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Old 04-22-2009, 09:46 PM   #1
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Just wondering if anybody tows with a hybrid. I see on the web that a Toyota Highlander Hybrid is supposed to be able to tow 3500lbs. I didn't realize a hybrid had enough oomph. ratings is one thing, real life experience another.
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Old 04-22-2009, 10:09 PM   #2
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Just wondering if anybody tows with a hybrid. I see on the web that a Toyota Highlander Hybrid is supposed to be able to tow 3500lbs. I didn't realize a hybrid had enough oomph. ratings is one thing, real life experience another.

Hello Deb,

I tow with a highlander hybrid. I JUST got my 13' Scamp and it tows like a dream. I know that the 13' isn't much to tow, but the Highlander Hybrid really has a lot of power. I towed the Scamp over Donner Summit (in No. CA) last weekend and had NO slowdowns due to steep inclines...even when I saw several other vehicles (the BIG TOW VEHICLES) getting bogged down going uphill.

I met another person last week who tows a Scamp 16' with a Highlander Hybrid and who also has no problems with towing.

They are GREAT cars. The gas mileage when towing is less than I expected, but then the gas mileage on every vehicle is less when towing and I was probably expecting too much. I think that the lower mileage is more due to wind drag than weight and I am looking into an air foil for my roof rack to help that problem.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Smiles,
Crystal
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Old 04-22-2009, 10:09 PM   #3
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Hi: Deb H... The folks that bought our former 13' Boler are towing with a Saturn Vue 4 cyl. Hybrid. 1500# tow cap. I think. I don't know if they frequent this site very often tho???
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
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Old 04-23-2009, 06:35 PM   #4
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Thanks Crystal and Alf.
I was thinking of the Highlander hybrid. But I guess it's a little pricey for me now, as I'm looking at a new tug AND trailer.
An exciting time, but...yikes...expensive.
I was at the Toyoya dealer today, and it's surprising how little he knew about what's needed to get the car ready/adapted to a trailer.
Deb
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Old 04-29-2009, 09:11 PM   #5
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Thanks Crystal and Alf.
I was thinking of the Highlander hybrid. But I guess it's a little pricey for me now, as I'm looking at a new tug AND trailer.
An exciting time, but...yikes...expensive.
I was at the Toyoya dealer today, and it's surprising how little he knew about what's needed to get the car ready/adapted to a trailer.
Deb
I have an 06' Ford Escape Hybrid, looking to pickup a 13' Scamp to yank around. I had an old Apache hard side popup which is heavier than a Scamp and didn't have a problem towing.
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Old 04-29-2009, 11:23 PM   #6
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Rant on:

argggg..... Gasoline hybrids... what a joke. Won't get to far into it. Your welcome to yours and hope you have a long happy life with them.

Reality is take an effcient diesel that the idiot EPA wont let into the US and it will beat or meet an american gas hybrid in nearly every catagory. Think it is a non hybrid diesel that sits atop of a few world best catagories including greenest vehcile and best milage.

Rant off:

Sorry for the intrusion
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Old 04-29-2009, 11:30 PM   #7
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Question to ask someone in the know about the engineering of a hybrid.

During towing... will the gas engine end up doing so much of the work that it completely ends up negating all or a majority of the hybrid benefits ?
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Old 04-29-2009, 11:53 PM   #8
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my guess would be only if there was a lot of start and stop or hills.. as you may know it doesn't take much energy once you get something going. on a side note.. i hate hybrids as well. they actually have a higher "carbon footprint" than a hummer. due to all of the metallics and shipping involved in construction and replacement of the batteries once they lose charge capacity. a gas/electric is not the best combo for a hybrid ether. a diesel/ electric would be the best. similar to almost all of our ships. but as far gas mileage i don't think you would see to big of a difference when towing.
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Old 04-30-2009, 07:17 AM   #9
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my guess would be only if there was a lot of start and stop or hills.. as you may know it doesn't take much energy once you get something going. on a side note.. i hate hybrids as well. they actually have a higher "carbon footprint" than a hummer. due to all of the metallics and shipping involved in construction and replacement of the batteries once they lose charge capacity. a gas/electric is not the best combo for a hybrid ether. a diesel/ electric would be the best. similar to almost all of our ships. but as far gas mileage i don't think you would see to big of a difference when towing.
I used to work at a Toyota Dealership as a Salesman. I had to disprove the 'logic' that hybrids are worse than hummers about 3 times a day.

the study done by a marketing company that claimed the hummer had less impact on the environment than a prius in a life cycle, was not peer - reviewed, but unfortunately widely quoted in the media. the findings of this study have been discredited by studies of the same subject from MIT, Argonne National Library, and Carnegie Mellon's Lifecycle Assessment Group.

the biggest flaw in the CNW marketing study, is bogus facts and figures. it suggests that in a hummer's life expectancy, it will see 379,000 miles over 35 years, while a prius will only ever see 109,000 miles in 12 years. using those figures, of course the prius is going to look bad both financially and ecologically. fact is, prius could run for a million miles - I've seen high mile hybrids with only regular maintenance. yes, the battery does only have a life span of 12 years, but it is neither expensive nor is it worse for the environment to replace it, considering every hybrid battery changed by toyota is recycled, and about 95% of the hard materials (the outside of the battery, connectors, screws, etc.) are re-used. To date, the dealer i worked for has sold over 1000 hybrids, and hasn't replaced one single battery.

