Honda says it recently got the good word from the feds that at least one version of its 2011 Odyssey minivan will be rated a remarkable 28 miles per gallon on the highway, just what Honda had predicted.
That makes the 2011 Odyssey, a major overhaul due in showrooms this fall, three mpg better than the current champ, Kia Sedona, and four mpg better than the four-cylinder version of the 2011 Toyota Sienna, a model Toyota launched to have a lower-price, higher-mpg model.
Odyssey's city rating of 19 mpg, though, is about the same as others'. Not posted yet on the government's fuel economy.gov because there's a lag between certification and publication.
Possible ringer: Nissan Quest. Nissan discontinued the Quest Nissan's redesigned Quest minivan is due early next year. This teaser shot from Nissan suggests the apperanance. No details have been disclosed, so it's unknown if Quest fuel economy will challenge Honda Odyssey's 19 mpg city, 28 mpg highway ratings.
Nissan Quest after the discontinued 2009 model, but jumps back into the small and fiercely competitive minivan market early next year with a new design. Nissan's not telegraphing the mpg ratings (or other details), but Nissan, recall, is trying for an enviro appeal, spearheaded by its Leaf battery car late this year. Have to be a big jump though. Previous Quest was rated 16/24 mpg.
Aggravatingly, Honda won't say (yet) whether all versions of the van will get that 28-mpg rating. It only says that it expects the Touring Elite (and doesn't that sound like the pricey version?) to get 19/28.
All Odysseys, though, will get the same 3.5-liter, variable displacement V-6 engine, Honda says. So if the good mpg is limited to one model, it's apparently due to more than just the engine.
Why no hybrid vans? Cost. Minivans, as family vehicles, are sold mainly to very cost-conscious consumers who would love the higher mpg of a hybrid but wouldn't/couldn't pay several thousand dollars extra for a gasoline-electric hybrid system. At least, that's automakers' thinking.
Toyota sells a hybrid van in Japan, called Estima, and has teased about offering a hybrid version of Sienna. There's a discussion of hybrid minivans at hybridcars.com that suggests the demand would be stronger than automakers think.
-- James R. Healey/Drive On
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/07/2011-honda-odyssey-fuel-economy-could-crush-rival-minivans/1
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