Overview
The 2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid’s cabin pampers you with opulence and luxury. It’s plush and loaded with notch features. When you are on the go this experience is made even better by the Camry’s futuristic hybrid powertrain. It consists of a 2.5litre petrol engine and an 88kilowatt electric motor. The powertrain delivers a buttery smooth ride which is further complemented by a softer suspension setup that soaks up road undulations rather well. It takes off on pure EV mode and the petrol engine comes to life when you build up speed. The transition is extremely smooth and jerk-free. Thanks to the excellent refinement and cabin insulation, it’s hard to notice when the petrol motor comes to life.
Exteriors
On the outside, it takes a keen eye to distinguish the 2022 facelift from the pre-facelift version due to subtle changes. Primarily at the front, the grill with the tea badge is a bit limmer now and doesn’t dip into the air dam like before. The Camry’s prominently defined inverted hexagonal air dam is in line with Toyota’s modern design philosophy. However, the air dam extends into the fog lamp housings and is flanked by C-shaped chrome elements which add more flash to its styling. In addition, it also gets attractive two-tone multi-spoke alloy wheels.
Interiors – Comfort and infotainment features
Now one of the highlights of this 2022 Toyota Camry hybrid is the fact that it now gets a new freestanding touchscreen infotainment system which also packs in Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The new touchscreen also gets physical knobs to control volume. You have physical shortcut keys on either side of the screen to access the menus. In general, it’s pretty easy to get acquainted with.
In order to accommodate, the new 9-inch free-standing screen, the central air vents have moved below and the other change on the inside is the forward which now is in a darker shade. The rest of the cabin, the packaging, and the features remain unchanged over the 2019 version. This sedan is still extremely well kitted. It comes with features like a heads-up display. You have three-zone automatic climate control. You have a sunroof. You have cooled front seats which are also electrically adjustable. The driver’s seat also has a memory function. There’s wireless charging and it offers all the features that you would expect in a car at this price.
2nd Row seating
The rear seat is really comfortable. It offers almost sofa-like comfort with really soft cushioning and a good amount of thigh support. You get a touch operable control panel with which you can recline the back rest to a really comfortable angle. To free up knee and leg room, you can electrically move the front passenger seat ahead to really stretch out and get extremely comfortable. There’s also a sunshade that blocks the sunlight and lands a certain degree of privacy in the cabin. The backseat passengers also get a third zone for climate control. So, the driver can have a separate temperature set. The front passenger can have a separate temperature set and the passengers at the back can have an individual setting too.
Other goodies in the back seat are rear AC vents and two USB charging provisions.
The ride quality of the 2022 Toyota Camry is really compliant. It absorbs the bad roads really nicely and offers a really comfortable cushy drive experience.
2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid Review
2022 Toyota Camry is all about smoothness and seamlessness. The riders will definitely appreciate the utterly seamless drive experience of this car. You start off in complete silence in full EV mode so long as the battery has charged. It’ll even do the daily urban grind using only electricity. It’s only when the battery runs out of juice or when you demand that sudden burst of power does the 2.5litre petrol engine kicks in. It gives you that immediate burst performance. The transition between fully electric and petrol mode is absolutely seamless and it’s only when you hear the faint pour from under the bonnet that you’ll know that the petrol engine is in action.
The Camry’s power delivery in petrol mode is silky smooth and step-free all throughout the rev range. The hybrid pattern ensures fuel builds are well under control and this Camry offers unreal fuel efficiency of 16 to18 kilometers per liter in the city which can even put budget hatchbacks to shame. Owing to your calm and composed character, you wouldn’t mind leaving this car in Eco mode but on the occasion that you want to have a sporty drive or when you’re getting late for a meeting, you can press sport mode, and then it does build speed rather rapidly. It’s on that occasion that you will find the e-CVT wind a little bit. The rubber band effect that we’ve come to associate with CVTs that’ll make its presence felt. It’ll also do the zero to 100kilometers power sprint in a rather respectable 9.56 seconds. But this car’s mature persona encourages you to relax and adopt a sedate driving style.
Now even from the front seat, the ride quality is surely compliant and passengers won’t have a reason to complain when you miss that sun pothole or speed breaker coming in your way. It isn’t a Skoda Superb and it doesn’t feel sporty from behind the wheel but keeping the customer profile in mind and keeping how most drivers will drive this car, it does the job and it does it in a really competent manner.
2022 Toyota Camry – The Verdict
So in conclusion, the 2022 Toyota Camry hybrid still remains an extremely competent car. It is focused on luxury. It is focused on comfort and it is focused on utter seamlessness. That’s where the Camry hybrid excels. This car with its hybrid powertrain is very fuel efficient, especially in the city. Now with features like the touchscreen with the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and the cosmetic changes, it does bring it up to speed with the competition.
Speaking of competition, the 2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid’s closest rival is the Skoda superb which is roughly 7lakh cheaper. Thus making the Camry appear a bit overpriced but then factor in things like the sofa like comfort of its backseat, the utterly seamless drive experience, the hybrid technology as well as the reliability and dependability of the Toyota badge, and the Toyota Camry Hybrid could just come across as a sensible.
