I realize that this is a very old thread but, I just had to put my two cents in. I have a new 2024 RX450h+ and the eCVT in this vehicle is extremely quiet, silky smooth and is much more pleasant to drive than any vehicles that I now own or have previously owned over the many years that I have been behind the wheel. Forget everything that you may have thought about CVT's, as Toyota has rewritten the book on these transmissions.

 

Agree 100%. Fifth Lexus hybrid with a CVT and love the smoothness. Some have posted here a six, eight or ten speed transmission is smoother and quieter. How can shifting through ten gears be smoother than zero shifting. Our CVT transmissions have been extremely quiet. Just another plus for a hybrid along with better gas mileage and way fewer brake replacements.

 

No other company builds better hybrid drives than Toyota. Hey, they wrote the book on them!

 

It was my wife who was really gung ho on getting a hybrid. I had my reservations since I was aware that the transmission in these things were CVT. I am old school and like feeling the gears change and the cars I have rented on occasion with CVT's just felt weird to me. I was also reluctant about the hybrid since I was afraid the driving experience would feel more like driving a device than a car. However I have been pleasantly surprised on both fronts with the NX350h. The trans doesn't feel all that much different from a regular automatic and the paddleshifters allow you to "shift" up or down into different gears (or maybe more correctly pseudo-gears?). And the drive does not feel all that much different than a conventional ICE vehicle. The main difference is that I find myself driving the "mpg" if you know what I mean but it is nice getting the great mileage.

 

I've owned cars with a lot of different transmissions in my life. 15 years in ToyLex hybrids, but also several manuals, and 2sp, 3sp, 4sp, 5sp, and 8sp automatics, plus other CVTs. The Toyota eCVTs are truly excellent transmissions. Their only downside might be the lack of shifting (only for purists who also don't have boats or planes which also some how manage to work without shifting gears) and perhaps heavy duty towing. It will be interesting to see how Toyota's new Hybrid Max setup (which uses electric motors coupled with a 6 spd auto instead of the planetary gears in the current hybrids) will fair in the long term. These address the two main concerns of current hybrids, but will they bring other issues. While I don't have experience with Nissan's CVTs which I think seem to have contributed a large amount to the CVT hate, I had a Crosstrek (and currently a Forester) both with CVTs. These are not as refined as the eCVTs in Toyota hybrids but I find them very nice too. More of a mechanical feel (and they do offer "fake shifting" in the shifting pattern of later models to satisfy the purists), but otherwise they make those vehicles seem very responsive. Subaru's in general tend to feel very nice cornering due to the very low center of gravity in their engine design and AWD powertrain layout, and coming thru a corner their CVTs respond very nicely and get into power band extremely quickly. In my almost 45 yrs of driving experience, I've actually never had trouble with an automatic, it is actually the manuals that have given me the most grief. Had to get one swapped under warranty in a GM vehicle, and also had one in a Chrysler that while didn't need replacing, was generally a POS. The only manual not to give me grief was the one in my 1971 Toyota Corona, silky smooth. Thru the rest of the autos I've had, certainly the old 2sp and 3sp ones from the 70s tended to work well enough, but were incredibly simple. Over the years as the number of gears rose, the responsiveness and quality of drivability dropped. I do however remain quite pleased with the 8spd in my NX (the direct shift feature does make it very snappy shifting gears), but to be honest I still slightly prefer the eCVTs in my earlier hybrids and even the CVT in current Forester still feels a bit nicer (if not as quiet and smooth).

 

I think that you hit the nail right on the head.

 

I have had several CVT vehicles over the years. I had a '20 UX250H with the eCVT prior to our 2Gen NX. I was ok with it but I longed for a Hybrid with a standard automatic transmission. I actually looked at the current Hyundai SUV's that combine a Turbo 4 with Hybrid power and driven by a standard auto-trans. I thought their ICE was too small. Despite being turbos, I thought they were working too hard. Well, now Toyota has started implementing their Max Hybrid configuration, with a turbo 4 and a standard auto as opposed to the eCVT's in lower configurations. It's available in the Crown and Highlander Max Hybrid levels and now in the Lexus RX500H. It's blowing everyone away with performance. Mileage is impacted by this setup with estimates in high 20's only, but what's to complain with V8 performance?

 

From what I understand from the (excellent) video, is the gas engine is turning one of the electric motors to create electricity to the drive electric motors during acceleration. Incredibly simple and effective system that eliminates a ton of moving parts (ie. standard transmission). My 350h is my first hybrid and I love it!!

 

Our fifth hybrid and would never buy anything else. Great gas mileage, quiet, smooth transmission and never replaced a brake pad.