Toyota Camry hybrid not designed for traffic logged countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia./ Camry Hybrid not meant for Malaysia

I have owned Toyota Camry Hybrid for almost one year  and I have managed to drive and recently serviced my car at the 30 , 000 km  interval which costs approximately Rm 459 or around US 110. What I want to share today in this blog is how unrefined the Camry Hybrid is in the Malaysian context .

The issue that I want to highlight is whether the Camry Hybrid is really suitable or appropriately designed for road conditions in Malaysia and in Southeast Asia in general? I really believe that the Camry Hybrid that is sold in this country is designed more for the US  and  Australian markets . I think it's also not misplaced in countries such as  UK where there is no bumper to bumper crawl at speed around 3 km an hour. The presence of  roundabouts in UK is a blessing. I have traveled extensively in Uk and  I've spent 7 years studying in the United States. So I know the road conditions in those countries and  I am certain that the Camry when it was designed it's  meant for European and American countries and not for Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia.

This is because the car  does not really measure up to the Malaysian road conditions . In countries in South east Asia we have to face heavy  traffic jams and we will get stuck sometimes for hours just to travel just for a few kilometers I think the Camry Hybrid will perform extremely  well in countries like the UK or US where the traffic jam is not heavy and that  traffic keeps on moving. The traffic in those countries will keep on moving albeit slowly and  very seldom it's stuck for more more than 10 minutes. The main  battery in the Camry would  be able a to sustain a s slow but moving traffic .

 The Camry is not specifically designed for SEA markets.The engine in the Camry would be recharging constantly and this affects the quiet ambience of the car and makes driving the car a constant irritation in heavy traffic. The battery in the Camry does not have enough power to sustain more than one hour of traffic jam. I would say that the plug in hybrids would be of great help, Jam logged countries like Malaysia would be better with  PHEV like the Chevrolet Volt and Probably Hyundai Ioniq. But Toyota Malaysia is always slow in introducing innovations in countries like Malaysia, The people  in Toyota Malaysia are run by bureaucrats who are more interested in maintaining status quo and optimising profits.

My advice to people who want to buy EV car is just to wait for PHEV like volt or other Chinese brands like BYD. If you live in  the suburb in areas where there's no heavy traffic the Camry is almost flawless, It;'s really comfortable and reliable car.