2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid incorporates the latest advances in Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive technology, building upon Toyota’s 14 years of hybrid-development experience.
The 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid will have a MSRP of $36,350 for the lowest-price gas-electric hybrid version including a $795 shipping charge. The most expensive 2013 Avalon Hybrid Limited starts at $42,195, including shipping.
Toyota says the hybrid's price premium of $1,750 to $2,360 is the lowest of any of its vehicles, but it's not lowest in the industry. Lincoln is offering the new MKZ Hybrid at the same price as the equivalent non-hybrid model, and GM's Buick sets the same starting price for its LaCrosse gas and hybrid versions.
2013 Avalon Hybrid is slated to arrive at dealerships by the beginning of December.
Hybrid Synergy Drive
The 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder employing the Atkinson cycle to postpone closure of the intake valves and delay the compression cycle, helping reduce intake and exhaust energy losses to improve fuel efficiency. Engine efficiency is further enhanced by using a roller-rocker valvetrain, a variable output oil pump, and an electric water pump to reduce frictional losses. The engine also features VVT-i on the intake side and a revised combustion chamber shape for the Atkinson application. The gasoline engine alone is rated at 156 horsepower at 5,700 rpm.
The efficient Atkinson cycle four-cylinder is attached to a hybrid application transaxle that acts as a power-split device between the gasoline engine and the two high output electric motors housed in the transaxle. The transmission operates similarly to a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), but it houses a planetary gear arrangement that allows for switching between, and even combining propulsion sources (power split device). Low-friction bearings help reduce parasitic losses, and a flywheel damper helps reduce noise and vibration. The transaxle also houses the open differential. One of the motor/generators (MG1) is driven by the engine and functions as a starter and generates electrical power to operate the second electric motor/generator (MG2) and charge the hybrid battery. The second motor (MG2) operates independently to help the gasoline engine and deliver smooth application of electric power from a standing start and when accelerating. The regenerative braking supplied by the MG1 motor also helps slow the vehicle while recovering lost energy and converting it to electricity that is returned to the battery. The electric motors are rated at 105 kW total, and the total system output for the Avalon’s Hybrid Synergy Drive is rated at 200 horsepower. The Avalon Hybrid will accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 8.0 seconds.
The Avalon Hybrid is equipped with a proven 244.8-volt Nickel metal-hydride battery that is compact with superior cooling performance. This battery is comprised of 34 modules made up of a total of 204 cells. The Avalon’s compact battery pack has been installed inside the luggage compartment and close to the rear seat to help maximize trunk capacity even as the hybrid application moves the 12-volt battery to the trunk. The cooling system remains quiet by utilizing a brushless motor powering the cooling fan and strategic placement of the air inlet.
Other components in the hybrid system are housed in a power-control unit that resides under the hood and includes an inverter that converts high voltage DC (Direct) current to AC (Alternating) current, a water-cooled DC-DC converter that converts the voltage from the 244.8-volt Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) hybrid battery to 12-volt DC in order to power auxiliary devices and charge the 12-volt battery. A hybrid control computer manages all of the system’s components to deliver optimum power to meet driver demands while coordinating system functions. The power control unit is liquid cooled to maintain its temperature.
The Avalon Hybrid has an EV Mode, ECO Mode and SPORT Mode, with indicators appearing on the color display of the meter cluster. The EV Mode utilizes the battery energy to propel the vehicle using only the electric motor for about one mile at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour when conditions are ideal. The ECO Mode prioritizes fuel-efficient driving by reducing throttle response and energy consumption from the HVAC system to conserve energy. The Sport Mode helps create greater throttle response and acceleration, and a more positive steering feel through the EPS.
The structural weight management of the Avalon design benefits the Avalon Hybrid as the premium sedan tips the scales at only 3,585 lbs., which is only 124 lbs. heavier than the gasoline model. Reduced weight, clean aerodynamics and an efficient Hybrid drivetrain combine to give this sedan a combined 40 mpg EPA-rating (40 city/39 hwy). Taking the Avalon’s 17-gallon fuel tank into consideration, the Avalon Hybrid can offer amazing range from one tank (theoretically, up to 680 miles considering the EPA-rated fuel economy).
The new Avalon Hybrid model rides on aluminum 17-inch wheels with 215/55R17 tires which features a unique design with thinner spokes.
Exterior
For the mission of re-positioning the Avalon brand and shifting consumer perception of the sedan, Calty fashioned an exterior that offers a much more athletic expression in sheet metal. The new Avalon sedan represents a dramatic styling departure from previous Avalon models.
