Top Hybrid Minivans for 2011

The market for hybrid minivans remains a niche in the automotive industry. You can keep your family safe during daily commutes and your fuel consumption low by tracking down the top hybrid minivans.

The Promising Future of Hybrid Minivans

If you stop at any dealership in the United States, you will find a serious dearth of hybrid minivans. You will find hybrid sports cars, sedans, coupes and trucks sold by major automakers. The hybrid minivan remains a narrow portion of the green vehicle market for a variety of reasons. Consumers should not fret, however, as automakers are hoping to attract consumers with hybrid takes on popular minivans.

The future of hybrid minivans in 2011 and beyond is promising due to the popularity of these vehicles. Families rely on minivans to get their children and relatives from place to place. Small businesses use minivans to shuttle personnel and cargo around town without the costs of delivery trucks. These demographics are critical for automakers to succeed in a competitive marketplace. The supply of hybrid minivans will need to catch up in order to keep these consumers in the fold.

Consumers should prepare for their favorite minivans evolve as hybrid technologies develop. Automakers are looking to decrease vehicle weight in order to increase fuel efficiency. The power associated with some minivans will give way to lighter engines that spare fuel whenever possible. Even the automatic start and stop features in hybrid vehicles may be unnerving to traditional minivan drivers. It is important for every minivan driver to keep in mind that the evolution of these vehicles is a positive trend. To balance costs, efficiency and safety, automakers need to play around with minivan designs in the next decade.

Major automakers like Toyota© and Honda© are known quantities among minivan drivers. We are beginning to see innovation in hybrid minivans coming from unlikely corners. French automaker Peugeot© is preparing to sell the 3008 minivan in Europe in the next few years. This diesel-powered hybrid minivan would push this iconic automaker into new territory. While the Peugeot 3008® is unlikely to leave Europe, it demonstrates that hybrid technology is beginning to change the traditional market for minivans.

Challenges to Hybrid Minivan Technology

Several factors are muddying the waters for hybrid minivans around the world beyond 2011. The major deterrent to hybrid minivan research and development is the rising popularity of other models. The sports utility vehicle (SUV) has gone from an expensive novelty in the 1980s to a family vehicle in the 21st century. Automakers have also introduced crossover vehicles that blend SUV bodies with sedan performance. As minivans have gained reputations for stodginess, SUVs and crossovers have taken their place in the minds of consumers.

Another issue facing automakers interested in hybrid minivans comes from development and retail costs. The cost of researching, developing and implementing any hybrid technology is expensive. A major problem for researchers is figuring out how to reduce vehicle weights in minivans. These vehicles carry multiple rows of seats and heavy bodies that contribute to their popularity among families. These costs are exacerbated by the fact that traditional minivans have fallen behind in sales to other designs. In the end, few automakers may want to take financial hits for creating hybrid versions of low-selling models.

As costs rise in R&D departments at automakers, consumers can expect to see hybrid minivans priced out of their budget. Families and small businesses accustomed to reasonable minivan prices might not be able to afford hybrid minivans. The proliferation of hybrid technology in other vehicle designs has made the minivan look obsolete. Toyota©, Honda© and other automakers need to introduce hybrid minivans quickly in order to keep these vehicles in front of consumers.

Toyota Sienna Hybrid®

Toyota© has been selling hybrid vehicles in Japan since 1997 with the first-generation Prius®. Among these hybrid vehicles was the Toyota Estima®, which first sold to Japanese consumers in 2001. This hybrid minivan sold for the equivalent of $27,000 USD and offered Japanese businesses sufficient storage for daily deliveries. The future of hybrid minivans in the United States may rest on an Americanized version of the Toyota Estima©. The Toyota Sienna Hybrid® is set to sell in the United States in 2011 and use technologies already incorporated into the Estima©.

The 2011 Toyota Sienna Hybrid® contains several innovations that could set this hybrid minivan ahead of the competition for years. The E-Four drive system allows for all-wheel drive with electrical power delivered via a rear electric motor. The Electronically Controlled Brake System uses wheel-by-wheel braking to apply pressure depending on the driving circumstances. A continuously variable transmission (CVT) operates at greater efficiency than auto transmissions. The 270-horsepower drive system allows for a fuel mileage of 40 miles per gallon on the highway. Toyota© projects that the Sienna Hybrid® could reach 60 miles per hour from a dead stop in eight seconds. The Sienna Hybrid® even features a 100-volt outlet that can be used for remote electrical power.

Honda Odyssey Hybrid®

Another hybrid minivan that is slated for release in 2011 is the Honda Odyssey Hybrid®. Honda© is trying to keep pace with Toyota© in terms of variety in their hybrid vehicle fleets. This competition has been at its most heated in the sedan market with Honda© releasing the Insight® and Accord Hybrid® to counter the Toyota Prius® and Camry Hybrid®. To stay out in front of the competition, Honda© is using its popular Odyssey® minivan as the starting point for a hybrid minivan.

The 2011 Honda Odyssey Hybrid® will look a lot like the standard Odyssey® used by families throughout the United States. These similarities will include three rows of seats, sliding side doors and myriad family-friendly optional features. Honda© is moving away from the Odyssey drive system in order to achieve higher fuel efficiency without sacrificing performance. The automaker is using a similar drive system to the Honda Fit® coupe that is popular among entry-level buyers. At present, Honda© has not offered much more in the way of specifics but is hoping to push the Toyota Sienna Hybrid® for consumers.