Where would we be without Digg? Thanks to the collective hysteria of a thousand Diggers, we learn that the Gas 2.0 blog is baffled by the fact that Toyota builds an AWD hybrid minivan that gets 40 mpg and doesn’t sell it stateside. Gas 2.0’s Nick Chambers has fond memories for Toyota’s old Previa, and damns its US-market replacement, the Sienna for being a gas hog. But the spiritual successor to the Previa, the Estima, has been sold to the Japanese in hybrid form since 2001. The baffling unfairness of it all even had the Union of Concerned Scientists in a tizzy, circulating an online petition urging Toyota to bring the Estima hybrid to the states. Which it almost certainly won’t. A hybrid Sienna is considered likely to arrive sometime around 2010, but that’s not impressing people who are new to the concept that US-market vehicles consistenly lag behind Euro- and J-market offerings in efficiency. “Yo, Toyota,” writes Chambers, “you’ve already got a minivan that half of the families in the US would kill for, what the hell are you doing investing so much energy in redesigning a has-been?” Dude, if you love it so much just buy one. Oh wait, does that say it costs $39,600? Now it’s starting to make sense…
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If toyota sells these, then they won’t have to cry foul over the tax incentives the Volt gets.
A) How can you be so sure that $39,600 will be the price available at US dealers? The site you mention is some gray market auto importer apparently not affiliated with Toyota.
B) Toyota has produced a hybrid minivan in Japan for many years. Why no stateside edition?
There must be an answer but your post does not contain it. When I e-mailed ToyotaUSA I never got a reply. Perhaps a journalist needs to dig around a bit.
The Estima is smaller and slower than the Sienna by a large margin. Up until very recently, small and slow sold like anthrax-dusted hotcakes in North America, or hadn’t they noticed the Mazda5’s lack of movement?
Yes, and “No one wants a hybrid small car” quoth the Detroit 3. ‘Hybrid’ is a fashion statement (smug or not) that people are willing to pay a premium for.
@quasimondo: it’s not a PHEV, so not eligible for a tax credit.
@psarhjinian: previously available with only a 4 cylinder engine, the current Estima offers the corporate 3.5L V6.
40MPG? Doubt it, Estima Hybrid weighs 2 tons and the powertrain (2.4L 4cyl) is similar to the (lower & lighter) Camry Hybrid’s, EPA rated 33/34. The Estima is also on the smaller side: L 189″ x 70.8″ x H 68″. Will Americans pay that $40k+ for a smaller hybrid minivan? (A loaded Odyssey or Sienna can be had for less than that.) SUV, yes, but this minivan fan is skeptical.
By comparison, a Sienna FWD is L 201″ x W 77″ x 69″ H, weighs 4200lbs, and starts around $23K. Automotive News stated last month that a hybrid Sienna might be coming in 2012, presumably sharing a variant of the Highlander Hybrid with V6. A Mazda5 is a bit smaller: L 181″ x W 69″ x 64″ tall, 3400 lbs.
I hope everybody that drives the Estima Hybrid isn’t as bored as this guy appears to be.
Check out 3:12 on the video – it looks like the second row seat slides back, and a footrest slides out. It’s like a Lazy Boy recliner.
Treehugger says that the Estima hybrid starts at $31,770. They also say it gets 47 mpg on the Japanese cycle. The weirdest part? “It is powered by a 2.4 liters gasoline engine (147 hp) and, depending on the configuration, either one or two electric motors (105 kW in the front and 50 KW in the back).” This explains the AWD part (and the cost), but makes it sound like this is not just another Synergy drive application.
Curiouser and curiouser.
We still have our ’95 Previa w/supercharger, which doesn’t seem to want to die–in fact just put a new set of tires on it. We don’t drive it as much these days because it’s a relative gas hog at about 20mpg, but for those times when we need to load up on people or cargo, we are reminded that this thing was seemingly based on a Toyota urban truck chassis, and as a result it’s darn near indestructible–poor crash ratings aside.
We also bought it at the time because our garage is relatively small, and unlike the domestic vans at the time the Previa fit inside without a problem. To this day I still find the Sienna too big and bulky to consider as a replacement.
There is still a reasonably sized group of Previa enthusiasts who share online tips to keep theirs running, and who quite often discuss how much they’d want the Estima (including the hybrid) on these shores. I’d look at it too, if the longevity is anywhere near what we’ve already experienced with the earlier incarnation.
Heck VW sold the Eurovan in Europe with a diesel engine and it got over 30 mpg.
We Americans need the speed and power though and thus we have to live with the low 20’s and high teens mileage.
Thanks but I’m happier going slow with better mileage. Always have been -even when gas was cheap.
I suggest releasing a vehicle with good mileage and only increase the power when the mileage and pollution standards can be maintained or improved. Honda did this with the CR-V from the Gen 1 to the Gen 2 adding 400cc and keeping the same mileage. Don’t know what the 3rd gen mileage is like.
Doesn’t really matter. Car makers have to do what makes money and people in general don’t seem to be attracted to the smaller engines. Again wants vs perceived needs.
Maybe Toyota figures a hybrid minivan isn’t distinctive enough in the US or the sales volumes wouldn’t be high enough. After all, they do sell the hybrid Highlander already.
bill h. : Does your Previa do the infamous whistle?
The “smaller and slower” argument is on the money – I even read such coming from somebody at Toyota once a long time ago. The conventional wisdom, even at the Japanese companies, was that you absolutely could not go down in size or power or the American public would revolt – and they didn’t want to sell two minivans for other obvious reasons.
Hence the bringing in of the Fit and the Yaris which are essentially the size of Civics and Corollas from a few generations ago.
That being said, it would be a huge winner, even if it only got 30 mpg combined. The fuel savings from 20mpg to 30mpg are much larger than those going from, say, 35mpg to 50mpg.
I can’t quite figure out if the Estima is mid-engined like the Previa from the pics. If so, that’s exactly why it will never come here. The Previa is the biggest deathtrap in the land of minivans, scoring so poorly in IIHS testing that the head of IIHS sold his immediately after seeing the crash tests.
Safety counts, and until everything gets smaller and lighter, no way in hell most families will go for this ride.
If I had kids, they’d never set foot in a JDM mid-engined minivan, unless we’re visiting Bermuda.
The video shows the engine right up front.
Dammit, no YouTube at work foils me again!
Isn’t there still a good amount of favoritism shown to hybrid only vehicles vs. hybrid versions of existing models?
Maybe bringing over a different model altogether would be a better strategy.
I think it’s neat looking and appears to be pretty peppy off the line (then again I drive a Mercedes-Benz 300 SD, so most vehicles look quick).
They’d have at least one guaranteed sale if they brought it here: Brangelina.
If I had a nickel for everytime a co-worker or friend hasn’t bemused why Toyota or Honda do not offer hybrid options on their popular minivans.
Honestly, this is something where there is strong demand as most people I know with 2+ kids traded in their Tahoes & Expeditions for minivans back when gas hit $3. Now that the pump prices are up another dollar they’re asking why they can’t get Camry type MPG’s out of the kid hauler.
TTAC readers tend to veer towards the driving enthusiasts side and seem to like the small people haulers like the Mazda 5, etc. But most people I know still want larger for the strollers, dog, room for grandma, etc. My local Honda dealer has said on several occasions he can’t keep an Odyssey on the lot. As fuel prices rise and the economic pinch gets tighter the minivan drivers I know will be looking at any and all available options for staying in the larger vehicle. Seems like a perfect void the Detroit 2.8 could fill….if they could make a halfway decent people hauler.