2016 TOYOTA RAV4 HYBRID

Economically fuel consumption with addition of hybrid powertrain

Hybrid vehicles introduced by Toyota have already made a huge impact on the automotive market since they were released. For the 2016 model year, Toyota is releasing more hybrid cars than the previous one. Riding on the hype that these type of vehicles have produced Toyota plans to include a hybrid version to all of its top selling cars by the year 2020. This time we review the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid option which gets to be released now for the 2016 model year. The car is already a good investment when you thing about fuel economy, The RAV4 has always had some good fuel economy specs and has provided the customers an efficient vehicle available at an affordable price. With the addition of a hybrid powertrain, they are setting the bar even higher, or lower as is the case with the fuel usage. The RAV4 hybrid will be the favorite vehicle for the people who are looking to save some money on fuel. A unique feature is that this time we will get to see a much different design of the RAV4 Hybrid version opposed to its base option. The car is much more distinguishable and sports a completely different design to its base counterpart. As you can see from the pictures provided, the car looks pretty good and if you want to see it in person the only way you can do that is at its release during the New York Auto Show. Read on to find out the specs and the price of the vehicle as well.

2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Exterior

The case with the exterior design of the RAV4 hybrid vehicle for the 2016 model year is that it looks much better compared to the base version of the car that comes out for the same model year. It has been updated to be much more modern looking and has a futuristic tone to it if you look at it closely. The most noticeable thing is that the front end of the car has taken a book from Toyota Mirai’s design and included it and made it its own. It is not a complete copy of course, but you can see where the idea comes from. The entire front look is actually exclusive for the Hybrid version of the car and includes an edgier fascia that has been added at the front with smaller headlights as well.

The back changes are not that exclusive but there are some. Most noticeable are the clear-lensed taillights which give a certain charm to the car. The rest of the changes are the Toyota’s signature blue highlight on the corporate logos and some new color schemes that this model includes. The offered color palate includes the Magnetic Gray Metallic, Super White, Classic Silver Metallic, Blizzard Pearl, Black Sand Pearl  and an exclusive new color that has simply been dubbed as Blue by Toyota.

Inside Changed Design

The inside has not been drastically changed for that matter. As the focus was to concentrate more on the exterior look of the Toyota RAV4 hybrid version, the inside was not updated that much. So if you are familiar with the interior setup of the base version of the RAV4, you will have no trouble in dealing with the hybrid version as well. The most noticeable changes, on the other hand, are seen on the gauge cluster as there are the hybrid components that are necessary for the function of the car added. Another thing is the interior spacing of the car. The added hybrid powertrain takes up a bit of the space which the RAV4 has. Actually the basics version is perceived as quite a roomy vehicle with ample cargo space, but when it comes to fitting the hybrid components it eats up too much space than people hope it would. Not to say that it’s too cramped on the inside but feels a little bit tighter compared to the roominess that is available in its base version.

Powertrain Specs and Horsepower

The powertrain of the 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid will still combine the same engine that was used before in its original shape. The 2.5-liter inline-four engine will combine with the hybrid technology but the power ratings have still to be announced. As we have no confirmation to say how much they actually are we can only say that Toyota has announced that it will be bigger than the 176 horsepower that the base version has provided. It will combine with an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission and come standardly equipped with Toyota’s Electronic On-Demand All-Wheel-Drive System. This system uses a separate rear electric motor that adds torque to the vehicle and increases acceleration. The EPA rating are also kept under the radar but as a similar powertrain combination has been used inside the Lexus NS 300h, we assume that the fuel economy will be somewhere around 33 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway.

Price and Release Date

The release date is excepted to be somewhere at the beginning of 2016 but the car will make its official debut at the New York Motor Show when fans can get to have a first glimpse at the new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. The information about the release date will come the closer we get to the show. The price on the other hand has already been issued. As the base XLE option comes at  $26,125 while the RAV4 Limited version is priced at $29,335, the RAV4 Hybrid will come with the offer of being available at $30,000.

TOYOTA BLEW ITS CHANCE TO MAKE A REAL CONTRIBUTION WITH 2016 PRIUS

 David Herron September 9, 2015Hybrid Cars

This week Toyota unveiled the 2016 Toyota Prius at a large press event in Las Vegas.  The catch phrase pushed by Toyota, “Beyond Possible”, makes me wonder why Toyota is so stuck on Hybrids and not moving forward into the future with battery electric vehicles.  Sticking with their tried-and-true puts Toyota not in the position of breaking new territory, but shying away from the bright new possibilities offered by plug-in battery electric vehicle technology.

