TOYOTA PRIUS
The Model T of electric cars
HOUSTON — It was at a Toyota event in mid2001 when I found myself chatting with a personable and bright young Toyota executive named Jim Farley.
A decade earlier, Farley was the brainchild behind the creation of Lexus, but we were in Houston to get some seat time in his latest vision, Scion, which I found underwhelming.
Instead, I wanted to talk about the comfortable little car I had driven the 300 miles to Houston using less than seven gallons of gas, a Prius. It was the first time I had laid hands on a gas-electric hybrid and I was impressed how seamlessly the two systems integrated, how quiet and comfortable it was, and how easily the car rolled with the big boys on Texas freeways (emphasis on free).
Farley had a hand in that one, too, championing the idea of bringing Toyota’s first hybrid from Japan to these shores. The suits at the Honsha in Toyota City were dubious that Americans would embrace a fuel-efficient but ascetic sedan.
“They asked me, ‘Well, how many do you think you’ll sell?’” Farley said with his characteristic candor. “I pulled a number out of my @$$ and guessed around 3,000. We wound up selling 6,000 and could have sold three times as many.”
It wouldn’t be fair to say America fell in love with the idea of a gas-sipping, environmentally conscious car, but a significant slice of the market did. Within a few years, Toyota was selling more than 100,000 Priuses a year.
In 2007, Farley moved to Ford and in August was named president and CEO. (Note to self: Buy some Ford stock).
In the 20 years since — yes, the Prius will soon be old enough to drink — more than 2 million were sold. That is nearly 40 percent of all the hybrids on American highways. Many Priuses are still on the road because not only are electric motors far more reliable than gas ones (ever seen a gas ceiling fan?) but they also reduce the load on the gas engine by about 40 percent.
Though Toyota warranties battery packs for 10 years and 150,000 miles, it rarely must pay up. The conventional wisdom is that the batteries can run more than 180,000 miles without significant degradation. (Full disclosure: My hoop-dee-do ride is a 2007 Highlander Hybrid with 145,000 miles that still gets nearly 30 mpg and, no, it’s not for sale).
Still a solid car
Prius is drawn from the Latin adverb meaning “coming before” and that may be the best way to see the current generation. It is stronger, faster, safer, more advanced than predecessors — an altogether pleasant automobile — but it also is an example of a technology that is soon to be surpassed.
In this decade we will see a pronounced shift to electrified forms of personal transportation, mainly because these vehicles will be cheaper to build and much cheaper to operate. They will be to internal combustion engine vehicles what the Model T was to the horse and buggy.
In essence, that’s what the Prius represents, the Model T of the 21st century.
More than two dozen electric cars and SUVs are now on the market and most critics, including this one, do not place the Prius in the top 10. Toyota and Honda are the leaders. The Camry (53 mpg), Accord (48 mpg), RAV4 (40 mpg), Highlander (35 mpg), and CR-V (40 mpg) are the vehicles I recommend to friends.
Most are hybrids but PHEVs, plug-in hybrids that give owners 25-40 miles of all-electric power every morning, are becoming more common. Allelectric cars, such as those built by Tesla, will soon be built by manufacturers accustomed to building cars in great volume with a high measure of reliability.
However, until fastcharge stations become more common — billions of dollars are being invested to build out that network — a PHEV is the smart play. A Prius Prime, Ford Fusion Energi, Honda Clarity, and Mini Electric all deliver better than 100 mpg, according to EPA estimates.
Thus, at 51 mpg, the 2021 Prius’ fuel economy is still excellent but is not exceptional. Nor is the car. Like its predecessors, it is a homely wedge. To be sure, it is still remarkably smooth and powerful for a car in which numerous concessions were made to fuel economy, such as minimalist noise suppression and hard tires.
Regardless, we found the 2021 Prius a pleasure to drive. There is no gauge cluster; instead, a large and configurable digital display center-mounted on the dash serves as a colorful information center for everyone in the car. Comfortable, adult-sized seats have always been a Prius hallmark, and that has not changed.
As a proper car should in the third decade of the 20th century, the Prius keeps itself centered in its lane and a safe distance from traffic ahead. Its driver-assist technology is dialed in nicely. Some vehicles tend to veer harshly from lane edge to lane edge, but the Prius makes light corrections to maintain a dynamic balance. It also watches the blind spots and manages the bright lights.
Some people see this technology as a loss of control, but think of it this way: It’s like having a co-pilot who never gets distracted, who never runs off the roadway, never roams in front of someone else, never veers into oncoming traffic, who always hits the brakes when someone ahead does the same thing, who never forgets to dim the brights.
Combined, these technologies reduce vehicular casualties by twothirds.
Opportunity cost fail
In economics, everything has an opportunity cost, which is what one could have had if one had not made the choice that was made.
In the case of the Prius, which starts around $24,525 and can reach $32,650, the opportunity cost is sitting on the showroom floor. A nicely equipped and better looking, Corolla Hybrid LE is $23,500. A sweet-driving, roomy, and sophisticated Camry XSE Hybrid is $32,720.
I’ve driven all three and, frankly, the Prius comes in third.
This isn’t the first time that Toyota built a vehicle that would appear to send another of its lineup into obsolescence. I remember going to a Highlander rollout event in 2000, where Farley told me that vehicle would probably result in the death of the 4Runner.
Twenty years later, it turns out that plenty of Americans still have a taste for a body-on-frame midsize SUV, even though every competitor rides better, drives better, is safer, and gets better fuel economy.
I suspect a similar dynamic will occur with the Prius. People will buy it not for what it does but because of what it symbolizes. Whether that’s a devotion to the environment, or the need to be an individualist, or something else, is not for me to say.
Whatever the reason, they’ll be getting a solid, safe and reliable car.