Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Living with a Toyota Prius, the hybrid car for the future?

Now, a Toyota Prius doesn't sound, look and perform like the car, a true petrolhead would buy, you say? Well, yes, that's probably why my wife is driving it. But having used it myself for some thousands of kilometers, I am able to provide my own judgement. And it has to be said - it's different. There's nothing in this car, that makes you happy if you look for driving fun or sportiness. It's quite slow and the faster you go the less fun it is to drive it. I did longer stints on German highways with it and it was aweful. But if you start to understand the car and take it as what it is supposed to be, then it starts to become interesting. Can I do more than 100 kms with 4 liters of fuel? That's the ambition you develop with this car. With how little gasoline can I go how far? Can I do more than 5 kms without using any gasoline, just with the accumulated electricity? You will find youself stopping the aircondition just to lower the gas consumption a bit more. And now it starts to become fun, somewhat. It's different. But to be fair, Toyta was able to build a car that runs quite well, has space for five people and some luggage and can cover long distances without effort. That's quite a convenient truth in today's world, isn't it?