Toyota’s award-winning Prius has become one of the most popular cars with Hollywood’s bunny-hugging movie stars, all of whom love the idea of being seen to go green... despite all else, says Peta Lee in her “green” review.

How hybrid power works

Photos : toyota@motorpics Price: R269 000 Article Options Email to Friend Print Article Remove from Favorites Add to Favorites Remove from 'Articles to Read' Add to 'Articles to Read'

For those who are a little fuzzy about the amazing technology behind this eco-friendly hybrid, in a nutshell, it combines different power sources to maximise each one’s strengths, while compensating for each other’s shortcomings.

Toyota Prius is a petrol-electric hybrid

A petrol-electric hybrid like the Prius combines the high-speed power of a regular petrol engine with the clean efficiency of an electric motor, eliminating the trade-off between power and efficiency. In other words, the car can run on just the combustion engine, just the electric engine, or a combination of both. 

Reduces pollution and maximises fuel efficiency

Toyota’s design goals are to reduce the amount of pollution and maximise fuel efficiency: under the bonnet of the beast (actually, it’s a rather nice, if futuristic looking, motor car!), is a compact sealed nickel-plated hydride battery with a high power density. Weighing just 39kg, it’s designed to last the life of the car and is charged by the engine via the generator at cruising speed and by the motor during regenerative battery.

Toyota Pruis: most eco-friendly mass-produced car

If this is all too much for you, girls, just know that it’s the most eco-friendly mass-produced car on the planet, with a string of accolades and firsts to its name.

Space-age feel to the interior

Climb in and you’ll find it a tad daunting: the dashboard is very space-agey and you feel as though you’re miles away from the windscreen.

And there’s a bewildering array of gadgets and dials in front of you. Start up and you get a major surprise: silence. You hear nothing; total silence. And in fact it’s rather scary. But that’s really what the Toyota Prius is all about. 

The Toyota Prius has all the luxuries too

Once you’re up and running, you could be in a normal sedan. All of the luxuries are there, all of the safety features, like airbags aplenty, and side curtain airbags, whiplash injury lessening front seat design, ABS, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), traction control...

And the 1.5 litre Prius cranks up to about 160km/h in full flight.
It’s actually a gorgeous drive, once you get used to it, has more than enough space, and, most importantly, is eco-friendly.
Price? R269 000.