It’s not like Toyota didn’t have a chance to explore that technology.  They did make an investment in Tesla Motors,the two companies did work together on the Gen2 Toyota RAV4 EV, etc.  There’d even been talk that Toyota and Tesla would co-develop a plug-in electric car once the Gigafactory was up and running.  But something happened and Toyota sold off their stake in Tesla Motors, and rather than embrace battery electric vehicles Toyota has pushed forward into fuel cell vehicles with the Toyota Mirai.

With that in mind let’s look at the little bit of information Toyota released about the 2016 Prius.

First off, this is the newest revision of the Prius platform.  In 2010 Toyota released the Gen3 Prius, and now they’re on the Gen4 Prius platform.

Automakers like to keep the same “platform” for a few years, doing minor revisions from year to year, and then making a major revision every 5-7 years.  It lets them get the most return on investment.

But, it being a new Prius Platform doesn’t seem to have changed the core design proposition — a hybrid drive train that still locks you into 100% complete dependency on gasoline.

In fact, the press release says zilch about the Toyota Plug-in Prius.  It’s possible that model has been quietly dropped from the Prius lineup.  The Toyota website, at press time, lists the 2016 Prius v and nothing else.  The press release talks about creature comfort changes and a few other things, but nothing about drive train choices.

The press release has a curious line – “it’s not just about MPG anymore” and “Today’s customers want all the traditional benefits of a hybrid, but don’t want to compromise on looks and performance”.

In other words, Toyota believes their customers simply want to get in and drive and not fuss around too much with specifics of the drive train.  The customers don’t even care about fuel efficiency that much, if Toyota is to be believed.  For whatever it’s worth, the press release focuses on style (looks, creature comforts, the size of the car, etc) over functionality.

I’d heard that in the early 1990’s Toyota had taken to heart the reality of Peak Oil and Climate Change, and set about developing hybrid car expertise as their contribution to addressing those threats.  Today’s Toyota doesn’t seem to care about those issues any longer.

MERCEDES BENZ HYBRID CAR

tHE FACT SHOW THE PERFORMANCE OF HYBRID CARS AFTER TEST DRIVE

2015 Mercedes-benz s550E plug-in hybrid

INSTRUMENTED TEST

Between instrumented tests and first drives, we’ve published 12 reviMews of the latest-generation Mercedes-Benz S-class in the past two years, spanning the bread-and-butter S550 to the opulent S600 Maybach and over to the sinister S65 AMG coupe. Let’s take that to lucky number 13. Enter the S550e, a plug-in hybrid for those who think the Cadillac ELR is a joke and the plug-in Panamera a bit too, well, Porsche. The added electro-tech is a no-cost option: A 2015 S550e will run you $95,325—exactly the same money as the V-8 car.

If we’ve reviewed a car 13 times in the space of two years, there is one of two things going on: 1) We find the vehicle continually newsworthy, or 2) you readers click the high holy heck out of S-class stories. There’s undoubtedly some overlap there. Plus, with all of the amenities thrown into the current-generation S-class, can you begrudge a heap of stooped scribes their turn at the tiller of what is unquestionably one of earth’s great vehicles? Having read instalments one through ten (you have, haven’t you?), you know that the S-class will offer you a hot stone massage, perfume the air, magically control both its body and the sky, largely drive itself, and generally treat you like the lord of a 206.5-inch-by-74.8-inch fiefdom.

So the story here is one largely of numbers. Let’s start with 18 miles. That’s the distance from the historic gold-mining town of Auburn, California to Foothill Farms, a census-designated place outside Sacramento. That’s also the distance the S-class carried us at 70 mph, using solely electric power, while steering itself. Our only intervention was to touch the steering wheel every 10 to 15 seconds to make sure the large sedan continued its autonomous, electrified undertaking. We should, however, qualify that accomplishment by noting that those 18 miles saw roughly a 1000-foot drop in elevation. As always, your mileage may vary, but if you have a 10-mile commute to work and a plug at the office, the S550e’s 8.7-kWh battery pack could put you, the VP of finance, on a carbon-footprint par with those quinoa-snorting Tesla drivers over in engineering.

With its turbocharged six-cylinder plus electric motor, the S550e is not exactly a Model S P85D. Still, a 13.6-second quarter-mile at 103 mph puts the plug-in only 0.2 second behind its lighter, twin-turbo V-8–powered sibling. On the drag strip, we found that the abrupt hit of power from the electric motor made it hard to launch, although it was a tad quicker than the off the line and recorded an identical 60-mph sprint of 4.9 seconds. In our lateral-acceleration testing, the plug-in suffered mightily against the V-8 car, posting a mere 0.81 g to the regular 550’s 0.87. Sure, the 482-pound weight penalty hurts, but we’d lay blame at the feet of the Michelin Primacy MXM4 all-season tires. Compared with the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 summer rubber on the S550 we tested, the hybrid gives up a big chunk of grip.

