2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

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2010 Toyota Prius

Oshawa, Ontario – It’s every automaker’s dream to produce the vehicle that, in the public’s perception, defines a segment. Toyota has pretty much done that with the Prius; for many people, it has become a generic name for a hybrid, much like Kleenex or Aspirin have come to define tissues and tablets. Other hybrid manufacturers are aiming their big guns at it, while Toyota counters with an all-new version for 2010, the third generation of the model.
Overall, it retains the same iconic shape, but it’s completely new, with an improved and roomier interior, new engine, stiffer body and better fuel economy. It’s going up against full hybrids such as the Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima, and mild ones such as the equally all-new Honda Insight, but it also faces competition from within: the Prius may be the car people equate with hybrids, but in Canada, it’s outsold by the more mainstream-looking Toyota Camry Hybrid.

2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

The 2010 Prius starts at $27,500. It comes in a single trim line, but packages can be added that will take it as high as $36,565. The base model includes such features as automatic climate control, stereo with auxiliary input, cloth seats, auto up/down windows, cargo cover, heated mirrors, cruise control, electronic stability control, and seven airbags, including one for the driver’s knee.

Various packages add such items as six-CD stereo, backup camera, navigation system, heated leather seats, 17-inch wheels and an auto-dimming rearview mirror. Also available are several technology items new to the Prius: radar cruise control that automatically adjusts for vehicles in front, a pre-collision system, LED headlamps, and an Intelligent Parking Assist system that I haven’t tried, but which I hope is better than the cumbersome system that debuted on the Lexus LS 460.

There’s also an available power sunroof containing solar panels. Their job is solely to power a fan when the car is parked in direct sunlight, bringing down the interior temperature and so reducing the need for more aggressive air conditioning. The a/c can also be started remotely so it runs off the battery for a few minutes prior to the driver getting in. I’m guessing that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and in future, I could see such power-producing panels playing a larger role in the vehicle’s operation. (I’m also hoping that no one thinks they can safely leave tots or pets locked in the car, thinking that the fan will prevent the hyperthermia that kills several unattended children every year in warmer parts of the U.S.)

2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

The Prius uses a 1.8-litre four-cylinder gasoline engine, up from the 1.5-litre in the previous model. That may sound odd for a hybrid, but according to Toyota, the larger engine runs at a lower r.p.m. on the highway, reducing fuel consumption. The transmission is a continuously variable (CVT) unit. The official fuel numbers are 3.7 L/100 km in the city, and 4.0 on the highway, and yes, that’s correct: because of their battery use, full hybrids are the opposite of conventional cars and get better mileage in the city. In combined driving, I averaged 4.6 L/100 km, or 61 mpg Imp. Dedicated urban-dwelling hybrid fans will undoubtedly do much better than that, but I live in the country, and I also tended to drive it the way many buyers will: gently, but not to the point where I was holding up a line of traffic. For hybrids to make it in the mainstream, they’ve got to work closely to the way conventional cars do. For the most part, the Prius does.

Toyota is working on a plug-in version, but for now, the Prius is a self-contained unit: you don’t recharge it with a power cord. Instead, its sealed nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery gets its juice from the gasoline engine and from regenerative braking: whenever the vehicle is slowing down, the electric motor acts as a generator to recharge the battery. (That also means that the old fuel-saving trick of putting the transmission into Neutral when coasting doesn’t work on a hybrid). According to the company, almost all of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system is new, and it’s smaller and lighter than before. On some hybrids, the placement of the battery pack has meant that the rear seat doesn’t fold, or that cargo room is affected. On the Prius, the vent for the battery is alongside the rear seat, and so the 60/40 seatbacks can be folded to form a flat cargo floor that’s 88 cm long with the seats up, and 185 cm long with them folded. Lifting up the removable floor panel also reveals a large hidden storage compartment.

2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

As a full hybrid, the Prius is capable of running solely on its battery. Under normal conditions, pressing the starter button simply readies the system without engaging the gasoline engine, and usually you can drive away just on electricity. How far and how long it’ll go strictly on the battery depends on several factors, including how well the battery is charged, ambient and battery temperature, and the speed and force of acceleration. Under most conditions, the car also performs an “idle-stop”, shutting off the gasoline engine whenever the wheels aren’t turning, so you use no fuel and create no emissions when sitting at a red light. If you’ve been slowing down gradually, chances are very good that the engine turned off long before, and if you accelerate away gently enough, you’ll stay on battery; it’s because of this that the Prius gets its best mileage in the city. Functions such as lights, stereo and climate control stay on during the idle-stop, and the electric motor restarts the engine, with no danger of overworking a conventional starter.
New for 2010 are three buttons on the centre stack. The EV button keeps the car in electric drive only, but the parameters are so narrow – about a kilometre and a half of electric driving at 40 km/h or less, providing you feather the throttle, the temperature is right, and the windshield defogger isn’t on – that I really didn’t find much of a difference between it and simply driving gently, which usually kept me on battery power as well. It doesn’t take much to exceed the limits, and when you do, the EV mode shuts down. The owner’s manual says it’s primarily for low-speed applications, such as cruising through a parking garage, and since it draws considerable battery power that must be recharged by the gasoline engine later, the manual also says that excessive use of EV may lower your fuel economy. It seems more of a gimmick, although the possibility of infrastructure popped into my mind: perhaps, when a plug-in Prius becomes a reality, might we see a retrofit kit that would expand the button’s potential?

