# AC in a Camry Hybrid

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [July 2, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147 "2008-07-02T18:39:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![geezer72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@geezer72](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geezer72)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147/1 "2008-07-02T18:39:42Z")

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My wife swears that when she turns on the AC in her 2007 Camry Hybrid mileage per gallon goes down drastically. She claims that w/o AC her car does around 40 MPG and with AC around 34 or less. Please help

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147/2 "2008-07-02T18:45:10Z")

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Sounds reasonable. With the AC engaged the engine has to run constantly to drive the compressor and it’ll get roughly the same mileage as a non-hybrid Camry.

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**Author:** ![geezer72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@geezer72](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geezer72)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147/3 "2008-07-03T18:43:49Z")

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Thanks! Now that I thought about it your comment makes a lot sense. Instead of coasting, say, down a hill, the engine is constantly running because of the AC compressor. I was thinking that with new technology the compressor would not put that much load on the engine. But I just remembered that the engine is a 4 banger…  
Happy biking!

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**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147/4 "2008-07-03T18:51:22Z")

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It’s more than that. Most hybrids shut down the engine when sitting at a red light if the A/C is off. If it is on, the engine continues to idle, getting 0 MPG.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ac-in-a-camry-hybrid/16147/5 "2008-07-03T22:09:48Z")

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One other thing to remember - 34 mpg is still good. MPGs can be misleading, going from 40 to 34 mpg is a much smaller drop in gas consumption than going from, say, 18 to 12 mpg.