Which brings us to the one major luxury bugaboo with this S-class hybrid. Picture yourself in the Savile Row suit of a London banker who works in the city’s congestion zone. As a man of means, you’ve purchased an S550e to be chauffeured to work in, while neatly avoiding the onerous fossil-fuel fees imposed upon you by city officials, thanks to the car’s ability to run solely on electric power. But every time your man Stanislav attempts to modulate the brakes to bring the car to a jerk-free stop, he fails.

You know the old boy’s got it in him. When you picked up your Phantom, you had Stan trained by Rolls-Royce’s White Glove specialists. He does a bang-up job in the Range Rover; not so much of a speck of jam or clotted cream has fallen on your jodhpurs during jaunts to the country place. But this Benz hybrid’s regenerative braking system simply won’t allow it. Certainly, during a spirited romp on a rural lane, they work nicely, but you’ve got Dad’s old XK140 for those sorts of days out. This ghastly old brake business! It’s enough to make a chap contemplate paying the congestion charge!

And unless you’re assiduously plugging in or saving mountains of cash on parking or congestion fees, the hybrid S simply doesn’t make much sense over the V-8 car. The last S550 we tested came in at 20 mpg. This S550e Plug-In? 20 mpg. The car’s EPA numbers suggest 24/30 mpg city/highway, while the nonhybrid S550 posts 17/26. We drove the S550e as if it were a normal car. The full charge we used for our 18-mile freeway cruise came courtesy of charging the battery via the car’s engine, which is a wasteful way of doing things. If you’re religious about plugging in, your numbers could be drastically different (note the car’s 58 MPGe rating from the EPA, which surpasses the plug-in Panamera’s 50 MPGe score while coming far short of the ELR’s 82 MPGe). But if you’re considering an S-class for everyday duty, might we steer you toward the quicker, lighter, and—under our feet, at least—just-as-efficient V-8 model?

THE ADVANTAGES OF HYBRID CAR OVER CONVENTIONAL CAR

More advantages and benefit for using hybrid car especially for environment

Due to the rising cost of fuel and the environmental damage it causes to our planet, many car owners or buyers are looking for an alternative way to save money. Let's face it, fuel supply is finite and the prices of gas is only going to rise higher and higher. That is where a hybrid car has its advantages

Hybrid cars have been gaining in popularity in recent years. With lower cost of production and new hybrid car technology being developed, owning a hybrid car is becoming affordable to everyone.

Hybrid Cars Saves Gas

The obvious advantage of using hybrid cars is that it saves gas. Combining the cleaner energy of an electric motor with the long range capacity of a gasoline engine allows a hybrid car to save as much as 30 miles a gallon. One feature of hybrid cars is that the gasoline engine is shut off automatically when the car stops. This also helps in saving fuel. That is also the reason why hybrid cars are so quiet why it is stationary. The gasoline engine is automatically turned on when you step on the accelerator pedal.

Hybrid Cars Are Environment Friendly

Hybrid cars emit lower toxic emissions compared to conventional gasoline-powered cars due to less gasoline being burned. It is environmentally friendly, causes less pollution and releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If you do not know, carbon dioxide is one of the primary reasons for rising global warming. For example, the Toyota Prius can reduce tailpipe emissions by up to ninety percent and the greenhouse gas emissions by as much as fifty percent.

Tax Incentives For Hybrid Cars

Due to world political pressures around the world to reduce greenhouse emissions, President Bush signed an agreement in 2005 to provide huge tax relief to hybrid car buyers. The tax incentive varies by model and are based on two factors

1. How fuel efficient the hybrid car is compared to a conventional car in 2002 with the same weight class.

2. How much gasoline the hybrid car can save in its lifetime compared with an equivalent conventional car

For example, a Honda Accord hybrid car have reduced tax credits of $600 while a Toyota Prius has a tax credit of $3150. But the tax credits do expire after 2010 for most hybrid cars.

Hybrid car manufacturers are continually researching for more ways to reduce fuel consumption and better fuel efficiency. Also as more hybrid cars are being adopted, the cost of hybrid cars will reduce making it more affordable for everyone.

THE HYBRID AND HOW ITS FUNCTION

The fact about the Hybrid Function.

