RED LEADER

Steven Chisholm tests the latestgeneration of a car that kick-started a revolution

Unmistakable in profile, the Prius is the car that kickstarted a whole segment – the first hybrid success story that proved to manufacturers around the world that hybrid technology was something worth investing in.

Fast forward to present day and every brand worth its salt has a hybrid vehicle either on forecourts or in the offing – but for a long time the Prius was the only game in town.

The new model has shifted 3,897 units in the UK since its launch in February this year.

So is it just Uber drivers fuelling these figures and should private buyers consider the Prius over the plethora of other hybrid options on the market?

Toyota say that 2,542 fourthgeneration Priuses have gone to fleet or business buyers, meaning that private purchases make up the other 1,355 sales of the hybrid. This at a time when global C-segment sales are in decline and SUV sales have sky-rocketed 23 per cent in a year, according to stats specialists JATO Dynamics.

So what’s to recommend about the Prius?

Firstly, this latest iteration is better looking than the predecessor. The wheels are bigger, meaning it loses the tea trolley aesthetic. It’s an unmistakable relation to the earlier Prius inside and out, but the front end is sharper and more aggressive looking. The high boot and downward-sloping bonnet give the Prius a predatory look in profile – something at odds with its ecofriendly image but an undeniable improvement.

It still has a back-end view that only a mother could love, but settled in the driver’s seat, surrounded by white plastic you’re not going to see that anyway.

That white plastic interior is going be something you either love or tire of very quickly. In pristine condition it looks futuristic and striking – like something from Minority Report or I, Robot – but 10,000 miles on – as our test model was – hints of how tired it might look if not properly taken care of are beginning to show.

Look at the dirt accumulating in the cracks and crevices of your current car’s interior and imagine it standing out in sharp relief against a clinical white dashboard.

The layout of the dashboard is unconventional too. There is no console above the steering wheel and the speedometer readout – as with the last gen Prius and the first generation Yaris – sits on top of the dash above the centre console.

The drive mode selector looks like a plastic rose you might be handed outside a low-rent nightclub and protrudes from the centre console, rather than the floor. Despite the quirks, the layout is actually quite well planned and nothing feels unnatural other than the parking brake – which is mounted in the driver’s footwell to the left of the brake pedal.

The seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system is responsive to touch, but occasionally sluggish to process your commands.

The leather seats in our test car were comfortable, although looked slightly shapeless due to the looselooking seat covering.

Driving in the city – which is home turf for the Prius – is a pleasure. The CVT gearbox acquits itself well in town conditions, providing instant acceleration off the mark.

At low speed, the Prius will run in battery-only mode – keeping your emissions down – but you’re best letting the car decide itself which mode to drive in. We got better econ- omy figures that way during our test with much less button pushing and swearing.

Even when the petrol engine does enter the fray, the Prius is supremely quiet in city conditions.

The gearbox is less assured if you’re a driver of the leadfooted variety and it can be caught by surprise during sudden changes in speed on the motorway. If you drive it gently however, the CVT set up makes for a smooth drive.

If you’re considering purchasing a fourth generation Prius, then one of the chief attractions is presumably fuel economy. With an official combined fuel consumption figure of 85.6mpg, it’s a compelling argument.

During its test, the Prius averaged just shy of 80mpg over the course of a week. Out of all the hybrids I’ve tested in recent months, the Prius was consistently closest to achieving the official figure.

That, of course, is why it’s popular with private hire firms and rental companies – and it’s also why environment and cost-conscious buyers should consider it too.

“Out of all the hybrids I’ve tested recently, the Prius was closest to achieving the official economy figure”