Hybrid Midsize Sedans

At the moment, the number of hybrid-powered cars, trucks, SUVs, and crossovers clamoring for your attention totals not two, or three, or four, but 13. This is no longer a parlor trick. Yet after two years of sometimes three-buck gas and a 600-expert U.N. report that pegs the human fingerprint on climate change at a 90 percent certainty, let's count, shall we, the number of hybrids that are selling in notable numbers. Ummm, one. The Prius.

What's the reticence here?

It's the kitchen-table economics of the hybrid-premium, pal. Everybody is an eco-altruist until it comes time to write a check. Even little ones. Is $50 per month reasonable? $10 way too much? We'll number-crunch how big or small that check is for Toyota's Camry Hybrid, Nissan's Camry-clone Altima Hybrid, and Saturn's Aura Green Line Hybrid. But first, we ought to get acquainted with these three electro-combustive marvels.

It's no exaggeration to say the hybrid version of the old U.S. of A.'s best-selling car drives like a Camry possessed. Its Hal-on-wheels sibling, the Prius, seems to have absconded with its personality. It clicks and whirs; signals it's ready to go with an electronic tone as if you've reached a desired floor on an elevator. Just like the Prius.

No surprise. Its motive architecture closely hews to Prius principles, though there are some notable differences. Primarily, the engine part of things is a lot more substantial, 2.4 liters to the Prius's 1.5, while it likewise employs an Atkinson-cycle for better efficiency (a slight twist on the Otto cycle where late closing of the intake valves reduces effective compression relative to the expansion ratio). This drops the 2.4's power from its customary 158 to 147; however, total power rises to 187 owing to the electric motor's 40-horse contribution.

Worry warts might be fretting about the complexity of this. Welcome to the modern world, Ike fans. If a car with a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty, an eight-year/100,000-mile hybrid component warranty (15 years and 150,000 miles in the case of our California-resident car), and a 10-year/150,000-mile battery warranty still scares you, maybe you ought to consider public transportation.

The battery-which stores enough spark to supply several households' electrical needs, says Toyota-is packaged just behind the rear seats. Although it's fabulously compact, it still wipes out about a third of the trunk, dropping its volume from 15 to 10.6 cubic feet. This isn't a strong selling point. However, at least it's configured in such a way that a small trunk-to-cabin pass-through remains for those urgent two-by-four moments.