Defining Hybrids
A vehicle is a hybrid if it utilizes more than one form of on-board energy to achieve propulsion. In practice, that means a hybrid will have a traditional internal-combustion engine and a fuel tank, as well as one or more electric motors and a battery pack.

Hybrid cars are sometimes mistakenly confused with electric vehicles. Hybrids are most often gasoline-burning machines that utilize their electric bits to collect and reuse energy that normally goes to waste in standard cars. Theoretically, diesel-electric hybrids would be even more fuel-efficient, but hybrid systems and diesel engines both represent extra cost. So far, installing both in the same vehicle has proven to be prohibitively expensive.

Hybrid Car Glossary
Below are the terms most often used when referring to hybrid vehicles.

Motor-generator: The more accurate term for the electric motor. It provides supplemental acceleration "oomph" when operating as a motor by drawing electricity from the battery. Several hybrids have two, and a few models employ three.

Stop-start: Present on all hybrids, the engine's traditional starter motor is absent because the motor-generator takes on that function, too. Hybrid-control software shuts the engine off while stopped at traffic signals and automatically restarts it again with the electric motor when the driver releases the brake pedal. Eliminating the fuel waste of an idling gas engine causes overall mpg to climb significantly and tailpipe emissions to drop, especially in town.

Regenerative braking: An important function of the motor-generator is to generate electricity to recharge the battery as it absorbs a portion of the vehicle's momentum when slowing or coasting downhill. Normal cars waste all of their excess momentum as heat in the brakes. Regenerative braking is insufficient to stop a car quickly, so conventional hydraulic brakes are still necessary.

Electric drive: Operating the vehicle on electric power alone is possible if the hybrid system has enough electrical capacity. The maximum speed and distance over which electric-only operation can be sustained varies from essentially zero to a handful of miles, and has everything to do with the weight and aerodynamics of the vehicle, the strength of the motor-generator and, more than anything else, the capacity of the battery.

Hybrid Layouts
Not all hybrids possess these attributes in equal measure, nor do they operate the same way. It all begins with the layout of the system.

Series hybrids: This is the oldest hybrid type. Diesel-electric locomotives and ships using this layout appeared in the last century. In a series hybrid car, electric motors alone turn the drive wheels, so the motors must be large and powerful. But a series hybrid is not a "pure" electric vehicle. It has a dedicated engine that burns fuel and expels emissions. The engine powers a generator to produce the electricity on-board the vehicle.

The 2014 BMW i3 and the out-of-production 2012 Fisker Karma use series hybrid systems. But these cars from BMW and Fisker are also plug-in hybrids. More about that flavour of hybrid a little later.

Nearly every carmaker also has a series hybrid demonstration vehicle that uses a hydrogen-powered fuel cell instead of a gasoline engine to generate the electricity. Those cars, usually called fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), are expected to start entering the retail market in small numbers by 2015. Look for them initially in limited areas, such as the Los Angeles basin, where some sort of retail hydrogen fuel system is present.

Parallel hybrids: These are the simplest and least costly type in current automotive use. Here the output of the engine and the electric motor are blended together upstream of the transmission. The engine dominates, never doing anything except propelling the vehicle. An electric motor provides an extra boost, and if it's large enough, it may be the car's only source of propulsion for short distances. In conventional parallel hybrids, such as the Civic from Honda, regenerative braking is the sole source of recharging power for the battery.

Series-parallel hybrids: As the name implies, these cars contain elements of both types. Conceptually, the engine and the electric motor feed into the transmission via separate paths, enabling fully independent propulsion via the engine or electricity. In parallel fashion, the motor-generator can either bolster the engine's output or provide battery charging via regenerative braking. Series-parallel motor-generators are sizable, so electric-only operation (at low speeds for a couple miles) is a standard feature. The engine can still power the car, but it can also be reassigned to battery charging duty while the electric motor drives the vehicle: the classic series operation.

In a series-parallel hybrid vehicle, a computer monitors driving conditions and the state of the battery to decide which mode is most efficient at any given moment. The seamless blending of these modes is then carried out by a unique continuously variable transmission (CVT) that uses a planetary gear set as opposed to a system of variable pulleys and belts. Series-parallel hardware is more expensive, but the payoff in efficiency is huge: To date, these hybrids offer the largest gains in mpg, the highest electric-only speeds and the longest electric-only run times. Ford's C-Max and Fusion hybrids and all Toyota and Lexus hybrids use series-parallel systems.

