Hybrid vehicles are fairly cheap to run and have good fuel consumption. The Toyota Camry has two versions of the Hybrid. Camry H and Camry HL. Both of these have a 2.5L petrol engine as well as an electric motor. This gives out more power than the previous Camry had yet uses less fuel and produces fewer emissions. So this make this Camry a lot cleaner and more economical.
The Camry uses Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD). The fuel consumption is 5.2L/100km and the CO2 emissions is 121g/km. The emissions get reduced to zero in slow or stop-start traffic. It also uses a Dual Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i) friction reducing engine enhancements. The fuel capacity on the Hybrid model is 65 litres while on the petrol only models, the fuel capacity is 70 litres.
Like the Toyota Prius, the Camry can be switched to ECO Mode, this manages the accelerator inputs and also adjusts the a/c system so that it minimises the fuel usage. It can also be switched to EV Mode which uses more of the battery than normal. This would use zero emissions.
The transmission in the Camry is called (e-CVT) electronic continuously variable transmission. This along with the engine unit enables the vehicle to accelerate more smoothly and efficiently. No power is wasted when changing up or down through the gears.
The battery used in the Camry is a high power output, nickel-metal-hydride (Ni-MH) battery. The battery has been designed to last a lifetime. The battery never needs to be plugged in as it gets its charge from normal motoring and also gets a charge from reclaimed energy when the vehicle slows down or from the use of braking.
The Camry has been awarded a 5 Star ANCAP Safety rating. The vehicle uses a Safe T Cell. This incorporates a high tensile shell structure and impact absorbing crumple zones. There are also 7 airbags in the vehicle. This also includes one for the driver’s knees as this is deemed a common risk in vehicular accidents. The Camry also features Active Braking with intelligence (AB-i). This helps to stop the vehicle quickly and safely in the event of an emergency.
There is also a blind spot monitor which helps to avoid lane changing accidents and there is also automatic high beam technology, this will switch the high beam to low beam when sensing oncoming traffic lights.
The Camry has a 7 inch touch screen display that has Digital Radio (DAB+) as well as gps navigation with suna. Suna broadcasts real time traffic information. There is also bluetooth for hands free mobile calls.
If car rental companies in major cities, like Sydney do start to move their fleets to vehicles which are a hybrid or all electric like the then this would reduce their carbon footprint as well as helping to reduce their maintenance costs for their fleets and the need to refuel their vehicles. This would also reduce the cost for car rental in Sydney.