2001 Toyota Prius Reviews
2001 Toyota Prius
2001 Toyota Prius 4dr Sedan (1.5L 4cyl Gas/Elec Hybrid CVT)
Review
Bought this car at 75K miles, now have 115K miles on it. During this time, all the car has needed is gas, tires and oil changes.
The Toyota Prius sedan has a different way for getting you from point A to point B: This "hybrid" vehicle combines environmentally sensitive electric power with traditional four-cylinder gasoline power. This gas-and-electric combination makes the compact, four-door sedan extremely clean running and produces amazing fuel-efficiency-up to 52 miles per gallon in stop-and-go city driving.
Under medium acceleration, the gas and electric motor work together to provide the power you need to merge on the highway. When you only need a little power, say for stop-and-go driving in traffic, the gas engine shuts off. This helps the "toyota Prius" earn the tough SULEV rating, for super low-emissions vehicle.
In a short drive then of a right-hand-drive Toyota Prius, my colleagues and I were impressed with the seamlessness of the hybrid drivetrain but critical of the car’s lack of power at higher speeds.
Since then, Toyota has tweaked the Prius for the American market with a slightly more powerful engine, new battery packs, and revised hybrid system behavior. Mainly, I was interested in two main things: is the Toyota Prius a car that I could live with as well as any other small car from day to day, and does this tech powerhouse actually return the lofty gas-mileage figures that it promises (52 city and 45 highway, according to the EPA)?
Good news for granolas
The good news for Toyota and for granolas everywhere is that driving the Toyota Prius is not the work-in-progress, techno-geek experience you might think. The Toyota Prius feels and drives much like a normal small car.
