JamesEE, I doubt anyone posting here has a 'religious hatred' of SUVs. Sure there are nutjobs out there who view environmentalism as some sort of new age religious endeavor, done for the sake of Mother Earth rather than for the betterment of mankind. But I don't think you'll find many of them on GCC as most of them are living in communes with no electricity or busy releasing minks and beavers from fur farms. I think most of us here at GCC, actually like our way of life, and would like to maintain the status quo or even improve our collective standard of living. And many of us see the unnecessary use of SUVs as a major obstacle toward this end. The main reason I would never buy an SUV for myself is because it simply is not a practical vehicle for 99% of my usage. Sure, using too much oil is also bad for the environment and our national security, but even if it were not, an SUV is simply not economically or functionally practical for me, and I suspect the same holds true for the majority of people who buy them. Does it really make sense to buy a vehicle based on several 600 mile trips you are going to make each year, or does it make sense to buy the vehicle based on what you will be doing with it the vast majority of the time, which for most of us means commuting to work by ourselves on clean paved roads? For those few occasions each year where your car isn't up to the task, you could always rent or borrow a larger vehicle, or God forbid, maybe even hitch a small U-haul trailer to the back. I'm a capitalist through and through, and to me, that means, among other things, making wise purchases. For the average American, buying a $30,000 - $50,000 SUV as a primary vehicle and spending over twice the annual fuel costs for a vehicle that has inferior on road performance to a compact is akin to the decision to buy a big screen TV and leather furniture on credit by someone who lives in a small apartment or mobile home (and this is not uncommon- I had a friend who worked for Rent-A-Center, and was constantly repossessing such items.)

Rural driver will have PLENTY of trucks and SUV's to choose from when the next gas price jump occurs. There are tons of city drivers that won't want them anymore.

I don't think auto manufacturers should be producing many of them anymore, as the market is already flooded with them. It's the city commuter that the "SUV haters" are trying to convince. But it's like convincing an alcoholic to quit. They just won't until it really hurts not to. (Which will probably be this summer). Then all the farmers can come into the city and pick up a 2-3 year old truck for pennies on the dollar. With chrome wheels and a bass cannon in the back!

Until the introduction of the SUV, a typical American city of suburban family would have never even considered purchasing a large truck type vehicle for any kind of transportation, much less commuting. Somehow, over the last 20 years, this vehicle has evolved or devolved into some sort of necessity for a significant portion of the population. How our forefathers survived without this vehicle has apparently become a mystery.

It seems we agree that large SUVs and pickup trucks aren't an environmentally responsible choice for suburbanite commuters. So the question is HOW do you push commuters away from those giant monsters while still leaving the choice open for construction workers and farmers?

I'd vote for higher fuel taxes, but I doubt you could get 20% support for that. So higher crude oil prices will have to do it. That seems to mean we'll have $70/barrel oil and $3/gal gasoline again this summer. I hope this issue gets some attention during the 2008 campaign.

Driving in all electric mode in this car is not gasoline free. The only energy source the vehicle has is the gasoline you put in the tank, so all of its forward motion comes from that, directly or indirectly. It is a useful feature for shuffling cars in the driveway because it will avoid cold starts of the engine (a cold engine produces much more pollution than a warm one), but other than that it has limited use.

Until the battery can be charged by an energy source other than gasoline, the EV button is largely a marketing tool.

Peter:

Not quite. Gasoline ICE has max efficiency about 25%, and this is about what engine achieves when battery is recharged. During low-speed driving/acceleration efficiency of ICE is close to 5%. During idling efficiency is zero. Full electric mode effectively eliminates inefficient driving modes of ICE, and support AC for 20-30 minutes.

In addition, in one report professional driver wrote that the model of Civic Hybrid he tested drove him nuts. In traffic jam, when he had to move couple of yards and then stop for half a minute, every such event was accompanied with starting/stopping of the engine. Full electric mode for such situation is a must.

I'm always amazed that the focus of hate is only the SUV. What about gas guzzling V8 mustangs and other I have small "self esteem" cars. Why do they get a pass?

Andrey, that's a good point about gas engine efficiency being much lower at low vehicle speeds. EV mode would be useful for stop and go traffic where the engine computer doesn't "know" that you are in gridlock but the driver does.

Duane, I think the reason people lash out against SUVs but not sports cars is that many sports cars actually get decent mileage. The Corvette gets 28mpg highway, while this Highlander Hybrid gets 27.

How long will it take for the EV battery to recharge after the 1 mile limit?

The full electric mode could end-up as a massive innovation in places such as LA where you sit in traffic for a long time.

Say I'm going 10 miles, 1 mile full electric, 1 mile gas to recharge, that turns the highlander into 60+ mile per gallon vehicle!

At the first anniversary of 9/11, I bought a 150cc scooter in order to reduce oil consumption. My wife, mom, and friends disappoved that I would take such a risk, but I've driven it for 5 years (summer and winter) whenever I don't have our kids and their entourage. Now I'm planning to switch my minivan with a 7-seat Highlander Hybrid to reduce emissions. I need the seating capacity because I take our kids and their friends to school, soccer practice, summer camp, etc. Until I read these posts, I hadn't considered that I would be the scorn of people who think I'm wasteful and inconsiderate. If there's a more sensitive way to take 6-7 people around town, I'd love to have some suggestions. Please send to dichikawa@pacunion.com. Thanks, David

I just received my 2008 highlander hybrid. I am getting a pitiful 18 mpg average even in econ mode. That is about 7 mpg less than what the sticker says. Maybe there is something wrong with it.