Prince Edward Highlander / Day 1 – Settling in

By John LeBlanc JULY 23 / Does the only hybrid family crossover you can buy work as a vacation vehicle? That was the lingering Big Question as our plane touched down at Charlottetown airport, earlier this morning. For the third year in a row, Toyota Canada has provided the wheels for our annual two-week family vacation in Prince Edward Island. Year one saw us haul a travel trailer behind a Toyota Sequoia SUV to P.E.I., an experience that put me off driving RVs for awhile. It also prompted me to cash in on the gazillion Aeroplan points I collect (spending more time in the air than a Formula One driver annually bringing you car stories from around the world) and flew the family into Charlottetown last year, where a new Sienna minivan was waiting for us to drive around the Island for a couple of weeks. This year, we had a redesigned-for-2011 Toyota Highlander crossover—specifically the gasoline-electric Hybrid model—for our 14-days of vacation transportation. Day one on the Island was all about settling into the house we rent near New London (above), just west of Cavendish. First, a quick lunch stop to check in with my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Hugh, Ontarian ex-pats who summer near Bedeque, just east of Summerside on the Northumberland Strait side of the Island. Then it was off to stock up for our first week's worth of groceries and post-driving adult beverages. Last year, we managed to get our four-person crew, luggage and grocery/liquor store haul crammed into our burgandy Sienna (left) together. But that was not going to happen in the less space efficient blue Highlander (right) earlier today. That forced us to drop off our belongings first, and then get our supplies. Obviously, the hybrid part of the Highlander equation is all about great fuel economy. Transport Canada rates it at 6.6L/100 km city, 7.3L highway. But we saw an average of 8.1L/100 km/h for our initial day’s 138 km of driving. Not bad so far. But we'll see how we end up after two weeks. We don’t have a real itinerary for annual P.E.I. time. Weather and individual family member moods will play a big role in deciding where we’ll ask our Highlander Hybrid to take us. Check in daily to see how it responds. Total kms: 138 Av. L/100 km: 8.1

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