Test Drive: Altima hybrid offers a carload of fun, some shakes

— -- Nissan finally began offering a fuel-saving, low-polluting, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in the U.S. earlier this year, some six years after rivals Honda and Toyota pioneered the technology here.

While pledging to have a Nissan-developed hybrid, as well as a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle, in U.S. showrooms in 2010, Nissan is marking time with an Altima midsize sedan powered by rival Toyota's hybrid system. It's also used in the Toyota Camry hybrid (Test Drive, July 28, 2006).

Wanting to test the market, Nissan is selling the Altima hybrid only in the handful of states with strict clean-air regulations where the automaker needs near-zero-emissions cars, and where it thinks buyer interest should be high. Those are California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. They account for 25% of the U.S. population, according to Census Bureau numbers.

You don't have to live in those states to buy one there. You can make your purchase and take the hybrid home to Omaha or Denver or Richmond or wherever. Nissan dealers across the U.S. are set up to service them and supply parts, Nissan says.

Nissan says it sold 2,788 Altima hybrids from Jan. 30 launch through June 30. In that same period, Toyota sold 25,269 Camry hybrids, according to industry-tracker Autodata. Camry and Altima both are recently redesigned, midsize, four-door, front-wheel-drive, family sedans. Prices and fuel economy ratings are similar.

"We have an awareness problem, no question," Mark Perry, Nissan product planner, says. The car needs a bigger push, but Nissan can't justify the cost of national ads for an eight-state car.

Camry hybrid has the advantage of being sold in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, but it only qualifies for a $650 tax credit through Sept. 30. The Altima offers a $2,350 tax credit to buyers who aren't subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. Unfortunately, a growing number of people are hit with the AMT, and you don't know if you're one of them until you do your taxes next year, after already buying the hybrid.

Swell, you say. But assuming you can get your hands on one, and are willing to gamble on the AMT issue, would you want one?

A vigorous maybe.

Altima — hybrid or not — is sportier than Camry. It feels more agile in corners, has a firmer ride, is quicker to scoot when you nail the throttle. The gasoline engine in Altima is Nissan's own, and has 11 more horsepower and 24 more pounds-feet of torque than Toyota's gasoline engine in the Camry hybrid.