Toyota's green machine

Jul 6 2009 Peter Hayward

THE Toyota Prius hybrid runs as an electric car under light acceleration up to around 30 miles an hour and it's eerily quiet.

Then an ultra-efficient 1.5-litre petrol engine cuts in automatically to boost power and charge the battery, but for the ultimate eco-trip there's an EV button that means it will run just on batteries.

When peak power is needed, electric and petrol engines work together seamlessly to give performance almost as good as two-litre family cars.

Drive is to the front wheels through a special, automatic gearbox, which uses a computer to mix and match electric and petrol power.

The whole works brilliantly and on one long haul to an airport with four adults and loads of luggage, it returned 51 miles per gallon.

There are turbo diesels in the large five seater Mondeo and Vectra class which will return a similar figure of course, but none of them can match the Prius' miniscule emissions.

Interior

The dash is dominated by a large screen giving the present battery and power situation and equipment includes aircon, electric windows and central locking.

The seats and ride are very comfortable and handling is safe and sure, with good grip and strong road holding.

FAST FACTS

Toyota Prius

Price: Pay about £6,600 for an '04 53-reg T3, £8,500 for an '05 05-reg T4 or £10,650 for an '07 56-reg T3.

Mechanical: 76bhp, 1,497cc, 4cyl petrol engine & electric motor driving front wheels via automatic gearbox

Max speed: 106mph

0-62mph: 10.6 seconds

Combined mpg: 65

Insurance group: 7

CO2 emissions: 104g/km

Marks: 10/10

Main rival: Honda Civic IMA