Plug-in hybrids: These are not really a fourth type of hybrid because a plug-in could conceivably be based on any of the above layouts. Plug-in hybrids (also called PHEVs) began appearing in the market with the Chevrolet Volt at the end of 2010. Their distinguishing characteristic is a significantly enlarged battery that permits the electric driving range to swell beyond the mile or two possible with regular hybrids. It also provides a way to plug the battery into an electrical outlet for recharging while parked. The benefit of the plug-in hybrid is its ability to travel in all-electric mode for most short trips, reserving the gasoline engine for longer drives. That's a feature that can boost fuel economy into 100 MPGe territory. In addition to the Volt, plug-in hybrids include the Ford Fusion Energi, Toyota Prius and a version of the Honda Accord.

Hybrids, by Degree
Some hybrids have more power than others. Automakers have developed terms to describe their various levels of electric oomph.

"Mini" hybrids: This is a class that adds a modicum of electric assist to the stop-start system. Because these cars don't offer full hybrid capabilities, they can be built using very small and relatively inexpensive nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries to help keep costs down. General Motors pioneered the system, which it callseAssist, and first offered it in the four-cylinder version of the 2013 Buick LaCrosse. Buick intentionally avoided using the term "hybrid" with this system because it believes, as do most other automakers, that consumers have greater expectations for anything labelled "hybrid."

Mild hybrids: These usually are parallel hybrids without sufficient power to propel the vehicle in all-electric mode more than a handful of yards. The gasoline engine essentially operates all of the time and is augmented by the electric motor when more power is needed for accelerating or climbing hills, for instance. The 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid is an example.

Strong hybrids: These can be parallel, series or series-parallel vehicles. They have large enough electric motors and powerful enough batteries to provide some degree of all-electric mode, along with stop-start, regenerative and gas engine assist. The Toyota Prius was the first strong hybrid in the market and remains the best-selling of all the hybrids.

Vehicles with stop-start systems: This is another class of hybrid-inspired vehicles coming into the market, making use of the stop-start systems that were perfected for hybrids. They are not hybrids because they don't have two power systems (although some in the industry call them micro-hybrids). Instead, they use a beefed-up starter motor and battery or capacitor to provide the stop-start function but have no electric assist for acceleration and no other aspects of a conventional hybrid.

Still, stop-start systems can offer 3-10 percent increases in fuel efficiency and are expected to become almost universal as automakers strive to achieve rapid improvement in their fleets' overall fuel efficiency. The 2013 Ram 1500 HFE (high fuel-efficiency) pickup from Chrysler has a stop-start system. Ford offers auto stop-start as a stand-alone optional feature of the 2013 Fusion SE.

All About Batteries
Hybrids employ two battery types. Nickel-metal hydride batteries are used in almost all current hybrids, but they are not sufficiently efficient and compact for plug-in use.

Lithium-ion batteries that are durable enough for automotive use are the battery of choice for plug-ins and, increasingly, for newer conventional hybrid models. They are lighter and more energy-dense than nickel-metal hydride batteries. Battery engineers continue to seek the next-generation hybrid or electric vehicle battery that will offer even lighter weight, lower cost and greater range.

Whatever the type, hybrid batteries are considered part of the emissions system, and as such are covered under terms of the mandatory emissions warranty: eight years or 100,000 miles in federal emissions states, and 10 years or 150,000 miles in states that adhere to California emissions standards.

Other Hybrid Considerations
Because of its very different powertrain, automakers had to make changes to the basic accessory equipment of the hybrid car to allow the engine to shut off when cruising on electricity or waiting at stoplights.

Traditional hydraulic power steering needs a running engine to drive the required pump, so hybrid engineers employed electronic power steering (EPS) instead. Adopting EPS is easy because it's rapidly becoming the norm on regular family cars anyway. It's possible to retain hydraulic steering by using a remote electric pump, but so far only Porsche has experimented with this approach in the interest of maintaining excellent steering feel.

Air-conditioning systems also use an engine-driven compressor, so hybrids with enough battery capacity use an electrically driven compressor instead. Some lower-cost hybrids retain their engine-driven compressors, but their drivers must engage an "Eco A/C" mode to limit compressor function when stopped. If they forget, or choose not to, the engine can't shut down at stoplights and they'll miss out on much of the hybrid fuel savings.

Then there's the engine itself. Hybrids that employ a CVT can take advantage of the more efficient Atkinson cycle, a variation of the traditional four-stroke engine cycle that significantly modifies when air is let into the combustion chamber. The Atkinson cycle requires engine speed (rpm) to be relatively constant, and a CVT keeps the engine's rpm in the Atkinson "sweet spot" via its ever-changing step less gear ratios.