USA Today
July 13, 2007
Now if they could only do something about shimmy
Nissan finally began offering a fuel-saving, low-polluting, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in the USA earlier this year, some six years after rivals Honda and Toyota pioneered the technology here.
While pledging to have a Nissan-developed hybrid, as well as a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle, in U.S. showrooms in 2010, Nissan is marking time with an Altima midsize sedan powered by rival Toyota's hybrid system. It's also used in the Toyota Camry hybrid. (Test Drive, July 28, 2006.)
Wanting to test the market, Nissan is selling Altima hybrid only in the handful of states with strict clean-air regulations where the automaker needs near-zero-emissions cars, and where it thinks buyer interest should be high. Those are California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. They have 25% of the U.S. population, according to Census Bureau numbers.
You don't have to live in those states to buy one there. You can make your purchase and take the hybrid home to wherever. Nissan dealers across the USA are set up to service them and supply parts.
Nissan says it sold 2,788 Altima hybrids from Jan. 30 launch through June 30. In that same period, Toyota sold 25,269 Camry hybrids, says industry-tracker Autodata. Camry and Altima both are recently redesigned, midsize, four-door, front-wheel-drive, family sedans. Prices and fuel economy ratings are similar.
"We have an awareness problem, no question," says Mark Perry, Nissan product planner. The car needs a bigger push, but Nissan can't justify the cost of national ads for an eight-state car.
Camry hybrid has the advantage of being sold everywhere, but it no longer qualifies for an income-tax credit. Altima offers a $2,350 tax credit to buyers who aren't subject to the federal alternative minimum tax.
Assuming you can get your hands on one, would you want one? A vigorous maybe.
Altima — hybrid or not — is sportier than Camry. It feels more agile in corners, has a firmer ride, is quicker to scoot when you nail the throttle. The gasoline engine in Altima is Nissan's own and has 11 more horsepower and 24 more pounds-feet of torque than Toyota's gasoline engine in the Camry hybrid.
Camry is lusher inside.
If your big issue is drivetrain smoothness, Altima's not for you. The gasoline engine shakes and shimmies when it automatically starts and begins augmenting the electric motor's power. Most hybrids mask the shakes much better than Altima, although the Camry hybrid is no champ in that department.
Perry says Altima's stiffer chassis tuning transfers the engine shudders more readily. "We can tune that out if people tell us they don't like it," he says.
What you get in return for the coarseness is a hybrid that's a lot of fun, save for slightly numb steering. Zings through corners. Really hauls if you jump the throttle. In fact, that leaping response is perhaps Altima hybrid's biggest lure: Less fuel but no less excitement.
Toyota's continuously variable automatic transmission, CVT, replaces Nissan's in the hybrid, and that improves the snappy feel of the car. The Toyota CVT uses what are called planetary gears. Nissan's usual CVT is a belt-and-pulley design.
The well-equipped test car, priced $30,535, had supremely comfortable leather seats, plenty of rear legroom and a luxury-car array of accessories.
Eerily, you'll often start without the gasoline engine running. Release the brake and motor off quietly on electric power. You can run up to about 25 mph for about a mile on electric only, using a light throttle foot. But acceleration is so leisurely that even patient drivers following you are likely to get ruffled.
In the manner of all hybrids, the gasoline engine shuts off when the car comes to a stop. The engine restarts immediately when needed.
The battery pack is recharged when you apply the brakes, which converts an electric motor into a generator and feeds electricity back to the battery. If that's insufficient, the gasoline engine kicks on and runs a generator. Applying the brakes causes a soft, distant, but clearly audible high-frequency whine. It's quieter on Altima than on some others.
Perry says the hybrid is about $4,000 more than a similarly equipped gasoline-only Altima. It would take about four years to recover that, assuming you can claim the tax credit; you drive 15,000 miles a year; gasoline is $3 a gallon; you achieve the government's projected mileage for combined city-highway driving of 34 mpg; depreciation remains about the same for hybrid and gasoline vehicles. The payback period changes if any of the assumptions change.
The Altima hybrid is mainly pleasing to drive: exciting performance, crisp handling, and the test car's 32 mpg around town. But it forces you to put up with irritating engine vibrations and, unless you live in those eight states, requires some commitment to purchase.
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