The 2013 Avalon’s elegant and athletic design offers a longer flowing roofline creating a more appealing side silhouette with a lower vehicle beltline that suggests a sense of motion with a road holding stance. Its chiseled shoulder line sculpted into side sheet metal starts over the front wheels and creates a strong, fluid body side design cue adding to its athletic stance. The new Avalon exterior is designed to communicate a greater sense of performance and agility to better match the car’s vastly enhanced dynamic capability.
Compared to the 2012 model, the new Avalon offers more compact and athletic exterior dimensions and with a greater styling sophistication that does not sacrifice interior comfort. The vehicle’s stance has also been improved with more taut and compact exterior dimensions. Overall height has been reduced by 0.98 inch (25 mm) while the overhangs have been reduced by 0.59 inch (15 mm) at the front and 1.77 inches (45 mm) at the rear. Filling the wheel well, the gap between the body and the tires has been reduced by 0.27 inch (7 mm) compared to the previous Avalon model. The new Avalon’s visual stance has been further enhanced by 1.29-inch (33 mm) reduction in width of the rear side rails surrounding the rear glass to tighten the proportions of the greenhouse.
Keeping with the more athletic and expressive design theme, the new Avalon’s exterior lighting compliments the design lines. The industry-first Quadrabeam™ headlight cluster utilizes a sleek and compact double-eye PES headlight design with two square glass condenser lenses that have been adopted for the low beams and offer outstanding lighting performance. Halogen and High Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs are available for low beam double-eye PES front lamps. Available Daytime Running Lights (DRL’s) using six high- performance LEDs bulbs are available lending a distinct, more modern image to the front of the vehicle.
A stronger, more expressive front-fascia design with larger grille opening creates an aggressive appearance while enhancing cooling air flow and pedestrian impact protection. The new Avalon’s exterior turn-signal indicators have been located at the lower section of the front bumper to contribute to the slim and sleek appearance. The 2013 Avalon’s sleek and sculpted rear tail lights utilize LED lamps to help ensure visibility and reduce the gap of unlit dark area between the trunk and rear quarter panel.
The hybrid model is distinguished by blue-trimmed Toyota emblems at the front and rear of the vehicle. In addition to unique hybrid badges located on the trunk lid, front doors and a hidden exhaust outlet. The new 2013 Avalon will launch with two new colors, Moulin Rouge Mica and Champagne Mica, to compliment overall color choices for consumers.
Interior
The all-new 2013 Avalon’s Calty-designed interior elaborates on the exterior’s elegant, athletic theme to create a premium interior experience that combines high technology and craftsmanship with an artistic level of sculpted surfaces. Looking outside the cabin, the sculpted dash panel and its concave surfaces in front of the passenger help add to the sense of the cabin spaciousness. This panel is covered in supple, hand-stitched premium soft-touch material with the seam adding some creative flair as it goes across the dash panel. The broad, low and layered dash-board design helps divide the panel area into a balance between an intimate driver space, with focused angles on the meter, and a wide open passenger space.
The instrument panel has been widened by 1.18 inches (30 mm) in the upper region and 2.56 inches (65 mm) in the lower region compared to the outgoing model, helping enhance the interior’s spaciousness. The driver is engaged by an Optitron-type combination meter, which produces a sharp, high quality display and 3.5-inch Thin-film Transistor (TFT) color multi-information display. The Avalon Hybrid’s display features a needle-type Hybrid System Indicator, which displays hybrid power output and regeneration. An Eco area on the dial display helps show when the vehicle is being driven in an Eco-sensitive manner, and it can help guide a driver’s throttle input to develop economical driving habits.
The new Avalon’s interior surfaces are finished in premium materials such as hand sewn soft-touch material for the dash panel, unique smoke chrome trim surrounding the center panel, and high-quality glossy panel trim around the shifter. All of this attention to detail to touch surfaces and subtle enhancements to texture and visual appeal are aimed at elevating the overall interior experience for driver and passengers. Extensive use of soft-touch materials helps enhance the interior’s feeling of quality and comfort. A generous, dense-foam support is used beneath the supple soft-touch material covering many of the interior’s touch surfaces, while a soft-skin surface with a deep foam construction is used for many of the dash surfaces to create a greater sense of tactile quality.
