Toyota Prius fourth-generation e-car
Still king of the hybrid hill?
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Review While the name Prius hasn't achieved the same degree of synonymity as Transit or Mini, it's still the one nine out of ten motorists will think of when you say the word 'hybrid'. You can thank Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio for that, and the fact that Toyota have sold 1.2 million of the things since the first one rolled off the production line back in 1997.
Toyota's fourth-gen Prius: greenest yet
For the Prius' fourth incarnation, Toyota has delivered a car that is entirely new. And so it needs to be because Honda is also now competing for hybrid market share with its equally clean-sheet-of-paper Insight - reviewed here.
We said all that needed saying about the physical similarities between the Insight and the Prius when we reviewed the former in August. Driving the Prius has only reinforced the similarities. A couple of casual observers even asked when we had changed the colour of our car.
Despite being marginally longer overall and in wheelbase than the Insight – 4.46/2.70m vs 4.40/2.56m – the Prius is only slightly more spacious in the rear. While boot space is also a little better, you still won't be using it to shift wardrobes about. Sit up front and there's very little in to choose between the two cars when it comes to space.
Rear visibility is another feature that is equally poor in both the Prius and the Insight, but our top of the range T-Spirit test car came with a handy combined satnav and rear-view camera which made reversing less of a gamble - as did rear headrests smaller than those found in the Insight.
Five doors but not acres of space
Settle in behind the wheel of the Prius in the rather stiff seats and press the on/off button – nothing so arcane as a key here – and... nothing happens. Well, nothing other than the central LED dash display coming on and the word Ready appearing.
COMMENTS
Not this old chestnut.
"Like the Insight, the Prius uses a CVT transmission..."
No it bloody doesn't. The Insight does indeed use a conventional CVT 'box as Honda's "replace the flywheel with a motor/generator" approach means that you can tack any transmission you like to the result.
The Prius has a Torque splitter. A sun and planet gear assembly, much as seen in a conventional differential and the gear ratios used in this are fixed. However, the first Motor/Generator (MG) is attached to the sun gear, the engine to the planet carrier and the second MG and wheels to the annulus. Thus it is possible to adjust the relationship between the speed of the engine and the speed of the wheels by varying the load on the sun gear via the simple expedient of how much 'leccy is taken out of / put into MG1. Incidently, a side effect here is that there is no reverse gear in the conventional sense. Reverse is purely electric, courtesy of MG2 although power may be taken from the engine via MG1, with the torque splitter running in bass-ackwards mode, to provide the necessary "oof" if the battery's a bit on the sad side.
Look it up, it's very clever and very much the "secret sauce" of the Prius. Don't bother with the wiki article though, it's complete bollocks. Try here: http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/toyota-prius-iii-hybrid-e-cvt-transmission-info.html
@greeno99: Simple. The hyrids to date have been Japanese. The Japanese motor tax calculation is based on overall emissions as they haven't clambered onto the carbon cultists' bandwagon. Diesels suck here big time as they're basically smog generators on wheels. Also the turbo assembly occupies too much room both physically and in surrounding airspace requirements for heat dispersal (you can shrink a petrol engine down dramatically when you rip off the starter, alternator, airco pump etc). This is why the proposed Pug hybrid has the 'leccy motor driving the rear wheels as they can't get an entire hybrid assembly into one end with the oil burning lump.
I actually bought one
I had a 15 year old Audi 80 diesel which gave me 50-60mpg which I had intended to replace next year. However
- my old Mum found the seat uncomfortable
- several bits(not of the byte sort) were a bit dodgy and my MOT was going to be expensive
- dear Gordo had made diesel more expensive than petrol
- some idiot had arranged to refund me £2000 for a load of crap
I chose the Prius because
- my old Mum found the seat comfortable
- I wanted a reasonable size saloon
- I wanted a good mileage
- the vehicle tax is zero
My experience has been
- the best was 76mpg on a 10 mile journey over an inadequate A class road with about 3 miles in a 30mph area
- 66mpg on a 220 mile journey over motorway and A class road split about 50/50 and going as fast as was safe for the road including some 30mph areas in towns
- never less than 60mpg for any journey although it does dip below this with a lot of uphill during journeys but then the downhill kicks in
- EV mode is not required because it defaults to electric power if you trundle around slowly anyway
- ECO mode is good if cruising at a steady 25 -35mph but needs to be disengaged if doing a lot of acceleration even at slow speed in traffic
- acceleration in no-mode is more than adequate but engage PWR mode and it rams your back thru the seat back. You can engage/disengage by pressing a button as you go along so you get the extra oomph for overtaking and cut it once you are cruising again
- the central console makes it impossible to enter via the passenger side if some idiot blocks the drivers door
- rear visibilty is poor and even forward visibilty for parking nose in is more an estimate than a visual judgement.
- the interior plastic is definitely a rather cheap let down but who cares its a car not a girlfriend
- I intend to keep the vehicle for about 15+ years and being "green" played no part in my decision although the fuel consumption and zero vehicle tax is a benefit of greeness.
Overall I am pleased with it and although it has some quirks like the foot handbrake and no ignition key (just a starter button like when I learned to drive) you soon get used to it.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Clarkson
The "study" cited by Clarkson (and many others who stop looking once something says what they want to read) was not research but creative marketing propaganda based on data that was more than 40 years out of date. A moment with Google is all it takes to find real research refuting the claim that a Hummer is more environmentally sound than a Prius. There is only one "report" claiming otherwise and its repeated ad nauseam by those who stop thinking.
As for nickel in batteries, its not as if the nickel is consumed. Same as for lead-acid batteries the Prius battery is too precious to throw in the landfill when its easy recycling pickings for material.
Is no surprise the Prius got poor MPG under Clarkson's conditions. The whole time the Prius tires were sliding sideways. The other car by comparison never slid its fat tires. Takes a lot more energy to push a tire sideways than let it roll forward.
As for Diesels solving all the world's energy needs, there isn't that much Diesel available. There is only so much that comes easily from a barrel of oil and we are already over that limit. Diesel costs more than gasoline in most of the world, including the USA *because* its relatively scarce.
We don't see many Diesel cars in the USA because it is very difficult to smog to EPA specifications. I believe my 2008 Ford F-250 SuperDuty 6.4L Powerstroke Diesel is more complex than my 2007 Prius. Both the F-250 and the Prius are the best vehicles available here for what they do.
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