Baby #2 on the way. I want a hybrid minivan made by Toyota.

Maybe this is a daft question, but in what way is the Prius not big enough for 2 young children? It's a large family car.

 

It is not considered as such on this side of the Pond.

EPA Vehicle-Class Definitions

 

I'm hoping Toyota brings over the mini van that had the pics posted here about a month or so ago. They look like they would be equal to the short wheel base Caravan? I hope Toyota can keep the price reasonable like the Prius. Nowadays you can get a short Caravan pretty cheap but the Highlander and other SUV has a crazy astonomical price.

 

two kids. add hubby and the dog and the Prius will still do the job but it will be cramped and many people simply wont put up with that.

i think a hybrid mini van is way past due here. i also believe that it will be received very well.

 

I heard from a corporate Toyota rep at a Hybrid workshop my local dealer held that Toyota plans on releasing the Camry in hybrid form and then the Sienna. It was a while ago but I think he said it would be 2007 when the Sienna comes out.

Justin

 

Re: Baby #2 on the way. I want a hybrid minivan made by Toyo

I would love to see a hybrid Sienna in the next few years, about the time we need to replace our 2002 Honda Odyssey. We load the 3 kids and the dog in our Prius for local trips but it is a bit too small for anything longer than a weekend trip with 5 people, a dog, and associated luggage.

Minvans get a bad rap for "image" issues, but they are much more practical that most SUVs. Ease of entry for kids via sliding doors (especially when dealing with car seats), the ability to physically separate kids into their own spaces, true 7 passenger capacity (not little jumpseats in the back), as much cargo room as a pickup truck, etc - I could go on and on. My only complaint about my Odessey is the 17-19 mpg I get in city driving. I think minivans and hybrid technology would be a great fit.

 

Gary i agree with you 100% about minivans being more useful than suv. We've had mini vans since 1985. Our latest is a Chevy Ventue which i think is tops in mpg. gets 26 for most of our driving and when we take trips it still gets 26 which is weird but true.

 

KMO, once again I agre with you. People have this bad habit: nothing is ever enough. We all have lived in one room apartments(flats) during ten age or school/college or when we started living with a girl/boyfriend etc. Then we did fine, however our stuff and "needs" grow, we buy a small house and feel we have so much space. In a few years, we get bmore things and feel we need a bigger house... The same applies to cars. People in Europe and the rest of the world outside of North America(US, Canada and Mexico) all have families, children, pets etc BUT, seem to do fine with much smaller cars due to habits, common sense etc( high fuel prices). How did people manage in NA before SUVs and minivans??

 

Station Wagons (known as Estate Cars in the UK).

 

Re: Baby #2 on the way. I want a hybrid minivan made by Toyo

Must be a small dog!

I think SUVs appeal to people who like trucks. They are higher off the ground, probably 4x4 and except for the large and supersized (and even some of those) are 5 passenger vehicles. For my money 4x4 is unnecessary for almost everyone. Very few are taken off decent (even decent gravel) roads. One benefit is better traction from a start in snow or ice but being gentle on the acellerator with decent tires has always worked for my FWDs. Probably better pulling a boat out of the water on a ramp if you have to get all 4 wheels in. I expect they are better moving uphill in snow as well but I've never hit one in *MY* driving I couldn't get up in my FWDs. I'm sure it depends where you live. There are also as many or more 4x4s off the road in snow conditions. People seem to think they have more grip at speed than they really do. Its a go anywhere 4x4 after all, right? They also flip more easily since they are high for their width. If you need to tow big loads though, the bigger SUVs will pull more than the bigger minivans. I don't know what towing capacity a hybrid Sienna compared to a hybrid Highlander will be, depends on how they build them.

Minivans are seen as un-manly 'Mommy-mobiles". They are high enough off the ground for most everyone's needs but the kids can still get in without a step, seat at least 6 (maybe 7 now?) and 7 or 8 is common. Fewer come as 4x4s or AWD though. For my money (again), they are more versatile, especially since many now have fold into the floor 3rd seats first introduced by Honda in '95. They get much better mileage than SUVs that can carry the same # of people. The newer ones have easy, flexible seating for 2 to 7 or 8 in any combination. I haven't researched, but at least some can take 4x8 sheets of plywood flat inside with the 2nd and 3rd row seats out/down.

I treated my '95 Odyssey as a utility vehicle, it wasn't sporty though. Drive 6 people wherever, get 8' lumber even with 4 people in it, 10' & 12' rough lumber by removing the shotgun seat. It was the only seat that needed tools to remove. I could even have a passenger behind me if I needed to. It was very convenient for toting around the portable crib and other baby junk but I expect we would have managed without them if we needed to. ;-) It was, BTW, the 'most car-like of minivans', a fair bit smaller than the current generation. I can get more stuff in the Prius with the max 5 people than I could with the Odyssey carrying its max of 6. I think the usable cargo space I would have in the Odyssey if I took out 1 center row seat, thus making it a 5 passenger car would be similar to the Prius or slightly more. With only 4 people, the Odyssey wins hands down.

My $.04

 

Re: Baby #2 on the way. I want a hybrid minivan made by Toyo

The Highlander is very mini-van like, IMHO

 

Re: Baby #2 on the way. I want a hybrid minivan made by Toyo

The dog is about 35 pounds and is reasonably happy sitting at the kids' feet.

As a result, the auto companies make millions selling people bigger vehicles than they need and the oil companies make even more selling them fuel. Too bad the average consumer is so insecure.

The newer Odyssey is quite a bit larger. The cargo area behind the third seat is huge - in part because it includes the space the seat folds into. The cargo area of the Prius is tiny by comparison. As I said, the Prius has enough space for 5 and weekend luggage, but for longer trips or trips with more stuff (sports equipment, camping gear, etc), I think we would need a roof rack.

 

According to a local newspaper in Japan, following is a list of Toyota production planning...

2005 Lexus RX, Highlander
2006 Camry, Lexus ES
2007 Lexus LS
2008 Corolla

Total 500,000 hybrid vehicles will be produced in 2008.
Total 1,000,000 hybrid vehicles will be produced in 2010.

Regards,
Ken@Japan

 

I would really like to see a Sienna mini-van, and they better hurry because my Windstar is getting old. We have two kids, but we often carry other kids and when we have out of town relatives fly in, the mini-van is a must.

 

Sienna Hybrid that is!