Batteries included: Or should we say ‘battery’ but there are two because you need one to start the car. The 2016 Toyota Prius looks a bit different from the previous 3 versions but
much of the rest is the same except claimed improvements up to 30% more fuel efficient. The new Prius is comparatively small, which is surprising really when you consider it has a real petrol engine and a thumping great battery to take over power duties. Small it may appear, but there is plenty of room and really what else do you need if you use the car for what it was basically designed to do; that being to run around town doing the needy and still have enough money to buy a pizza on the way home. Put it this way, it is a damn sight easier to get in and out of than the new, very gorgeous Jaguar. (That is not a comparison in anyway).
Family asset it definitely is and over the guaranteed 8 years of battery life, you will have no doubt saved a good packet by not having to pay for so much petrol had you bought that Ford or Fiat, albeit you would have taken twice as long to get where you were going.
The Prius is not exactly a chick magnet or a passion wagon either. For all you Dudes who don’t earn so much but think they are God’s gift to women and need that bit of extra cash to splash around and just love the Dodge Charger or a Camaro but are constantly broke, don’t overlook the Prius. You can always pretend your other car is a Porche when in pick up mode. However, you might find that Viagra doesn’t work if the Prius is the only place you have to do your courting, but that’s another story. Then again, if in 9 months from now, you start hearing of kids being called Prius, then whodoeswhat.tv was wrong!
The big misconception with the Prius is that you need to plug it in when not using it. YOU DON’T! There is no plug, the power-train is self contained. The petrol engine and the breaking sequence is charging the battery all the time. Listen to the description in the video and you’ll get the idea. As with earlier Prius models and indeed the other electric cars on the market, they seems to their take place as the ‘second’ family car. There is nothing wrong with that.
If one had to score it out of 10, it would probably come in at around 8 or 8 and a bit, since there is nothing to gripe about as the car does exactly what it says on the box. The suspicion is that most people would like the Prius to have been a bit more beefy in both size and power, but having said that, everything makes solid sense about it. It is fitness for purpose.