2008 Toyota Prius
By Bob Hume, 07th August 2008
Perhaps one of the best known and well established environmentally friendly cars, the Toyota Prius was recently updated and is now even more efficient. The tested car was a top-spec range-leading T Spirit variant. Standard equipment with this car includes satellite navigation, climate control, vehicle stability control, cruise control and the ’Self Park‘ function which I‘ll explain later.
The new Prius controls its own emissions using the ’Hybrid Synergy Drive‘ technology, promising highly efficient use of energy but not at the expense of performance. The basic principle employed is that of the ’parallel hybrid‘, in other words the car possesses both an electric motor and a 1.5 litre petrol engine that both work in tandem, powering the driving wheels via a common drive shaft. The Prius‘ engine management computer constantly monitors the speed and load, automatically switching the power source from petrol to electric to increase the overall fuel efficiency of the car. At low speeds the almost-silent electric motor propels the car and when more acceleration and speed is required, the lean-burn petrol motor takes over, dropping into the background to assist at cruising speeds. The batteries which power the electric motor are recharged by cleverly harnessing the otherwise ’dead‘ energy that‘s produced when the car is braking or slowing.
I was surprised at how well the Prius fitted in during its stay with me; I had few complaints about performance dynamics; control, road-holding and acceleration were all pretty good consisering the type of car I was driving. The cabin is comfortable and spacious, all controls fall easily to hand, the highly-visible digital displays are a nice touch – enhancing the speed of information feedback and I
became very interested in the trip display which never failed to give good news about fuel consumption and efficiency. Driving this car was definitely more relaxing than a lot of cars that I‘ve used for my 60 mile daily commute; the cabin was quiet, the automatic drive system looked after itself and environmentally speaking, my conscience was clear. The fuel level reading remained full for so long that I began to suspect that the sensors were faulty, however the morning I was due to return the car, the ’full‘ reading finally dropped by one notch!
The additional ’Self Park‘ function is an impressive piece of technology – this will allow you to park the car automatically using the rear parking camera to show the car were you want it to go. The car uses the parking proximity sensors and your directions and literally parks itself – it took a while for me to trust it, under test conditions, but it really does work.
This latest Prius also has the option of allowing the driver to switch the car solely to electric power, enabling the car to be driven over a short journey of about 1.9 miles completely emission-free. The performance figures that are possible are pretty astounding, considering that this is a perfectly affordable, reasonably sized and excellent family car; the Toyota will return 65 MPG (combined) and is also capable of a decent 0-60 time of under 11 seconds.
The Prius is exempt from London Congestion Charge; further strengthening its Green credentials.
