Drive On: Bamboozled by a Toyota Avalon Hybrid

It finally happened: We mistook a hybrid for a regular car, thought the powerplant was shut off when it actually was on, and came away embarrassed.

It could have been worse. The experience in a 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid underscores one of the problems that continue to dog the gas savers: Since they run on a mix of silent battery power and gas-engine power, it isn't always entirely clear when they are running or are shut off. It remains easy to walk away from a hybrid that a driver thought he or she had turned off but in fact was still activated. Dangerous? Well, yeah. No one would ever walk away from a vehicle with the motor running. In a hybrid, there are no clear signals, like a big green light, that blare "your car is running." It's supposed to be obvious, and maybe it is to drivers more astute than us.

We borrowed the Avalon Hybrid for a week earlier this month because it's a fairly significant new model that we needed to know more about. The full-size sedan came not only equipped with Toyota's list of features, but breakthrough looks that are expected to show up in other models.

It was the first Toyota hybrid we've driven in a while. The trouble began a few hours after the car was dropped off at our news bureau and after we had taken a short trip in it. When we went out to drive home, it appeared the headlights had been left on.

Uh-oh, we thought. Could it have a dead battery? We pushed the start button and got nothing more than few dashboard lights, or just what would expect from a car with a nearly dead battery. The engine wouldn't turn over. We tried again. And again. Finally, we called the service that dropped off the car and talked to the very helpful boss, a fellow named Jared. As we were explaining how we'd killed the battery in the Avalon Hybrid, the engine suddenly jumped to life — while we were sitting in the passenger seat. Our first impulse was that the car had had a big malfunction, a thought we shared with Jared. Then our next impulse was this was a car with a mind of its own, a hybrid. It had been running all along — in battery mode.

Our confusion aside, the Avalon Hybrid is an impressive performer. We drove it more than 1,000 miles and got around 40 miles a gallon. Yet the engine was silky and full of power when needed. In fact, we went the first 556 miles on a single tank of gas. We got that kind of gas mileage mostly on the freeway, but with a good share of around-town driving as well.

It's a big, comfortable car. The Avalon we drove out was decked out with every gadget that Toyota could load on — rain-sensing wipers, power rear window sunshade, spotlights outside the doors to help you see where you are stepping in the darkness, heated rear seats and a really handy adaptive cruise control feature. It felt decidedly upscale, but clearly drew the line apart from luxury, meaning Toyota was careful not to let it step across the line into Lexus land.

The price of the test car certainly had a luxury feel, though: $41,400 for the top-of-the-line Limited before delivery charges. Will the gas savings help defray the added price? Yes, although it could take awhile. Will we ever figure out that a hybrid is not a normal car? Give us time.