The new Avalon’s front seats offer revised side bolstering using a lighter, denser foam material that helps improve body positioning for driver and passenger. In keeping with the road-trip oriented nature of this premium sedan, the seats still offer a high level of comfort and support for longer travels. As for adjustment, Avalon’s seats are available as either 10-way or eight-way power adjustable for the driver’s seat, and available 8-way and 4-way adjustment for the passenger seat. Compared to the seats in the outgoing model, the new Avalon seats offer 0.40 inch (10 mm) more seat-length adjustment toward the rear limit and 0.40 inch (10 mm) more seat height adjustment. The driver’s seat incorporates a seat-cushion length extender available on the 10-way adjustable seat. A pneumatic four-way lumbar support is built into the driver’s seat and a two-way lumbar support for the passenger. An electric seat heater and seat ventilation system have been adopted to help enhance driver and passenger seat comfort.
The 2013 Avalon’s rear seats offer improved body retention with better side bolster support and also offer available rear-seat heating. Avalon seating surfaces are covered with a medium grain, genuine leather material or available premium leather with a finer grain.
The door panels are designed to help enhance the elegant nature of the interior while offering improved armrest comfort by incorporating foam that is 0.23 inch (6 mm) thicker than on the previous model. The door panel is also covered by durable synthetic leather with ornate stitching that matches the armrests. The available door panel pull cups are made of a premium soft-touch material, and LED lighting illuminates the door panel’s controls. Smoked chrome bezels and plated accents adorn the inside door handles and power window switch bezels to help improve appearance. The power-window actuation is handled by a variable-rate window motor that slows the window as it approaches the top of the window frame to help reduce wind noise and add refinement. All four of the new Avalon’s power windows are equipped with a window obstruction feature that reverses window operation when an object is detected.
Beyond styling, the Avalon interior remains highly functional with abundant and improved storage space. Located beneath the HVAC controls in the center console is the eBin™ electronics storage tray. This new tray design allows storage for two devices (cellphones or iPod for instance) side-by-side on a premium, higher friction surface. Charging jacks are located below the tray that can be opened and closed with cables passing neatly through the cable slot cut into the bottom of the tray. The tray is also illuminated by LED light for improved night visibility managing cables. Beneath this tray is an electronics storage box where devices can also be stored completely out of sight while charging. Two DC 12V power outlets, an AUX and a USB jack are accessible in the storage box.
A large-capacity rear console box is big enough to store a tissue box and also includes a detachable sliding tray to store smaller items. The convenient sliding armrest lid covering the storage box offers up to 1.61 inches (41 mm) of travel to more comfortably function as an armrest, and can be opened and closed in any position. The storage box also contains another 12V DC outlet to facilitate charging or powering accessories. To the left of the steering wheel is a coin box that can be actuated by push button control and utilizes a damper mechanism to help achieve smoother opening and closing. The new Avalon is equipped with a 0.24-cu.-ft. (6.9-liter) glove box with detachable tray can be locked with a key for security. The glove box is illuminated with LED light. The 2013 Avalon offers 16.0-cu. ft. of luggage capacity for the gasoline model and 14.0 cubic feet for the Avalon Hybrid model.
Advanced Technology
The new 2013 Avalon offers a long list of convenient, user-friendly technologies as one would expect with the Toyota brand’s flagship sedan, in addition to offering special features that enhance the car’s functionality, capability and the level of safety.
There are two types of climate control systems: one with three-zone independent temperature control and another with two-zone temperature control. The three zone system allows for temperature to be independently set for rear seat, driver seat, and passenger seat; while the two-zone system controls temperature for the driver and passenger seat. The new, highly efficient HVAC system adopts increased diameter ducting, which has been reduced in length and curvature to reduce pressure losses and minimize load on the compressor. A partial air recirculation door has been adopted for the air conditioner unit to help enhance air-heating performance. The HVAC control panel incorporates new IntelliTouch™ capacitive switches located under the grained panel surface. The innovative IntelliTouch™ controls have been tuned to operate conveniently with a light touch, and can even be operated by hands with gloves or longer fingernails. The HVAC fan speed is operated by use of a responsive touch slide. A TFT (Thin-film Transistor) color display is also available as the HVAC display, while a vacuum fluorescent display is standard equipped. A rear HVAC control panel is available on the back of the center console for the three-zone system. On the hybrid model, an electric-powered compressor is integrated into the inverter that enables air conditioning without the engine operating.
