Hybrid Pickups?

I also have a Tacoma, it's a V6, four door, regular bed (not short) Prerunner. I get 18mpg freeway and 16mpg around town. Those big Ford/Chevy/Dodge diesels get about the same mpg.

Because you don't see the owners of large trucks towing, carrying stuff, etc. it doesn't mean they just have the trucks for no reason. Having a second or third vehicle to drive instead of the truck when your not carrying/towing something doesn't make sense to many people considering the high cost of insurance and all the other costs of owning an extra car.

 

Like so many vehicles, Tacos have undergone upsizing over the years. My '89 pre-Taco Toyota pickup which was basically the same model before they introduced the Tundra and had to differentiate was a bit smaller than the '08, although I believe the mileage was quite similar. My guess is that Aerohead has a 4x2, those do better, and it probably wouldn't be hard to get into the 30s with a bit of tweaking the aerodynamics and driving with some hypermiling techniques with such a vehicle.

 

I am aware that the V6 Tacos get in the high teens for all-around mileage. A bunch of the guys over in the Tacoma forum talk about how they are driving 80mph on the freeways and getting "around 20 average" mpg. Yeah, right.

I do hear ya on the topic of people who own trucks and use them as an "all purpose" vehicle. Lots of folks like that around here. The typical 25-40 year-old blue-collar type may have a wife (spouse.....not wanting to be sexist here!!), a couple of kids, a dog, a 4-wheeler/snowmobile/dirt-bike/boat for recreation, and enjoys hunting, fishing, camping, and ends up getting a truck....with a double or at least extended cab and capable of towing, in order to "do it all", but then finds that his/her mileage utterly sucks. But I'm not sure I totally buy that as most, not all but most, families in this day-and-age have at least two vehicles. Seems to me that one could be a reacreational/occasional use vehicle like a truck or SUV, and the other an economical commuter car.....like a Prius!!

 

LOL, talk about ironic. I see that a lot too around here big trucks roaring past people not going enough over the speed limit without paying any attention to the stoplights ahead. Course a lot of teenage kids in cars do it too.

 

That's the typical setup for people who really need a truck. I grew up on a farm in farm country, and most everybody has a pick-up truck for that kind of thing (and hauling a small boat to a nearby fishing lake). For everything else they have a beat-up Escort or Civic or something that's used for all the trips into town to buy groceries or parts. Often out in actual rural areas the outdoorsmen use the small vehicles there too, as you can park a little hatchback next to a bridge without a real pull-off and no room for a big vehicle, and still do your fishing.
You don't see nice SUVs in these kinds of places. Ever. People who buy SUVs almost never use them any different than a minivan or station wagon at best, a compact car is a more likely suitable replacement. People who need space for hauling work material either get a pickup or a panel van. You could outlaw SUVs tomorrow and people wouldn't be affected except for their sense of pride and identity.

Things will change, perhaps quicker than you think. A year of $4/gal gasoline will change attitudes and pretty soon we'll talk about the giant SUVs the same as we talked about the 1970's 'boats' that our parents tried to pawn off on us kids in the 80's.

 

Interesting post, and very true from my observations as well. If you go out into a truly rural area where people actually work the land, as opposed to yuppies pretending to be "country folk", you just don't see many SUVs, or if you do they are old beaters probably picked up for a modest price. Around here you will see some nicer newer trucks in that setting, however, but most will tend to be pretty basic and very utilitarian. Nice high-end SUVs and trucks are driven most often by town or suburban people or the aforesaid faux farmer/yuppie hybrids......not referring here to hybrid vehicles!

I daresay that a large majority of expensive SUVs and big quad-cab 4WD diesel trucks rarely even see a dirt road, much less any stretch of actual off-road travel. They are basically the "cool" version of a mini-van in actual practice, but I do sense the beginning of a shift in that value-system motivated entirely by the price of gas.

 

Feeling prophetic? March car sales were higher than truck sales.

See thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/45035-car-sales-outnumber-light-trucks-march.html

See article:
Auto Sales Downturn Continues - Seeking Alpha

 

What?? You're so wasteful. Why drive a 5-passenger mid-size car to work when you're the only occupant? A 70mpg two-wheeled conveyance is all you need, as you say, "most of the time." And these things cost $20,000 LESS than a Prius!!! So you do the math.

 

Geez, now I feel dumb. I'm gonna rush right out, trade my Prius for a GM vehicle

 

Yes this is far far far more important for our country than more smaller hybrids.

IMO all large vehicles such as 1/2 trucks, midsized trucks and BOF SUVs should be required to use GM's 2-Mode hybrid system..or something very very similar.

Smaller hybrids offer a significant savings is if a driver of a relatively inefficient vehicle like an Expedition dumps it in favor of Prius or HCH. That's a HUGE savings in fuel, but those 'conversions' just don't normally occur. It's much more important to our country to address the worst problem first; i.e. large trucks, SUVs. Make them all hybrids!! That will do us a lot more than a driver of a Corolla switching to a Prius.

The 2-Mode ( or similar ) technology increases the city driving component for a given vehicle by 50-60%. IOW that driver when in 'City-Mode' uses 1/3 less fuel than he normally would have. 14 mpg for a gasser V8 Tahoe vs 20 mpg for a 2-Mode. Saving 1/3 the fuel normally used is a big advantage for us.

 

Part of my reason for this opinion is based on fleet vehicles and true work vehicles. There are a lot of them and they generally get the most milage per year, the worst MPG, and often the fuel is payed for by the company so driving efficiently is usually not a concern.

 

I own a Prius and a Tacoma pick-up truck

Although I own a Prius for commuting purposes, I also own a gas guzzling '08 Toyota Tacoma V6 4x4 pick-up truck (15 MPG City, 18 MPG Highway). Contrary to what you may believe, I am not ignorant and I paid cash for my truck. I own this truck because in the Upstate New York town in which I live, we have an average of 66.1 inches of snowfall per year. I also own a boat which I tow on a trailer, so I need a vehicle which has a towing capacity of at least 5000 pounds.

As for hybrid pick-ups, if Toyota makes a hybrid version of the Tacoma or the Tundra, and it has the same towing capacity as the gas version, I will be the first in line to buy one!