A recurring mantra in the automobile biz is that consumers will never give up gasoline engines until something comes along that gives them the same performance, convenience, economy and dependability.
Electric motors haven’t been able to cut it because batteries still can’t store enough electricity to provide decent range and power. Diesel engines offer promise, but have pollution problems.
Some auto manufacturers, such as General Motors Corp., are convinced that hydrogen will eventually take over from gasoline. But that’s far in the future. Meanwhile, what to do?
Two manufacturers — Toyota and Honda of Japan — have adopted hybrid technology, combining gasoline engines with electric motors to provide adequate power and driveability with outstanding fuel economy. The domestic car companies, notably GM and Ford, also have talked about and done some development on hybrids. They have mostly focused on big trucks, arguing that the overall fuel savings will be more substantial there than in the small economy cars from Toyota and Honda. But they have yet to produce anything a consumer can buy.
Honda and Toyota, on the other hand, deliver high-quality hybrids with relatively low price tags and high gas mileage. Honda’s Insight is a tiny two-seater. Its other hybrid is a sedan in the Civic lineup, while Toyota markets a separate model, the Prius sedan. They have adopted different approaches. Honda’s hybrid relies on a low-power gasoline engine that is boosted by a small electric motor. On the Toyota Prius, the primary motive force is a 67-horsepower electric motor, boosted when needed by a 76-horsepower, four-cylinder gasoline engine.
With the all-new 2004 Prius (the Latin name means “to go before”), Toyota already is into its second-generation hybrid. The Prius originally was introduced in Japan in 1997 and came to the United States in 2000, with more than 20,000 sold in 2002.
The new Prius offers a big jump in power and passenger accommodations over the original. It has grown to the point where it now is classified as a midsize sedan. It also uses a four-door hatchback design, which gives it some of the same flexibility for cargo carrying as a small station wagon. It’s a rolling basket of advanced technology in an attractive, streamlined package that slices through the atmosphere with a minimum of friction (for the technical minded, the coefficient of drag, or Cd, is a rock-bottom 0.26).
Tucked away inside the bodywork are 168 nickel-metal hydride batteries that each provide 1.2 volts of power, or a total of 201.6 volts to drive the electric motor and even such accessories as the automatic air conditioning. The batteries are recharged by a generator and a regenerative braking system that captures energy when the Prius is coasting or braking.
All of this results in a government fuel economy rating of 60 miles per gallon city and 51 highway. The city figure is higher because low-speed chasing around makes more use of the electric motor.
While it’s no dragster, the Prius is no slouch, either. It can accelerate to 60 mph in about 10 seconds, which is close to three seconds quicker than its predecessor.
But the really cool thing about the Prius is that it’s a car with a high-quality feel and a delightful array of gadgets and gauges that are fun to use and not particularly daunting. These include remote controls on the steering wheel for the audio and climate-control systems, power everything, cruise control and heated outside mirrors.
Toyota denies that it loses money on every Prius, but even the owner of a Lexus, Toyota’s luxury car, would not feel deprived in one of these hybrids, despite its $20,510 price tag. It’s that nicely done. The base price does not include side air bags.
In typical Toyota fashion, there are nine option packages that can nudge the sticker as high as $26,000. The test Prius had package No. 8, which included a voice-activated navigation system, a so-called “smart entry and start” system, and an upscale stereo with a six-disc CD changer. It brought the suggested delivered price to $23,844.
The “smart” system is fun by itself. It consists of a small remote control device that you do not have to take out of your pocket or purse. When you touch the door handle, it unlocks the car, and when you want to start the car, you simply push the “start” button on the dash.
Then nothing happens. You sit there with no sounds. But the electric motor is booted up and waiting. A flip of the tiny shifter on the dash gets you into drive or reverse, and you’re off. If you feather-foot the throttle, you move off silently, powered only by the electric motor. If you step on it, the gasoline engine kicks in automatically. It all happens seamlessly.
Despite the astronomic fuel-economy numbers from the Environmental Protection Agency’s test cycle, most drivers are unlikely to achieve anything near the 60 miles per gallon rating. In around-town driving, depending on how gentle you drive, 35 to 45 is more realistic. Still, that means you can go about 500 miles on a tank of regular gasoline.
Specifications
Model: 2004 Toyota Prius four-door sedan.
Hybrid engines: 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline, 76 horsepower
50 kW electric, 67 horsepower
60 miles per gallon city, 51 highway.
Price as tested: $23,844.
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