TOYOTA PRIUS

MORE OF THE SAME

It’s still a Prius. It drives better, but the batteries still detract from the boot volume and drivers with large thighs will still find it impossible to get comfortable. And it can’t beat my 2,2-litre diesel SUV on a highway economy run. It does, as it always has, come into its own when you’re stuck in thick traffic. That’s when the oversized alternator and cumbersome batteries silently go about their business.

The car that started the hybrid craze is still paying the dual penalties of heavy weight (batteries) and low power (engine) for its environmentally-focused ways, but there is hope on the horizon. Toyota will finally, as evidenced on the floor at the Paris motor show, endow the Prius with plug-in charging capabilities.

No more will the fossil fuel powerplant be on sole battery refilling duties while trying to haul the empty power supplies up a hill at the same time.

To be fair, the Japanese engineers deserve a round of applause for the new suspension set-up. The world’s most popular hybrid now feels distinctly less nautical in the bends and the nose doesn’t dive as much as on the old model under braking. This is thanks mainly to double wishbone suspension all round. Cabin occupants are seated much lower though, with the rear-view mirror seeing through the glass tailgate.

It isn’t a particularly good family car and has been eclipsed by plug-ins as the future of the segment, but the Prius remains a cultural icon. A firm middle finger to the city-bound 4x4. A misfit. A crazy one. But still a Prius. And that in and of itself seems to be enough reason for many people to buy one.