When I heard the Toyota Prius C was coming out with its low price point (compared to other hybrid offerings), I was quite excited. After having one in the CornerstoneDad driveway for one night, I must confess, this ride is the real fuel-sipping deal as I nearly hit 60-mpg driving on rush hour traffic in my 45-mile commute.
New personal record of any car I’ve ever had in the CSD driveway
The styling of this $25,000 model was nearly identical to the new Yaris. I drove the Yaris a few months back and was thoroughly disappointed with the road noise and lack of amenities. However, the Prius C makes up for this by adding the usual hybrid video game-type feedback in the dash screen, iPod connector and easy-to-use radio interface. While the radio doesn’t shake the rearview mirror, it was more than adequate to drown out the road noise and wiper chatter I found from the Yaris. But who buys a hybrid for those things anyway?
The star of the show is the hybrid system. Toyota’s hybrid system works flawlessly as once the Prius C gets going, it quickly drops down to using more electric motor power and less engine power. Featuring a nickel-metal-hydride battery instead of the more modern lithium-ion battery chemistry, allows Toyota to keep the price down low in a lighter vehicle where power density is less of an issue. I DO think the Prius V (a sure CSD car of the year finalist) would benefit more from a lithium-ion battery, as the engine and battery have to work much harder to get the vehicle moving in traffic which decreases fuel economy to levels on par with a conventional engine-only vehicle without the added tech-cost. But the nickel works just fine in the Prius C.
For $25K, I’d definitely consider putting one in my driveway. I could put three kids in the back without hearing the usual, “Ouch, get off me” or “Move, can’t you’re sitting on my seatbelt”.
What do you think? Have you made the hybrid plunge and if not, could this be the vehicle to pull you in?
Homeruns:
– Toyota Hybrid System (THS), it’s everything it’s supposed to be – did I say I got almost 60-mpg?
– Good space in small package
– Telematics/info screen
– Weird seat material that actually looked and felt pretty good
– A decent driving car…for a hybrid
– You make people behind you on the phone mad because you don’t want to get out of EV-Mode
Strikeouts:
– Harsh ride had me afraid I’d blow out a tire on some of these mid-west roads…okay, that could happen in a Yukon as well but I’d at least keep my teeth-fillings
– Wind noise
– Brake regeneration-stopping feels risky when in stop-and-go traffic
– Some materials in the interior felt cheap, so just don’t touch those too often
– You make people behind you on the phone mad because you don’t want to get out of EV-Mode, so some get close to “push” you along.
Furious Fathering 
I never really considered Hybrids
I wonder more about the safety issues of thee car. I heard about the car catching on fire and the firemen having a hard time extinguishing it out because of the electricty running through the car. Have they fixed that issue yet?
I guess i am still stuck in look good, feel good kind of car. Like my Tauras.
If you are only thinking about saving on GAS then i might consider one but i dont make many long trips like you at 45 miles.(Bless You)
The room in the car sounds good with kids but how about some adu;ts in the back seat, would you still give it the same rating?
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Excellent comments man!
First, yes hybrids are having an incredibly hard time on the PR side. Nobody really knows much about them and usually the news they do hear is bad. However, cars with combustion engines catch fire often and I remember our 1980 AMC Spirit even caught fire “for no reason” and other cars with carburators used to catch fire quite often (mostly from folks using too much starter fluid). Either way, we just learned what to do and what not to do. I think the same things will happen with batteries fires.
Overall, the vehicles are built extremely safe and are actually overbuilt for safety reasons.
If you don’t make long trips, imagine NEVER having to go to the gas station? Now the vehicle would never pay for itself (we call that the payback period), but something like the Nissan Leaf, that I’ll review soon, or Chevy Volt would be perfect for you.
While the Prius C is meant to appeal to someone who doesn’t need much room in the back, I had two kids in the back of the Leaf in car seats with no problem whatsoever. The Prius V (a full-hybrid like the C ), is almost like a small minivan with no sliding doors, so there’s plenty of space.
Good questions!
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Should be getting the Chevy Cruse ls a few weeks. What’s your thought on that vehicle?
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That segment for cars offers a lot of nice products to choose from, so you’re fortunate right there. I only had the Cruze for a night and I thought it was definitely a decent ride. GM did a good job making a contender against the Civic, Focus, and Elantra to name a few. I’ve driven all of those and I have to say that overall I like the Focus more than any and the Elantra has the best styling in my opinion. But if you can get the Cruze for the right price and the amenities that you need, I think it’s a pretty good buy.
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Thanks for the reply even though it was a little off topic 🙂
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Sorry if I didn’t give you the exact answer. Is there anything specific you’re wondering about the Cruze? Have you cross-shopped any of its competitors?
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No I meant I was off topic you were talking about Toyotas lol
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