big jokes in the hybrid community (and strangely enough in the internet world---there is such a thing), is that a man let's his brother-in-law borrow his car. Fifteen minutes later he gets a call. It's his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law informs him that he's driving the car to the shop because the engine keeps cutting off at the stop light.

When you stop the Highlander Hybrid at a stop light a couple of interesting things happen. First as you brake, the energy that goes into slowing down the car is transferred into charging the battery. This contributes to conserving fuel and it reduces wear on your brakes. The second interesting thing is that once you stop, the ICE turns off, conserving fuel.

What is particularly fascinating about this dance is that it pretty much occurs in background. You notice it all, but it doesn't overwhelm you. However, if you are aware of how this dance occurs, you can learn to take advantage of it. The car provides incredible freedback. It tells you instantaneously what your current mpg performance is, it tells you when the car switches from gas to electric, from electric to battery, etc. In this sense, you as the driver can choose to become part of the relationship between the technology, the engines. Or if you choose to you can pretty much ignore the whole thing and take advantage of the enhancements at the margin. Driver participation is important. The EPA rates the 2wd Highlander Hybrid at 33 city and 28 highway. Consumer reports rated it at 22 mpg. Right at the moment, in mixed mode driving, city and highway I'm averageing 27.6 mpg. The differences I suspect are all related to how well you take advantage 0f the technology.

I plan to address some of the policy implications of hybrid technology in the future. I figure, I did all that research, I might as well put it to some use.