Tacoma Hybrid is a joke

I have a hybrid it definitely works that way. Mine will come on at any speed if the batteries are charged up to a certain point. And the batteries are constantly charging as the engine runs.

 

Hmm interesting. What model car is it?

 

I’m pretty sure they all do that now I call it a real hybrid. I have a Kia niro non plug in.

I think people will add lifts, add all kinds of heavy bumpers, big AT tires so that’ll kill the mpg’s on a hybrid anyways so I guess the hybrid start assist will help that. But a street truck work and back and around town the “real” hybrid would have been awesome.

 

It's going to drive so much nicer on the highway. none of this stupid shifting that all the 3rd gen's complain about (and 2nd gen as well, as mine used to go 4-5 often.. but my 3rd does 4-5-6 often which is slightly more annoying). It will drive more like my gs350 where it can sit in 6th gear all day on the highway without downshifting. much quieter/ more relaxing. Super jealous of the torque boost.

 

"Real hybrid" but drives a battery attached to a generator lol (non plug-in). Your engine eventually has to switch on to charge your battery so you can drive in "real hybrid" mode.

A hybrid is a hybrid. Doesn't matter how it achieves power generation, or how it uses said power.

 

So OP has a "real hybrid"

 

Toyota is trying to make whomever happy with “it’s a hybrid now” but as soon as you see the mpg you’ll know it’s a joke. And their numbers will be the best numbers possible not real numbers and wait till it gets cold hybrids don’t like cold.
I changed thread title to make everyone happy.

 

Seems to me they knew the low end torque would suffer due to the small engine size so they threw in some hybrid assist to help with towing and offroading

They never intended it to be a 50/50 split like a Prius

 

I mean he should just get a Prius or ford maverick at this point

 

Once again, MPGs don't tell the whole efficiency story. At the end of the day it's still a pickup truck and still has to deal with shitty aerodynamics and a heavy body/frame/box.

Hybrid isn't about "making someone happy." It is quite literally a step towards the future to extract as much energy (EFFICIENCY) out of our fuel as possible until electric vehicles are cheap and feasible to maintain on our power grid.

 

Exactly. Which is why EPA ratings for hybrids are higher city and lower highway.

 

OP definitely would think Maverick is a "real" hybrid because it gets 37MPG. At the end of the day it's still 1000lbs lighter with 164 less horsepower lol.

 

Take a 4 cylinder. Put an electric motor on it so everyone can brag about the torque at 1700.
Put a turbo on it for better accel.
However tow rating etc stays the same.
You have to ask yourself, what for ?
So you can feel like you are in a more peppy vehicle with the added expenses and more maintenance ?

 

Low end torque didn’t suffer. The non-hybrid makes more torque lower than the 3.5 or 4.0

 

CAFE ratings and tailpipe emissions

This is not a new development, this is old news.

 

To the OP: you've called out the right thing, but you're calling it the wrong name. There are three main kinds of hybrid drivetrains: series, parallel, and mild hybrid.

True series is like a Chevy Volt: gas engine charges the battery, and the battery drives electric motors to the wheels.

Parallel is where the gas engine and electric motor work in tandem to drive the wheels, and the engine can also charge the battery, but the engine must be running when the car is moving. Honda Insight is the classic example here.

Mild hybrid uses a smaller system, like 48 volts, and essentially is fancy start stop with some starting assist. This is popular in the older chevy truck hybrids, and I think Ram has some of these systems as well.

The Prius and things like that actually switch between parallel and series mode, that's why sometime the engine shuts off when you're driving, but if you put your foot down, the gas comes back on.

The Tundra and new Tacoma are parallel hybrids, like the Honda Insight. You don't really get a mileage boost from the base engine, but what you get is more power without burning more gas. Or better mileage than a comparable gas engine (like a small v8 would post the same hp/tq ratings as the new taco iForce Max).

The other benefit to the parallel hybrid is it uses a conventional automatic or even manual transmission, which is good for trucks. I have a Rav4 hybrid, and I thought it would be a great powertrain for a Taco, but it would be really expensive and only able to tow about 3000 lbs due to the CVT, so it's a tough sell. It would also be slow.

TLDR: it's definitely a true hybrid, just not the kind you're thinking of.

 

Motortrend classifies it as series type.
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2022-toyota-tundra-hybrid-first-drive-review/

 

What could possibly go wrong?

 

You're not looking at the whole picture if you only consider power output.

Yes I am sure torque/powerband plays a role but so does suspension, drivetrain options, etc.

Take for example the new Colorado/Canyon - the ZR2 has the highest output engine they offer but is only rated at 6,000lb towing capacity. A lower trim Colorado with the mid-level output engine is rated at 7,700lb.

 

Well dang, there goes my understanding of the industry terms.

Good article, though, thanks for sharing. That really clears up the questions in this thread, and it's info from Toyota.