Toyota Camry Hybrid
Toyota Camry Hybrid
MSRP: $26,575
Estimated MPG: 33 city / 34 highway
Class: Mid-size sedan
The Toyota Camry is the best-selling sedan in North America, and the Hybrid version offers buyers many of the same characteristics that have made the standard Camry so popular. When compared against other hybrids, however, Toyota’s mid-size offering isn’t quite as impressive in the fuel economy department, which can make difficult for shoppers to swallow paying a premium price for the vehicle.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid does provide a 10 mile per gallon improvement over the base 4-cylinder sedan around town, but on the highway the two editions of the same vehicle are separated by merely 1 mile per gallon – despite an almost $7,000 price chasm. That’s not to say that the Hybrids fuel efficiency rating of 33 miles per gallon around town and 34 miles per gallon on the highway aren’t good, it just means that the Camry doesn’t blow its gasoline competitors out of the water like some other hybrids in its class.
Between the Camry Hybrid’s front fenders sits a 4-cylinder engine that squeezes 147 horsepower and 138 lb-ft of torque from 2.4 liters of displacement. The vehicle can also draw from the 45 horsepower produced by its electric motor, either in the form of an assist to the gasoline power plant or as the sole method of propulsion for the front-wheel drive sedan. A continuously-variable automatic transmission does a good job of managing power, enabling useful rates of acceleration and comfortable stop and go driving. The electrical system, which operates independently of the shut-down gas motor when stopped, is capable of powering the air conditioning and power steering, so that neither are forced to pause while the vehicle is at rest.
The vehicle’s interior is as accommodating as that of a higher-range 4-cylinder Camry, including automatic climate controls, a 6-CD changer and the option of a moonroof and heated front seats. The Hybrid also of course features Toyota’s Eco Assist which allows drivers to keep a watchful eye on both the effect that their driving style is having on fuel economy along with the hybrid’s total system status.