Far more useful are the two other buttons. Eco Mode is exactly that, cutting back throttle response for a feel that’s far from exhilarating, but which pays off at the pumps. Power Mode chews up more fuel, but the car feels pretty gutsy, and it can be handy in heavy traffic on the highway, where you may need stronger response to safely negotiate ramps or for passing.

2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

The gearshift is carried over from the previous model, and it’s still one of my least-favourite touches on the car. The little blue nubbin goes into a single Drive setting, with no manual shift mode, or into B, which acts as an engine brake when descending steep hills. Park isn’t on the shifter; it’s a separate button on the dash. It’s Reverse that really raises my ire, though. I could learn to live with a quick warning that yes, I actually put the car in reverse gear and it’s about to back up. Instead, the Prius warns with a continuous beep that doesn’t stop until you put the selector into another gear. Picture a five-ton truck beeping as it backs up, and then put that sound inside the car. For everything else I like about the Prius, if this annoying function couldn’t be disabled, it would be a deal breaker for me.

I’ve driven all three generations of the Prius, and if anything on this car has made the most improvement from the first one, it’s the electric steering. The first Prius felt like the steering column wasn’t entirely attached to the greasy bits directing the front wheels. “Like driving a video game” was how many described it, and it could get uncomfortably random at highway speeds, especially with its narrow tires that obediently followed every rut in the road. The second was better, and for this model, there’s finally a sharper response to steering input. Steering feel is still overboosted, but generally, piloting it doesn’t feel too much different than driving some of the small economy cars.

Inside, the Prius is unabashedly plastic. The quality feels better than before, and everything fits together precisely, but with so many different textures that it’s a bit too much. The dash is redesigned, but retains the awful centre-mounted instrument cluster, which requires you to look sideways instead of straight ahead. The hybrid information display within it has been updated as well, and includes a choice of readouts for the fuel economy display. One uses a horizontal gauge to show if you’re driving as economically as possible; another displays fuel mileage for the last few trips. The energy monitor is a picture of the car that shows the flow of power and whether it’s the battery or the engine that’s turning the wheels. This last one can be mesmerizing, and you’ve got to be careful you don’t get into the habit of watching it instead of the road.

2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

New for 2010 are “tracer controls,” standard on the base model. Steering wheel-mounted buttons handle stereo functions, turn the climate control temperature up or down, and toggle between the various fuel economy displays. When the system feels your finger on the button, it displays an image of it in the instrument cluster, highlighting each button as you touch it. The idea is that you can see what you’re doing without having to look down at the button, although you’re still glancing sideways to see the cluster.

A double glovebox stashes goods, and the attractive new centre console cascades from the dash to the centre console in a design similar to that of Volvo, but with far more useable and accessible storage space below it. Two cupholders are covered when not in use, as is a cubby box in the centre console. Dark and “misty” grey interior colours are available, but my tester was outfitted with a tender beige shade named “Bisque.” I can’t imagine why any designer would take such light-coloured brushed fabric and then use it to cover the door armrests and the top of the centre console box, which also does duty resting driver and passenger forearms, instead of using easy-clean vinyl. I can only imagine how bad it’ll look in a few months.

Although it’s relatively low-volume, the hybrid segment has become a fiercely-fought one. Honda is in with its new Insight – sharing nothing but the name with the diminutive two-seater that was the first hybrid to come to North America – and heavily advertising it on price. At a base price of $23,900, it is considerably less expensive than the Prius. That’s an important factor for many buyers, but the two cars can’t be compared head-to-head. The Insight is a smaller vehicle, and while it uses its electric motor to boost the gasoline engine and operate the idle-stop, it only runs on its battery alone when certain conditions are met while cruising, and can’t start off or creep along city streets on electricity alone. Its fuel numbers are impressive, but not as good as the Prius: 4.8 L/100 km in the city, and 4.5 L/100 km on the highway. For many buyers, as well, being able to drive silently and emission-free on electricity at low speeds is part of the hybrid appeal.

2010 Toyota Prius. Click image to enlarge

Full-hybrid competitors include the Ford Fusion Hybrid, starting at $31,999, and the Nissan Altima Hybrid, at $32,998 for 2009. The Honda Civic Hybrid, at $27,350 for a 2009, is similar to the Insight in that it only runs on its battery under certain cruising conditions. The Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Aura hybrids, both of them mild systems similar to the Insight’s and also heavily advertised on their price, didn’t resonate with buyers and have been discontinued for 2010. For those who want to move more upscale, Lexus recently introduced its entry-level hybrid sedan, the HS 250h, with a system similar to that of the Prius.

The longevity of the hybrid system is a recurring concern with many potential buyers, but so far, the Prius seems to be a solid machine. At an event in Vancouver, Toyota had me transported from the airport to downtown in one of the many Prius models that function as taxis in that city. I was a taxi driver myself, many years ago, and I know firsthand how these cars can suffer at the hands of certain drivers. My chauffeur didn’t seem to realize that the throttle could be held at any position other than full off and full on, but even though he drove the polar opposite to a hyper-miler, he said that his gasoline bills were hundreds of dollars less each year than the conventional Toyota Camry he used to drive. He also said he’d put nothing more than maintenance into his second-generation Prius, which had over 200,000 km on the odometer. One car on the fleet had over 300,000, he said, and since he’d responded to a random call that specified nothing more than a hybrid model, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t instructed by Toyota to give those responses to my questions. I think it’s safe to say that, ten years after Canada got its first hybrids, they’ve proven that they can do what they’re asked. It’s now up to buyers to assess their driving needs and look at the price to determine if a hybrid is the right car for the job.

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