we have a 2024 Grand Highlander Hybrid XLE, the regular 2.5 hybrid, not the Hybrid MAX. 245 hp. around Fort Collins it is a dream, high 30s in town.
Labor Day we are taking all six of us plus a rooftop cargo box to Glenwood Springs. that means I-70 west from Denver, the long pull up past Georgetown to the Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 feet, then Vail Pass.
anyone done that grade loaded in one of these? i am worried less about mpg and more about whether it will hold 60 with the semis or end up wailing in the right lane. the CVT drone is already loud on Horsetooth Road with two kids in the car.
not a hybrid owner but i drove a rented Highlander Hybrid up to Flagstaff from Phoenix last year, 7,000 feet of climb on I-17. it held speed fine. it did get loud and the engine never really rested. the electric motor helps a lot more at low speed than at 70 uphill.
the box on the roof will cost you more than the altitude will.
flatlander from Indiana here, so take this for what it is worth. our Telluride's 3.8 has about 290 hp at sea level and when we went to Estes Park it felt like a different car above 9,000 feet. you lose power to thin air with any engine. the hybrid at least has the battery, which does not care about altitude.
we cross-shopped the Hybrid MAX. 362 hp and it pulls hard, but the mpg is in the high 20s and it was a lot more money. the test drive guy told us most Colorado buyers in their store go 2.4 turbo or Hybrid MAX for exactly your trip. i would like to hear how the plain hybrid does.
a few things from the shop side. the hybrid system will lean on the battery on the long climbs and the battery will drain near the top, so expect the engine to work harder in the last few miles before the tunnel. that is normal. the inverter and battery have their own cooling, keep the rear seat area vent clear if your model has one under or beside a seat. kids love to stuff jackets on it.
coming down, use B or lower gears on the paddles. the regen does a lot of the braking work and your pads will thank you. on the way back east toward the tunnel from Silverthorne it is a steep climb too.
back home. numbers for anyone searching this later:
- Fort Collins to Glenwood Springs, 6 people, cargo box, about 1,000 lb of people and stuff total.
- up to the tunnel it held 60 to 65 in the right lane with no drama. the battery was nearly empty for the last mile or so and the engine was loud. we passed two loaded minivans with their flashers on.
- whole trip average on the dash: 29.4 mpg. without the box i think we would have seen 32.
- Vail Pass was easier than the tunnel climb.
one complaint: the climate control in row 3 was weak in the heat at Glenwood. kids said it was "sweaty back there." turns out we never switched on the rear zone, it was sitting on low the whole drive. the owner's manual for every trim is on toyota.com if yours went missing like ours did, and the rear climate section is about four pages in.
this is exactly the kind of report i love. 29 with a cargo box over the divide is better than our CX-9 gets on flat ground around Madison. bookmarking for the next person who asks.
