Up to now I’ve felt that hybrids were a rather complicated and expensive way of solving a problem we didn’t really have – and that the term “hybrid stylist” was an oxymoron.
After all, with the exception of rather expensive Lexus and Porsche hybrids, there’s been nothing on the market to change that view. And when you add in the fact that producing the batteries, and the rare earth metals used to make the electric motors, gives a hybrid a carbon footprint deeper than that of a petrol-powered Tyrannosaurus Rex, well, hybrids just don’t make sense to me.
However, the new Prius C might just change that.
First up, it has a sense of style. Not great, but it looks less quirky than anything else of its ilk in the marketplace. Secondly, you can drive it like a real car, one that handles, and accelerates hard, and brakes, and corners, without feeling it’s going to whistle off the island.
With that in mind, I took three adults and a dog off for a weekend in the country to see how it would shape up. It was a huge success. Everyone was comfy, even the backseat passenger (and the dog).
We kept ahead of the traffic most of the time, using the cruise control when possible, but not afraid to boot the accelerator to overtake if necessary. We got to our destination as quickly as we have done previously, and at the end the computer showed us 6.5L/100km.
Going home was different. We ran into huge traffic jams entering Auckland, and crept along at 15km or so, most of the time being driven emissions-free by the electric motor under battery power (there’s a schematic on the instrument panel which shows you what’s going on) before hiving off into the city centre to drop off one of our passengers.
That took us into a real stop-go morning crawl. And guess what? The computer dropped down to 5.2L/100km by the time we got back. Not quite at Toyota’s claim of 3.9L/100km, but in the real world, not bad at all.
So clearly the Prius C prefers traffic jams to high speed cruising – and that’s why I like it!
For once I can understand the purpose of this hybrid. Up to now there have been lots of claims about hybrids cutting fuel consumption and pollution, but this is the first time I’ve been able to believe it.
Every now and again the petrol engine comes on, especially when you’re accelerating hard, but when you stop, it stops. And the re-start is so seamless that it’s hard to know just when the engine is off or on.
The C is the second in a new Prius line-up from Toyota. The ugly original continues, and there’s a 7-seater Prius Plus version on the way. Both of those have a 1.8-litre petrol engine, while the Plus is likely to get lighter lithium ion batteries to cut weight and extend electric-only range.
But the C is aimed at normal families. It’s sized between a Yaris and a Corolla, it has a reasonably-sized boot, and with a 36L fuel tank, and, not-too-careful driving, a range of 600km plus.
Under the bonnet is a 54kW.1.5-litre petrol engine coupled with a 19.3kW electric motor from the original Prius, but with new and better electronics. And the fact that it’s lighter (kerb weight 1,120kg) makes performance perky.
Our test car was the top-of-the-range s-tech, which comes with synthetic leather upholstery, a leather-covered steering wheel, aircon, power windows back and front, and a good sound system with satellite controls on the steering wheel and a USB port and audio input on the dashboard. There are also 16 inch alloy wheels with fat 195/50 rubber, as well as cruise control.
But there’s one big fail – and that’s the turning circle. Those wide alloy wheels and tyres limit turning circle to 12m (compared to 10.2m for other models in the range). Makes a big difference when parking!
