Hybrid hatch made for city life
Say “Prius” and it’s likely you thought of an oddly shaped sedan with the weird joystick shift lever. Yet Prius is not a single model; it is a family.
There are three other lesserknown versions sold in Canada: The larger Prius V with the generous cargo space, the Prius Prime plug-in model and the subcompact, urban runabout Prius C, tested here. Sales of the four models under the Prius nameplate were up 51.6 per cent in Canada last year. However, that hasn’t prevented Toyota from announcing it will be axing the C, throwing its weight behind the new Corolla Hybrid instead.
The letter C represents “city” in the Prius C name, the car designed to function as “an urban-friendly vehicle with an engaging driving experience. And, obviously, low fuel consumption. Being urban friendly is definitely the C’s forte.
I try to avoid trips downtown. But on a snowy 32-kilometre stopand-go trip, the gauge readout indicated that I averaged 6.1 L/100 kilometres for the excursion and used a negligible $2.20 worth of gas. Yes, the car somehow calculates the cost of fuel used.
There’s nothing about the C’s powertrain — sorry, Hybrid Synergy Drive — to get anyone’s heart pumping with excitement. The main elements consist of a 73-horsepower, 1.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine with exhaust heat recovery, a hightorque electric motor, a nickelmetal hydride battery pack and a sophisticated power management system. This works together with a continuously variable transmission to produce — wait for it — 99 net system horsepower.
Smooth acceleration? OK. Quick? Hardly.
So, let’s just say the Prius C’s strengths are its small size, making it an agile little runabout within the city core, and parsimony at the pumps — and subsequent lower emissions.
The car’s ride and handling are decent enough.
It looks like an ordinary, somewhat stylish hatchback. The C has been around for a while and the 2019 model is essentially status quo except for a more complete Safety Sense C technology package, upgraded with the addition of pedestrian detection to the precollision system.
From the outside, the C gives off a youthful, modern vibe, and its aerodynamic profile keeps puts a damper on wind noise. On the inside, however, the cabin’s theme is one of hard, black plastic. Now, nobody is expecting the finest wood inlays and supplest Connolly leather in a runabout starting at $22,350, but the interior is fairly spartan and rear-seat room is limited.