Fire up the... Toyota Prius

TOYOTA'S Prius at ten years old, is a global icon of the world's biggest car company, beloved of eco warriors and Hollywood actresses alike, and the first car you're likely to think of when it comes to saving the planet or saving at the pumps.

It is the hybrid.

Unfortunately, that means a quick science lesson. Hybrids are, as the name suggests, motors which use a mix of petrol and electricity to get you moving, with the
Toyota's 1.8 litre lump doing the sterling job of not only moving you about, but also helping to charge an electric battery, which in turn helps with the duties of swooshing along silently in traffic and in low speed parking manouveres.

Cast your eyes over the latest version, the third generation of the car, and it's definitely a love or hate job. Some of my passengers were instantly put off by the unusual proportions but to my mind it's the best looking Toyota hybrid to date, ditching the dowdy looks of its predecessor in favour of some crisp detailing, like the edgy headlights and alloy wheels.

It's the same story on the inside, which looks more like the cockpit of a spaceship than a rival to the Golf or Focus. The dials are replaced with a brilliantly bizarre computerised screen in the middle of that deep dashboard, and the gearstick is a minute, translucent blue affair which you'd swear has been nicked straight off a gaming console.

You have to forget the too-light steering and slightly stodgy handling and concentrate instead on learning the low speed coasting this car loves to get anywhere near the 70 miles to the gallon the Prius can and will do. There's even a game you can play to make it more fun; choose the animated display of the car's energy consumption on your car's Starship Enterprise display panel, and see how long you can get it to run on just electricity.

The Prius is also almost certainly a better bet than the rash of electric-only cars coming later this year, because after 100 miles on a longer trip you'll still be saving the planet long after the ‘leccy-driving do-gooders have run out of battery power and ground silently to a halt.

It's not an exciting car, but it is an impressive one.

As published in The Champion on January 26, 2011