Toyota Prius Hatch Automatic Petrol/Electric Hybrid Road Test Report

Toyota was beaten by Honda in the race to get a hybrid vehicle on to the Australian market, however the enforced delay (brought about by Design Rule and tax concession issues) has brought benefits for buyers. The Prius now on sale here for $39,990 is the latest model that is currently on sale in Japan.
The Toyota Prius made its debut in Japan as the world’s first production hybrid vehicle back in 1996 and more than 60,000 have since been sold around the world. These early cars formed the basis for testing in Australia and were also used as evaluation vehicles by some State Governments and fleet operators.
Whereas Honda’s Insight provides seating for only a driver and one passenger, and has virtually no boot space, the Toyota Prius is a four/five seater with a useful luggage capacity. However, the Prius’s conventional body styling and construction (the Insight uses aluminium and plastic in its body) does bring a mass penalty. The Prius has a kerb mass of 1250 kg, compared to the Insight’s 827 kg. The Prius is powered by a 1.5 litre four cylinder engine (the Insight has a 1.0 litre three cylinder engine) and this operates in tandem with a 33kW electric motor.
The Prius can run on the electric motor only, the petrol engine, or a combination of the two. Both the engine and the electric motor are used when maximum performance is required. The petrol engine switches off (at most times) when the vehicle comes to a stop and it then restarts automatically on start-off. On some occasions, the engine remains running to charge the battery. Energy that is not required to propel the car is converted to electricity and stored in the sealed 270-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack located between the rear seat and the boot. Regenerative braking allows the vehicle to convert kinetic energy into additional electricity. There is no need, or provision to re-charge the hybrid vehicle battery from an external source. Should the hybrid battery charge become low, power is automatically re-routed to bump up the charge rate.
Power is transmitted to the front wheels through a computer-controlled CVT (constantly variable transmission) that provides two-pedal automatic operation.

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