2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid By ALAN GELL www.CarColumns.Net The 2010 Prius is the third generation for this popular Toyota vehicle.  It has made “hybrid” a household term and the concept accepted by the public.  This new model can easily attain 60 or 70 mpg with just a little effort.   The Prius has become a proven hybrid vehicle by the Toyota people and the public has accepted it well.

The Prius has been providing great mileage for ten years and to over a million customers over that ten year period.  The mystique of driving a hybrid and worrying about batteries blowing up in an accident have dissipated.  In fact, Toyota even has a program called “Certified Used Hybrids” that recognizes the reliability and dependability of their hybrid products.  Toyota is expected to release about ten more hybrid models over the next ten years.  For 2010, the Prius has changed the exterior profile slightly, added a lot more room to the interior, included a remote Air Conditioner start, and reduced the external coefficient of drag and wind resistance.

Our press trip in earlier this year took us to Tucson, Arizona, and a lot of driving in the desert and up into the mountains around that area.  Our route took us up from the desert floor to over almost 8500 feet in elevation.  The pine trees were thick at that level and provided quite a change in the scenery.  The winding, twisting roads, combined with the serious changes in elevation, gave us a challenging opportunity to test the driving capability of this little hybrid vehicle.  It performed well and is quite dependable.

The 2010 Prius almost looks the same as the second generation styling, but not quite.  The front grill is smaller, but that lower opening is much larger, allowing much more air flow.  There is a hard edge on the front corner of the car rather than smooth, rounded corners.  That is for aerodynamic purposes, and helps increase the mileage.  The spoiler at the rear is much lighter in weight and longer.  Again, that change was made for aerodynamic purposes and increase mileage.  In fact, most of the changes were engineered for increasing mileage.

For 2010, the Prius uses LED head lamps, which, according to Toyota literature, uses 88 percent less energy consumption.  Since this is a hybrid, the drain on the batteries is much less with those LED head lamps, so the gas engine doesn’t have to run as much to keep them charged.    Overall, this new Prius is one inch longer and three-fourth inch wider.  But the interior has been moved around and the center point of height has been shifted slightly to the back.  This allows a lot more room for the rear seating area.

On the dash, the shifter has been moved, which is much easier to operate.  The shift control is located on the center console of the dash, but low enough to almost be between the seats.  It is about the same height as where you would instinctively find a shift lever on the steering column, except moved over to the right. 
The engine is sometimes referred to as being “belt-less.”  There are no belts at the front end of the engine.  If you open the hood and look in, it is quite a change from yester-year, when there were a variety of belts connecting the various components.  The water pump is even electric in the 2010 model.  Not having any belts means no friction loss, which translates again into – improved mileage.  The transmission is all new for this third generation Prius hybrid.  The hybrid transaxle is approximately twenty percent lighter in weight than the previous one.

There are a variety of new features available on this new Prius, including a solar panel on the roof.  The solar panel is designed to maintain air temperature in the interior for those long, hot days.  It probably won’t keep a locked-up puppy from suffocating or chocolate from melting on the seats.  The purpose of the solar powered roof is to circulate the air inside the car and keep the inside near the same temperature as the outside air, even with the windows up and the doors locked.  There is a remote AC start available with a button on the key fob.  It allows the driver to pre-start the AC system and begin cooling down the car before actually getting inside.  Since the AC runs off the batteries, it will only run for three minutes before it shuts off, but that is plenty of time to walk across a parking lot and not be overwhelmed with heat when you open the door and slide into the car.  Another new feature is the Touch Tracer System for the steering wheel controls.  There are two round, black circles for easy operation with the thumbs or other fingers.  The operate much like a laptop computer mouse rather than buttons that have to be pushed with a lot of pressure and clicking. 

A new feature I really liked is Dynamic Radar Cruise Control.  You set the cruise control  like you normally would do, but engage the radar unit also.  The system maintains a pre-set distance between you and the car in front, so that you do not run-up behind a a slower moving vehicle and have to hit your brakes.  This allows you to keep your cruise control engaged, but maintains a safe distance when stuck behind a vehicle that has their cruise set at a slightly lower speed.
I didn’t have any time to enjoy the Tucson area since almost all my time was spent behind the wheel.  But the changes in altitude, the combination of desert and mountain roads, and the dry climate allowed a challenging test for this new Prius Hybrid.  Another route during the press trip was a short one that allowed a test for fuel efficiency.  It was not difficult to hit the 65 mpg and above.  A careful driver can easily surpass the 70 mpg mark.  The EPA estimates a average of 50 mpg in overall, normal usage.

I like this new Prius.  For those who already have owned a Prius, they will probably endorse this new model enthusiastically.  For those considering the possibility of owning a hybrid, check out this new Prius at your local Toyota dealership.  It really performs and offers so much for the consumer.