Roja..that was an amazing amount of effort to answer that question. Unfortunately, Im convinced "it cant be answered" at least not in a way that is duplicatable. You see, there are too many factors, that can not be controlled: Outside temperature (which affects the delta t, the change in temp. If its 70 outside, and you want it 70 inside, then your ac should not run at all.). Also, affecting AC is "the degree to which" the sun shines on your interior, warming it up. This, of course, is affected by cloud cover and even the angle of the sun on your car, which changes throughout the day. And, of course, there outside wind, which can blow the warm air, or cool air, away affecting the numbers. Dont forget the humidity, and barometric pressure. Humid air holds more heat because water is more dense than air. In a real life setting, you could not duplicate the test and get the same results, because you would have different outside temps, as well as the other factors mentioned. Only inside a building, with carefully controlled temp, humidity, wind, etc., could you figure out any useful numbers.
While I appreciate your thoughtful question, "not every" question has a great answer. Many questions can only be answered by "it depends on the circumstances".
Its like asking the question, "How far is it to Grandma's house?" That makes sense to a six year old, but we cant calculate that, because we dont know where we are at, and we dont know where "grandma" lives. If we know the starting point, the ending point, and the route, we can calculate "how far", but, since we dont know those variables, all answers are guesses, and based on assumptions that are also a guess.
I call it a "kindergarten bias", where we assume, "there is no such thing as a stupid question." Unfortunately, yes there is. Here is an example: "Why is your wife so ugly?" Yep, that is a stupid question...its not really a question at all, just because it contains a ? at the end. Its really an insult meant to start a fight...and will often succeed. If you want to start a fight, you should instead be direct and say, "lets duke it out". Insulting a man's wife with that stupid question will almost never end well, regardless of the result. Truly, its "one example" of a group of "stupid questions". Further, there are many, many other stupid questions. Yes, I know our kindergarten teacher had very valid reasons to explain "there are no such things as stupid questions", but unfortunately, its not accurate. And, she had a "noble" intent..meaning no harm, to get kids to ask those questions instead of fumbling through. If "Billy" has a valid question, then "Susie" probably wondered the same thing.
Still, we should really consider whether this "question" we are asking has a great intention, or is it really a not so cleverly disguised insult. Or, that the question "assumes" something that is likewise incorrect. "Why is your wife so ugly?" violes both the "disguised insult" principal, and, also, the "based on a false assumption". It "assumes" YOUR evaluation of his wife's appearance is flawless, when, indeed, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and, fortunately, many of us vary in "what we perceive" to be beautiful. I think my wife is beautiful, but not every man would share my opinion evaluating her appearance.
Your question was a good question, but one that could only be answered by, "it depends on the circumstances".
I have a 2023 Sienna XLE, and I have noticed the fuel economy goes down when its cold, and up when its warm. Others have also noticed this. I can conclude the heater on a hybrid operates less efficiently than the AC.
A hybrid is probably not all that efficient in a place with consitently cold temperatures. But, it works well in southern states where the average temperature is much warmer. I have a "mix" where its cold a couple months a year. But the 10 months or so per year when my van is highly efficient still makes it worthwhile to go with the hybrid.
Im convinced the hybrid is the "sweet spot" between the disadvantages of an all electric vehicle (mostly the pain in plugging it in, and the range anxiety), and the disadvantages of a gasoline engine (which costs a lot of fuel to keep it going). Right in that sweet spot, is the hybrid..no plugging in, no worry about how far till your car dies, but gets great mileage. The "dual fuel" hybrid, also circumvents the real possibility that electricity price could well outpace the prices of gasoline, especially as more and more electric vehicles increase electric demand. Lastly, I love the hybrid as I beleive a major upgrade in battery technology, could well mean our Sienna hybrids "could" at some point be converted to a plug in because newer advance tech batteries could mean that this new battery fit right where our current battery is, and it would then be, with an added plug in charger, an electric vehicle. With advances in solar, its possible we power our car with solar panels on the roof, and we never pay a cent for fuel of any kind. Its hard to wrap your head around that, but, wrap your head around a RAM pump, which actually pumps water UPHILL without electricity or gasoline power. Incredible, but true.
www.siennachat.com
i camped in mine in texas heat- galveston. the motor would tun on after about 15 minutes it burned maybe 1/8 of a tank for running for 12 hours on LO and all blower motors on full blast.
