Review
If you believe some people then the Toyota Prius, and cars like it, represents the future of personal transportation. It uses a hybrid drivetrain - a petrol engine working in conjunction with electric motors - to "regenerate" some of the energy that ordinary cars lose through braking and cruising, allowing it to turn in turn in impressive fuel economy figures without the need to resort to a dirty diesel engine.
That's the theory, anyway. The reality on British roads is slightly different, where even the most well-driven Prius will have serious difficulty in getting close to its 65.7 mpg combined fuel economy figure. In truth it's been designed for traffic clogged Californian freeways rather than Britain's faster-flowing motorways, and for most journeys the fuel economy is little better than that of a conventional petrol-powered hatchback - and considerably worse than a similarly sized diesel.
Fortunately, for those looking to pin their green credentials to their sleeve, the Prius requires users to make a minimal number of sacrifices when it comes to being, well, pious. From the user's point of view, pretty much everything about the car is conventional, from the unexciting styling to the spacious cabin and unintimidating driving experience. It can feel a little bit odd when the car pulls away from a standstill under exclusively electric power, but once the engine fires up (driving through a clever constantly variable transmission) it feels like you're in charge of a conventional automatic.
Performance is impressively keen, at low speeds at least, with the electric motors giving a welcome slug of power when called upon to do so. The flip-side is poor motorway performance, with the Prius's comfortable cruising speed being a fair bit less than that you'll typically find on a British motorway. The ride feels rough and lots of wind and road noise get into the cabin. On twisty roads it acquits itself honourably, lacking much in the way of grip but staying safe and predictable as the limits approach.