Toyota - Prius Euro NCAP - 5 STARS
Futuristic styling and innovation combine to make the Toyota Prius one of the cleverest, most distinctive and environmentally friendly cars currently available. An ultra clean alternative to mainstream cars but one that demands few compromises to own or drive.
A true clean green mean machine. Since its launch the latest generation Hybrid Prius has pretty much universally been regarded as the most environmentally friendly production car. It should therefore not come as a surprise to learn that Toyota (along with its sister company Lexus) was joint winner of the prestigious WhatCar? Green Award for 2007.
The interior is as futuristic as the exterior, however Toyota have been careful to pay attention to the practical needs of the modern motorist. Impressively spacious the Prius will comfortably accommodate three adults in the back. A passenger of six feet can comfortably sit behind an equally lanky driver. However, Steering wheel-mounted controls are the Prius's most distinctive feature, from which you can operate everything from the air con to the radio, so rarely need to take your eyes off the road.
Good enough to beat more conventional models and win Car of the Year 2005. Toyotas hybrid Prius uses both petrol and electric to reduce emissions and increase fuel consumption. Although the single variant 76bhp 1.5 VVT-i sounds feeble for a car of this size, the electric motor adds an equivalent of about 67bhp, taking it to a more respectable 143bhp, which produces a very creditable 0-62 in 10.9 seconds. When it's moving under electric power only, it's eerily silent and offers emission free and smooth performance. The clutchless CVT gearbox responds well and adapts to suit hard acceleration and motorway cruising.
With a B VED rating and co2 omissions of only 104g/km the Prius has the lowest carbon dioxide output of any car currently sold in the UK. London commuters driving in and out of the city centre should be able to save up to a staggering £2000 a year in charges as the
revolutionary petrol-electric hybrid is exempt from the London Congestion Charge.
What's more 12 months road tax will currently cost a mega £30. Incredibly it doesn't stop here because with a combined fuel consumption figure of 65.70mpg the Prius must be one of the most frugal and eco friendly cars currently on our roads.
All three trim levels on offer are well equipped. Front and rear electric windows, electric door mirrors, a CD player and climate control are standard on the entry-level T3. T4 models add front fog lamps, cruise control and a premium JBL audio system with six-disc CD autochanger The T Spirit benefits from a DVD based sat-nav system with voice recognition and Bluetooth telephone interface.
The first Hybrid car to be crash tested by Euro NCAP the Toyota Prius was awarded a top 5 star safety rating. and scored it four stars for child protection. All models have front and side airbags and front and rear curtain bags, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist, front seatbelts pre-tensioners and load limiters, Electronic Traction Control and Toyota's Stability Control Plus. Security is taken care of thorough deadlocks, an alarm, immobiliser, remote central locking, locking wheel nuts and marked parts.
Toyota's reputation for reliability is second to none, however every new Toyota car still comes with a comprehensive warranty package. In addition to the 3 year or 60,000 mile (whichever comes first) Mechanical Warranty, that includes full RAC recovery service for the first 12 months, there is a 3 year Paint Surface Warranty and a 12 year anti-corrosion and perforation warranty. In addition to all this, on the Prius you also get an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty for the hybrid drivetrain.
The neat time someone tells you the car in front is a green Toyota they probably wont be referring to the vehicles colour!
About the manufacturer
The Toyota name has for a long time been synonymous with pioneering developments of greener motoring, and the organisation is totally committed to reducing its environmental impact. From improving fuel efficiency and reducing exhaust emissions, to the management and reduction of the environmental impact throughout the entire lifecycle of vehicles - from development to production, use, disposal, and recycling.
Toyota's mission has always been to provide clean and safe products. Thus, the company has positioned the environment as one of its most important issues and has been working toward creating a prosperous society and a world that is comfortable to live in. With this goal in mind, Toyota has been actively developing various new technologies from the perspective of achieving energy security and diversifying energy sources, which is necessitated by the dwindling supply of petroleum resources. For example, in motive power sources for automobiles alone.
Toyota has been continually improving conventional engines and have developed and commercialised lean-burn petrol engines, direct injection petrol engines and common rail direct-injection diesel engines, etc. They have also been modifying engines so that they can use alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas, instead of gasoline or light oil, and have been installing these engines in commercially sold vehicles. Toyota has also developed and been marketing electric vehicles that use motors for the driving source; hybrid vehicles that combine an engine and a motor, fusing the advantages of these two power sources; fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHV) that use fuel cells to generate electricity based on a chemical reaction between hydrogen and the oxygen in the air and that supply this electricity to electric motors to produce driving power.
In pursuit of the ultimate environmentally friendly car, in 1997 Toyota introduced the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, the Prius - one of the most fuel efficient 5-person mass-produced gasoline passenger vehicles in the world.
In December 2002 Toyota began limited marketing in the U.S. and Japan of the hydrogen-powered TOYOTA FCHV (Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle, the first-ever market-ready fuel cell vehicle. After further improvements, the TOYOTA FCHV became the first fuel-cell vehicle in Japan to acquire vehicle type certification under the amended Road Vehicles Act, and on July 1, 2005, Toyota began leasing it in Japan and the U.S. The FCHV is seen as the closest yet to the ultimate eco-car.
However, Toyota will not be satisfied until such ultimate eco-cars become available to everyone. Toyota's completely original fuel cell - the Toyota FC Stack - is a performance leader among vehicular fuel cells worldwide, and is already on the verge of surpassing gasoline engines in power density.
Toyota has developed the concept of Hybrid Synergy Drive, upon which it has developed a new-generation Toyota hybrid system called THS II, which achieves high levels of compatibility between environmental performance and power by increasing the motor output by 1.5 times, greatly boosting the power supply voltage and achieving significant advances in the control system, aiming for synergy between motor power and engine power. As a consequence the Harrier and Kluger hybrids have qualified as vehicles that meet an exhaust emissions level 75% lower than the 2005 Exhaust Emissions Standards.
Since 1990 Toyota has been actively working to make easy to recycle vehicles, taking into consideration the entire vehicle lifecycle, from development to disposal. In the development stage Toyota has been developing easy to recycle materials and designs that take dismantling into consideration, while developing and introducing various recycling technologies in the production stage. Toyota has built a system for dealers to promote the reuse of automobile parts and for collecting and recycling bumpers that have been replaced. For end-of-life vehicles Toyota has been advancing research into efficient dismantling technologies as well as promoting the use of shredder residue. The recycling activities of the individual stages are coordinated and information from each stage is provided to Toyota's development divisions.
Toyota's efforts in recycling end-of-life vehicles began with the foundation of a shredding company in 1970, Toyota Metal Co Ltd, and in 1990 the establishment of the Recycling Committee, which led to the operation of the world's first mass-production ASR Recycling Plant in 1998. In 2003 Toyota announced the Toyota Recycle and the launch of the new Raum into which Toyota incorporated many new designs for recycling features. Toyota plans to continue taking action to attain goals such as the early achievement of a 95% vehicle recovery rate.