I haven't driven the Camry enough to really get a fix on when and how the electric motor works. I know it makes 199 lbs of torque on the electric motor alone, so acceleration from 0-40 with both motors going is extremely brisk. But I think (need to confirm) that it's nearly or completely out of the picture past about 44 mph.
On the Civic, the electric motor is always in the picture. It's sandwiched between the tranny and gas engine. Which actually gives it one of its more charming traits. The drive motor starts and engine so, like my old Suzuki GT185 whose generator is also its starter, there's none of that bendix-banging, straight-gear whining noise when starting. The gas motor simply comes to life with no noise other than the gas motor purring.
It does have a conventional starter, but it's only used in extreme cold or when there isn't enough juice in the big (voltage-wise) battery to do the job.
Kansas isn't quite as flat as most people think, for the most part. There are plenty of rolling hills. Steep enough that I'd frequently come all the way out of the throttle on the downhill sides and could see that the electric motor was charging the battery and sometimes I'd give it light brake pressure to charge more strongly. Most of the trip the battery was completely full, as near as I could tell. Neither car tells you % charge. You just get a gauge with 8 bars in the Civic to tell you approximate charge, so all you get is 12.5% increments.
Occasionally the electric motor would kick in on the bigger hills, and I'm sure by doing so it was saving fuel, though at 20 horses it wasn't saving *that* much fuel.
I wish I were geek enough to hack this car's computer and tweak the aggressiveness/generosity of the electric motor. Most of the hills could've been climbed solely on the electric motor, and once up to speed on level ground, it could've used the electric motor more aggressively without draining the battery terribly quickly. Perhaps using the electric motor more aggressively when the battery charge is >50%, and using it more aggressively as a generator at <50%. I get the same number of off-throttle "charging" bars no matter how much juice the battery seems to have.
Even in such a scenario, the car is hobbled by the big air compressor when going downhill, and the lack of torque and low efficiency of a gas engine when going uphill.
A lot of hybrid performance is based on how it's driven, too. My daughter isn't getting as much of the hybrid benefit as she could. Too hard on the throttle and brakes. My braking distances are much longer than hers because I try to stay out of the friction brakes as long as possible, letting the regen brakes do most of the work. I would think if people drive these to take advantage of the technology, the brake pads would easily last over 100k miles.
People incorrectly assume that just owning a hybrid means greater fuel economy. Well, it does, to a point. But just like with conventional powerplants, HOW you drive is as big a factor as WHAT you drive. And the difference can be greater in a hybrid.
Besides a diesel engine, another big item both cars lack is plug-in charging. Electricity you buy from the grid is far cheaper than what you create with gasoline. At least out here where I pay 7.5 cents per KwH. It's insane that the manufacturers didn't make for this relatively inexpensive provision so you could start every day with fully-charged batteries.
This would be especially beneficial in the Camry, which can go decent distances (below 44 mph, near as I can tell) without ever starting the gas engine if you stay light enough on the thottle. The gas engine is always in the loop on the Civic. If you're moving, the gas engine is running.
I think the distance you can go in the Camry on full batteries is about 20 miles. If the gas engine could be kept out of the loop until 60 mph (or heavy acceleration demand prior to that), I'd have a heyday with this thing since my round-trip commute is just under 20 miles. But since most of my trip is on a 60-mph highway, I only get about 3 free miles each way.
Plug-in power is a popular modification on the Camry's smaller sibling, the Prius, in addition to extra battery power. I believe people are doing the same to the Camry. And getting 40 miles on battery power and plugging in the cars each night.
Of the two, I definitely think the Toyota has the better handle on how to use an electric motor. Though I'd still like to see it more involved at higher speeds, or at least configurable to do so. I understand that for most scenarios, you're better off using gasoline at higher speeds because the batteries would drain too quickly with that kind of demand. But with the length of my commute, I could literally use it as a plug-in electric-only car most of the time.
And it's the hands-down winner in terms of luxury and creature comforts. It's a full-blown mid-size luxury sedan. And when you want to accelerate briskly, you can. Actually, the Civic's got a really good CVT, so it's no slouch at passing, etc. Floor it and the revs stay right at 6k while the car accelerates somewhat aggressively.
I'd really love to see what either car could do with more battery power, more aggressive use of the electric motor, plug-in power, and a diesel engine. Either the one in the Jetta TDI or just a 3-cylinder 25-horse Yanmar like is in my Deere riding mower.
Most of my life, I've planned to retire early enough to spend most of my time trying to make extremely fuel-efficient cars, but what little special knowledge I thought I might've had has become common knowledge among the manufacturers, and I don't see me retiring anytime soon. And don't currently have that kind of spare time.
But I've always been wanting to develop a car and do test-runs in it at the local Nascar track, aiming for 100 mpg at 60 mph, then keep increasing the speeds with the eventual goal being a relatively inexpensive/easy conversion that can do 100 mpg at 100 mph and 200 mpg at 60 mph. A conversion whose basic methodology could be applied to big rigs.
Just got an interesting mental picture. My RV on a Nascar track doing 60 mph while trying to achieve 20 mpg over a 100-mile distance. Who knows. With a ton (literally) of batteries and a pair of Camry electric motors contributing 100 horses and 398 lbs of torque.... |
