The Goodwood Test: Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

Heritage

The Prius is to hybrids what Hoover is to vacuum cleaners. For that, you can thank Toyota’s decision in the early Nineties to nail the tricky concept of matching petrol and electric propulsion in a way that would live up to the Japanese brand’s hard-won reputation for reliability. The result was so fundamentally brilliant that the basic principles of Toyota’s hybrid system haven’t changed between the car’s launch 20 years ago and today.

It’s also telling that although the Prius has not always enjoyed the most glowing reviews from driving enthusiasts it has still gained a following well into the millions. Buyers love not only its ‘green’ image but also its tiny running costs and the fact Toyota continues to evolve the technology. This Plug-in version of the fourth-generation Prius is evidence of just that approach.

Design

Not even the most ardent Prius fan could call this latest model an oil painting, but the unusual buttresses and 15-inch wheels with their skinny 195-section tyres are all for a purpose: to slip as easily through the air and as gently over the ground as possible.

The plug-in model is also interesting for the fact  Toyota couldn’t merely pop an 8.8kWh lithium-ion battery into the boot but had to alter the rear of the car to make it fit. As such the Prius Plug-in wears an extended rear bumper to protect the battery in the event of a crash, matched with longer bodywork and a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic boot lid. The charging port meanwhile is located over the rear wheel arch. Plugged into a free home wall unit it will transfer a full charge in two and a half hours.

Performance

As with a standard Prius, the Plug-in’s powertrain consists of a 1.8-litre petrol engine combined with two electric motors, one to drive the car and the other to run the hybrid systems. However, in this case the two motors can also work together to provide drive when needed. Combined with the larger battery this enables the Prius Plug-in to run in electric mode up to 84mph or 39 miles. 

What’s more, even when that battery goes flat the Prius can still record an easy 60mpg or more. Admittedly that’s some way shy of the 283mpg achieved in EU economy tests (leading to CO2 emissions of just 22g/km), but it’s still twice what most other plug-in hybrids manage with a depleted battery.

Passion

You’ll note that in the performance section we mentioned only those numbers to do with the car’s fuel economy rather than its acceleration. That’s because beyond the reassurance it’ll easily keep up with traffic there really isn’t much value in knowing whether a Prius can do 0-62mph in 11, 12 or 13 seconds.

Instead, when you talk about passion and the Prius it is done so within the context of the ingenuity required to build a car to be as efficient as possible. That’s where innovations such as the world’s first range-extending solar roof panel (worth about 400 miles a year for UK owners, says Toyota) come in. Whether that makes this model better than a standard Prius is another matter, but as far as plug-in hybrids go Toyota should count it another job well done.

Price tag of our car: £32,090 (including £2500 Plug-in Car Grant)