"hybrid batteries use lots of nickel, and the mining for that nickel is bad"

yes this is true, but this is not the only thing nickel is used for. Prius batteries, which contain 32 pounds of nickel each, require only a fraction of the world's supply. More than 94 percent of the 1.55 million tons of nickel mined each year is used for stainless steel, alloys, and electroplating. So the batteries for the one million hybrids toyota has produced so far have required only one percent of the world's annual nickel-mining production. Since the estimates on nickel recycling indicate about 80 percent is being reused, a million Priuses' share of newly mined nickel would really only be about two-tenths of one percent.

sorry for the rant, but that belief of the hummer vs. the prius is media hype that people take as fact and truth.
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Old 04-30-2009, 09:33 AM   #10
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Rant ON!

Facts about 'carbon footprint':

1. Its not the vehicle you drive - its the way you drive your vehicle.
2. I own an Escalade and an Chevy S-10 pickup - my 'carbon footprint' is less than a pastor I know who drives a Prius.
3. The high cost of gas/diesel in the US is a culture problem - not supply problem (i.e. just go the speed limit on a freeway and count the other vehicles going the same speed - "zero".

Rant OFF!

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Old 04-30-2009, 09:58 AM   #11
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Facts about 'carbon footprint':


2. I own an Escalade and an Chevy S-10 pickup - my 'carbon footprint' is less than a pastor I know who drives a Prius.
care to elaborate?
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Old 04-30-2009, 01:38 PM   #12
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Yes!

He drives about 4 to 5 thousand miles a month - I drive about 600 except when we go camping.

He gets about 28 MPG when he drives 200 miles round trip on the freeway going to see his mother - I get 22 miles a gallon on the freeway with the Escalade and 25 MPG with the S-10.

He gets about 38 MPG driving around to visit all the local hospitals and shutins and whatever else pastors do - I get 17 MPG driving round trip to the grocery and church.

He uses about 100 gallons per month - I use about 30 gallons per month.

OBTW, I would purchase an Escalade Hybrid a the drop of a hat, if the hat had and extra $30,000 in it.




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Old 05-01-2009, 04:38 PM   #13
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Hello Deb,

I tow with a highlander hybrid. I JUST got my 13' Scamp and it tows like a dream. I know that the 13' isn't much to tow, but the Highlander Hybrid really has a lot of power. I towed the Scamp over Donner Summit (in No. CA) last weekend and had NO slowdowns due to steep inclines...even when I saw several other vehicles (the BIG TOW VEHICLES) getting bogged down going uphill.

I met another person last week who tows a Scamp 16' with a Highlander Hybrid and who also has no problems with towing.

They are GREAT cars. The gas mileage when towing is less than I expected, but then the gas mileage on every vehicle is less when towing and I was probably expecting too much. I think that the lower mileage is more due to wind drag than weight and I am looking into an air foil for my roof rack to help that problem.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Smiles,
Crystal
Say, what are your highway fuel mileage numbers, both towing and non-towing, with the Highlander hybrid? My ordinary '08 Highlander gets about 13-15 towing, and about 24 by itself down the freeway. Just wondering how the two compare.
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Old 05-01-2009, 04:51 PM   #14
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Yes!

He drives about 4 to 5 thousand miles a month - I drive about 600 except when we go camping.

He gets about 28 MPG when he drives 200 miles round trip on the freeway going to see his mother - I get 22 miles a gallon on the freeway with the Escalade and 25 MPG with the S-10.

He gets about 38 MPG driving around to visit all the local hospitals and shutins and whatever else pastors do - I get 17 MPG driving round trip to the grocery and church.

He uses about 100 gallons per month - I use about 30 gallons per month.

OBTW, I would purchase an Escalade Hybrid a the drop of a hat, if the hat had and extra $30,000 in it.

So he has reduced his footprint with Prius. Since he has to drive 4 to 5 thousand miles in a month because of his job, imagine what his gas usuage would be if he drove an Escalade or the S-10.
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Old 05-01-2009, 08:34 PM   #15
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You are absolutely correct.

He had a Toyota Carola that was totalled in an accident so he had to buy a new car.

The Prius he bought was a year old and has been trouble free since he purchased it.
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Old 05-04-2009, 08:27 PM   #16
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Hi: Deb H... The folks that bought our former 13' Boler are towing with a Saturn Vue 4 cyl. Hybrid. 1500# tow cap. I think. I don't know if they frequent this site very often tho???
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
Hi Deb.... Alf is speaking about our Saturn Vue 4 cyl Hybrid.... it is OK but just barely once you get gear aboard we are right at the 1500 lb limit. We had surge brakes installed on our Boler 13 which helped a lot but that added weight as well. We are now looking to get into a different tow. Another problematic part is the wiring harness... the Saturn factory folks were not OK to keep in place the 7 point connector that provided for charging the Boler batter from the Saturn power supply. While gas mileage was very good, the power was just not there if you had to move and or stop quickly. Would not recommend this path. All the best....Denis and Thelma (Silver Billet...Peterborough ON)
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Old 05-04-2009, 08:57 PM   #17
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Hi: Denis& Thelma... Hope I didn't post out of turn!!! I was wondering how you were doing with your tug. There are times when I wish ours had a V8.
We are heading to Frankenmuth Mich. camping May 29 30 31 &Jn.1. Wanna join in the "Eier" Bavarian Style???
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie OOPS... back to your regularly scheduled thread...
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Old 05-05-2009, 07:25 PM   #18
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Thanks everybody, for your input.
I ended up with a RAV4 V6. Should do the job!
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