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After I parked a brand new 2023 Toyota Prius and walked away, I rotated to take a look at it. Not as a result of I used to be checking my parking job, however as a result of it simply appeared so good. Turning round to take a look at a Prius is, severely, one thing I by no means thought I’d do.
The automotive’s sloping nostril, low roof and sharply cornered again finish resemble a sports activities automotive greater than a flipped-over deviled egg like previous Priuses. It’s a form that’s clearly had a whole lot of time in wind tunnels however, with delicate bulges across the again wheels and hidden again door handles, it appears thrilling quite than simply serviceable.
Which is nice as a result of hybrids, considered cutting-edge when launched many years in the past, are actually passé, typically handled just like the flip telephones of electrified transportation. At the same time as electrical automobile gross sales have taken off and are anticipated to rise much more quickly this yr, hybrid automobile market share has been comparatively flat. Hybrid producers might use the picture make-over the Prius gives. And there’s extra to it than simply appears. The brand new Prius drives simply as properly, too.
Inside its strikingly totally different exterior design, the brand new Prius’s inside is extra conventional than previous fashions, however in a usually great way. There’s a big gauge display behind the steering wheel, simply the place it’s in most automobiles. And there’s a touchscreen for much less driver-focused stuff within the center. The gear selector is a pleasant measurement, a snug form, straightforward to make use of with out it and it’s down low between the entrance seats in, once more, a standard and straightforward to achieve location. (Sure, I turned weirdly enthusiastic in regards to the Prius’s gear selector which was considered one of my favourite in any automotive, ever.)
Driving the Prius is perhaps not fairly as thrilling as it, but it surely’s not dangerous in any respect. It feels good on the street, planted and balanced. Even its acceleration – a weak level in previous Priuses – is kind of good. In line with Automotive and Driver, the brand new Prius can go from a cease to 60 miles an hour in 7.1 seconds. The all-wheel-drive Prius, with extra traction and barely extra energy, might be a little bit faster. That is vastly higher than the 2022 Prius which took nearly 11 seconds.
If it weren’t for the Prius’s unhappy, droning engine sound, which may be blamed on the automotive’s hyper-efficient transmission, I’d have completely loved driving it. It’s additionally snug and, with its hatchback physique fashion, sensible. It additionally, after all, will get really outstanding gasoline economic system. The all-wheeld-drive mannequin I examined will get an EPA-estimated 54 miles a gallon whereas the front-wheel-drive mannequin will get 57.
If anybody cares, it has a Sport Mode which makes the steering really feel extra responsive and modifications the engine and electrical motor operation to offer extra energy on the expense of gasoline economic system. I attempted it however, to be sincere, it felt a bit foolish. The engine didn’t sound in any respect pleased with that form of work and the physique leaned unpleasantly in arduous turns. Anyway, driving a Prius in Sport mode is like going to a monitor meet in nurse’s clogs. The Prius is superb in some ways and this simply will not be considered one of them.
Toyota executives have, for years, made the case that hybrids can do extra to cut back world warming, at the very least within the brief time period, than purely electrical automobiles. That’s because of the less uncooked supplies wanted for a hybrid’s smaller battery over purely electrical automobiles. However the argument could also be partly self-serving, since Toyota has a whole lot of hybrids to promote and the model’s greatest foray into electrical automobiles to date, the BZ4X, has gotten tepid reviews, and was the topic of a very embarrassing recall as its wheels had been coming off.
However there’s logic to Toyota’s arguments. And so they’re ones that some others within the business, resembling Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, have been making, as well.
It’d sound counter-intuitive. How might hybrids, automobiles that burn gasoline, cut back greenhouse fuel emissions greater than automobiles that burn no gasoline in any respect?.
Whereas electrical automobiles don’t devour gasoline, they are often seen as wasteful of different issues, particularly battery supplies like lithium. People have confirmed reluctant to purchase electrical automobiles with lower than 200 miles of driving vary. However the common American drives lower than 40 miles or so on a typical day. Meaning the vast majority of battery supplies in a long-range electrical automotive are there for, basically, advertising. They’re not really decreasing CO2 emissions more often than not, as a result of they’re simply not getting used in any respect.
What if, automotive corporations like Toyota say, the batteries in a single absolutely electrical automobile had been divided into 100 smaller battery packs and used to make 100 hybrid automobiles? Hybrids use their batteries lots and, within the case of the brand new Prius, it’s a lithium-ion battery of the identical kind utilized in absolutely electrical automobiles. An electrical motor drives the automotive at low speeds, or at any time when solely a little bit energy is required to maneuver it, permitting the fuel engine to be turned off a lot of the time. The batteries are then charged up once more at any time when the automobile brakes or, if wanted, by capturing a little bit additional energy from the engine whereas the automotive is driving.
When utilized in a hybrid, battery materials is actively driving actual automobiles miles. decreasing emissions quite than simply appearing as an inducement to purchase an electrical automotive, identified Jason Keller, Toyota’s director of seller coverage within the US.
There’s additionally the truth that, with their smaller batteries, hybrid automobiles are a lot cheaper to purchase. Costs for the Toyota Prius, for example, begin at simply $27,000, a value only some electrical automobiles, just like the Chevrolet Bolt, can method. (Many electrical automobiles do qualify for tax credit, although, which the Prius doesn’t.) Meaning inexpensive hybrids might have the flexibility to cut back emissions quicker as a result of they will extra readily substitute purely gasoline-burning automobiles.
“Should you cut back by 50% the CO2 emissions on the massive quantity [of vehicles] since you are defending affordability, your influence on the planet may be very robust and really quick,” Stellantis CEO Tavares stated throughout a latest assembly with the press.
Toyota executives like Keller don’t deny that electrical automobiles will take over the passenger automobile market in the future, and neither does Tavares. Lexus, Toyota’s luxurious model, is predicted to promote solely electrical automobiles by 2030. Toyota has plans so as to add extra EVs, too. However they warn in opposition to leaving wonderful, and gasoline saving, merchandise just like the Prius behind too quickly.
Hopefully, the most recent model will get extra individuals, who will not be prepared for an EV, to take this smaller step, as an alternative.
