SINGAPORE, April 11 — The new Toyota Prius might look like nothing else on earth, with its strikingly angular features and highly sculpted body, but what matters most about the car is what’s under its skin. The world’s first petrol-electric hybrid car is now in its fourth generation, and after nearly two decades in production, its fuel-sipping technology feels more refined than ever.
It works brilliantly, too. After spending three days and 420km with the Prius, I found that with a bit of careful driving, I could coax a fuel consumption figure of 3.6L/100km from the car on each of the first two days, a smidgen better than Toyota’s claim of 3.7L/100km. On one 20km drive into the central business district, I logged 3.1L/100km. Even after one careless day with time spent in the car’s zippier “Power” mode, the worst I managed was 3.9L/100km.
Real-world range
Car manufacturers’ fuel consumption claims rarely match reality, but it’s clear that in the real world, the Prius excels at doing what Toyota says it can do: Squeeze more from petrol than anything comparable in size. There is some clever engineering involved, but the basic idea has stayed consistent since the first Prius came out in 1997: Take a compact car, add electric motors powered by an on-board battery and use them whenever possible to give the petrol engine an easy life.
In Singapore traffic, the Toyota’s 1.8-litre engine gets to snooze surprisingly often. During my drives, the Prius’ display showed that it was functioning as an electric vehicle 60 to 70 per cent of the time.
That’s remarkable as the Prius has a battery so small that it can be topped up mostly by regenerative braking. That is, whenever you slow down, the Toyota recaptures some energy from the brakes and stores it for the motors to use later — you never have to plug the car into a wall charger.
Stealth appeal
While using all this “free” energy keeps the fuel bills small, it also results in an exceedingly well-mannered ride. When pushed along by electrons, the Toyota is quieter than a Bentley, and even when the petrol engine stirs, it’s more unobtrusive than a ninja. Sometimes you have to rely on the car’s displays to tell if the engine is running.
Those displays form part of the Prius’ appeal, too. The car’s cabin is straight out of Star Trek, with controls and screens that would have looked at home on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. They tell you if you’re driving in an eco-friendly way, help you track your fuel consumption or whether the Prius is in its zero-emissions, zero-fuel consumption electric vehicle mode.
One screen even tells you how much money the Prius is saving you on fuel bills, after you enter petrol prices and your old car’s fuel consumption.
Based on the 17,500km that the average private car driver travels in Singapore every year, switching from my Camry to a Prius would slice S$2,122 (RM6,123) off my annual petrol bill.
That might not sound like much, but it adds up over 10 years (during which time the hybrid battery is covered by a warranty).
The future’s now
In any case, owning a Prius isn’t about saving money, but about driving something that feels futuristic and clever.
It’s by no means perfect — it lacks rear headroom, the boot is shallow and the price doesn’t include powered front seats or GPS navigation — but it does feel special. And it’s not hard to see why — of the 8 million hybrid cars Toyota has sold, 3.5 million have been Priuses.
Other cars at the same price point feel downright ordinary in comparison. The Prius is usually slightly cheaper than Toyota’s Camry 2.0, for instance. The Prius is sold out for half a year though, so an exact price currently isn’t available. While the Prius easily delivers on its eco claims, its maker is struggling to deliver it to customers due to the anything-but-silent response from customers.
Toyota Prius 1.8L
Engine: 1,798cc, in-line four, electric motors, 120hp, 142Nm
Performance: 180km/h, 0-100km/h: 10.7s (estimated), 3.7L/100km, 87g/km CO2
Pros: As fuel-efficient as it claims, practically silent
Cons: Lacks rear headroom, shallow boot — TODAY
