Tomorrow's 56.2-mpg technology showcased today in Toyota Highlander Hybrid

As a blueprint, it can be used by someone else to make it better. Maybe the next generation FEH or HH will be cheaper, more fuel efficient and offer a 3rd row option for those who actually need it? Maybe Toyota will bring over the 7-seater Prius variant or Ford the C-max 7 seater? It doesn't have to say Highlander on it. It just has to provide a better option for minivan and SUV buyers.

I hope you're right! But like I said, it's happened before that auto makers get caught off guard with too few options, because they resort to bigger and more powerful vehicles for higher profits when oil prices drop. It's progress that we're seeing more and more vehicles that hit 40mpg highway, but there are still a huge number that can't even manage 20mpg city

 

Toyota USA Newsroom | Ford, Toyota to Collaborate on Developing New Hybrid System for Light Trucks, SUVs; Future Telematics Standards

Gas prices in Chicago are over 50 cents off their highs this spring and still dropping. I hope that dosen't mean a resurgence of gas guzzler sales, but at least Ford and Toyota are keeping their options open!

 

Still hoping this is the case, but not likely if gas prices keep dropping or even remain stable. If a new administration steps in and wipes away future CAFE standard increases then presto, back to the 1980s. For now, as expected, falling gas prices compared to early this year boosted light truck sales big time, even in a weak economy.

News from The Associated Press

54% of sales were trucks and SUVs. It's pretty clear that most people won't buy high fuel efficiency vehicles because it's what they really want (PC members not being "most" people, of course). The masses buy them when gas prices are really high or when the government encourages sales with regulations and incentives. When gas prices drop, most buyers go back to the gas guzzlers they really want.

Plus, even the compact Ford Escape Hybrid doesn't seem as if it will be expanding on the blueprint in the next generation. It's apparently going away. Smaller replacement SUV models like EV Rav4 or hybrid C-max are not here yet. Even the larger Highlander Hybrid is still in very short supply. Cheaper gas and a lack of fuel efficient light truck options- kind of the worst of all worlds for the environment.