The Avalon features a standard Display Audio System with 6.1-inch TFT touchscreen that offers audio system operation, Bluetooth compatibility, customizable vehicle settings, available rear-camera display, driving information such as fuel consumption, and operation of iPod® and USB devices. The head unit is also available with HD radio broadcasts to provide high quality sound. The Avalon Limited model features a Premium HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Navigation system that includes a seven-inch, high resolution touchscreen display that helps enhance operability. The system utilizes and, DVD playback capability, split-screen capability, audio information or vehicle information can be displayed together with a map on the main navigation screen. The system also includes a music search feature that utilizes a voice driven search for iPod® or USB connected device.
Avalon will also feature Toyota’s Entune™ multimedia system, which functions through a smart phone interface and brings applications such as Bing™, iHeartRadio, MovieTickets.com™, OpenTable®, and Pandora® to the vehicle audio display. This audio configuration also features real-time traffic, weather, fuel prices, sports, and stocks.
The Avalon is available with either eight (Display Audio), nine-speaker (Display Audio with Entune) or 11-speaker JBL Synthesis® 7.1 channel matrix sound system (Premium HDD Nav system) that offers outstanding audio system performance. The Premium HDD system offers phenomenal sound quality through 11 JBL speakers with GreenEdge™ technology and includes two subwoofers. A 12 channel external JBL synthesis amplifier also helps boost power. The nine-speaker system utilizes two four-channel amplifiers (one internal and one external) to help boost audio power levels.
The new Avalon is equipped standard with a Smart Key System that locks and unlocks the front doors, and a trunk opening feature that enables opening of the doors when the key fob is within a short distance of the door handle. The key fob’s transmitter also allows the engine to be started with the push of a button. The Avalon is equipped with an available rear window power shade that blocks direct sun rays for the rear passengers. The switch activating the power shade is located above the coin box on the instrument panel, and the shade adopts an auto-down function when shifting into reverse. A lighter weight power sunroof design has been adopted to help reduce vehicle weight. The inner rear-view mirror is available with a variety of functions such as a microphone, a compass display and a garage door opener. LED backlighting helps ensure visibility of the buttons in the dark.
Safety Technology
Avalon is available with two millimeter wave radar systems that help add an additional measure of occupant safety. An available Blind Spot Monitor uses radar to enhance safety by helping detect vehicles in the adjacent lane where drivers may be challenged to see them. The same radar technology has been adapted to offer a Rear Cross Traffic Alert that is designed to detect low-speed cross traffic behind the vehicle. The Blind Spot Monitor indicators are on the outside mirrors’ surfaces with a display that also appears on the color display, and it can be activated from the blind spot monitor switch on the instrument panel. For the Blind Spot Monitor, the millimeter wave radar sensors are tuned to detect vehicles larger than 125-cc motorcycles at over 10 mph, with a maximum detectable speed differential of 26.8 mph. The system’s detection range spans from about 10 feet to 2 feet depending on vehicle location.
The Avalon’s Rear Cross Traffic alert uses the sensors in the rear quarter panels to help detect vehicles approaching from the side and behind the vehicle. If cars are approaching within the detection area, a buzzer will sound. The vehicle shift lever must be in Reverse to detect cars, trucks, vans and any vehicle over 125cc motorcycle. The maximum speed of the Avalon can be five mph with a maximum speed of the approaching vehicle not to exceed 18 mph. The system continuously measures the relative speed and position of the approaching vehicle to calculate a potential collision moment, which is the expected time that the vehicle will cross the driver’s path.
The Avalon also includes a back monitor display as part of the available back-up camera system, which uses guidelines superimposed on the display to indicate approximate distances.
A Dynamic Radar Cruise Control feature is also available that helps reduce the driver’s workload by using radar sensor at the front of the vehicle to help control speed and keep a safe distance from the vehicle running in front. The radar controls the vehicle speed within a preset range to help maintain vehicle to vehicle distance.
Like all Toyota models, the Avalon features the STAR™ Safety System, which includes Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRAC), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), and Smart Stop brake-override Technology (SST).
Warranty Protection and Toyota Care
Toyota’s 36-month/36,000 mile basic new-vehicle warranty applies to all components other than normal wear and maintenance items. Additional 60-month warranties cover the powertrain for 60,000 miles and against corrosion with no mileage limitation. The hybrid-related components, including the HV battery, battery control module, hybrid control module and inverter with converter, are covered for eight years/100,000 miles.
The 2013 Avalon Hybrid will also come standard with Toyota Care, a complimentary plan covering normal factory-scheduled maintenance and 24-hour roadside assistance for two years or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first.