Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
With green cars, practice makes Prius
No car has had as much of an environmental impact — and changed the way people think about green cars — than the Toyota Prius. With the footprint of a compact but the interior space of a midsized car — plus best-inindustry fuel economy, bulletproof reliability, hatchback versatility and a sticker price without the sticker shock — the Prius is a pretty sublime transportation solution, says Consumer Reports. Because it has been redesigned for the 2016 model year and is just reaching dealerships, Consumer Reports couldn’t include it among its Top Picks because it hasn’t tested it yet. But its testers drove a prototype, and it’s quite promising. The Prius was derided as little more than a green-marketing science project when introduced to the U.S. market in 2000. But the high-tech gaselectric hybrid parachuted into a cultural zeitgeist that was just beginning to grapple with environmentally conscious transportation. But you didn’t — and still don’t — have to be a tree-hugger to drive a Prius. It just made economical sense in a way no car had done before, by practically doubling the miles driven per gallon of gas. Factor in low repair costs and low depreciation, and the Prius is quite affordable to own. The arrival of a more family-friendly, second-generation model in 2003, combined with a gas-price spike in 2005, triggered a mainstream rush. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands
of consumers were choosing the Toyota hybrid over traditional gasoline sedans, making it one of the top-selling cars in the U.S.
That mass-market acceptance of the Prius — compared with people buying a typical midsized sedan — today represents 2.1 billion gallons of gasoline not consumed since 2000. And 11.7 million tons of carbon haven’t been poured into the atmosphere.
Other automakers have tried to replicate that success with hybrid variants of existing models, such as the Ford Escape hybrid, or with dedicated Prius imitators, such as the underwhelming Honda Insight. Yet none have been able to get anywhere near the brake lights of the Prius when it comes to a mass-market embrace. Why? Perhaps because the Prius is a dedicated hybrid; there’s no regular gas version. Clearly, the public considers it the car for proclaiming one’s green commitment.
Toyota invited Consumer Reports to try the redesigned 2016 model
in California (paying its own travel expenses). Testers’ impression? The early models show elements the previous versions lacked, such as more dynamic styling, a steadier ride and rather athletic handling.
Testers’ one day of driving included a mix of suburban routes and some freeway cruising, and yielded an average of 50 mpg, according to the onboard computer. A separate 27-mile loop in a lighter-weight Prius Eco version returned 66 mpg.
The new gasoline engine now puts less roar into the cabin when you tromp on the gas pedal. The continuously variable transmission — which changes speeds on a continuum rather than through fixed gears, to aid fuel economy — is more refined and less obtrusive.
The interior also benefits from a major upgrade. The 2016 Prius brings some soft-touch surfaces, flashes of chrome and a vivid, colorful digital display.
Starting at $25,035, the Prius redesign amounts to an incremental improvement rather than a metamorphosis, just the way Toyota likes it. Even with gas prices recently plummeting to historic lows (when adjusted for inflation), the idea of an energy-efficient vehicle still makes sense — for the good of your wallet and the planet, and to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. The bonus is that the Prius feels more fun to drive than the previous versions.