Best And Worst Feature Of Hybrid Cars

[RunningInPleasePass]

I've had my car for a couple of months now and my thoughts on it's worst and best features are:

Worst:

Acceleration can be a bit noisy, sounds like a slipping clutch.

Not confident about 12 volt Battery being up to the job, had one replaced under warranty.

Best:

Effortless, near silent, driving in town or traffic.

Good MPG in all situations, even on long motorway runs.

Lots of toys, some like rear camera I would not be without now.

As I say, I'm a beginner with hybrids, but up to now I would say I've enjoyed driving it, and I would be interested to hear from other hybrid owners on their thoughts.

[Ethanedwards]

Personally I find the rear camera useless when it rains. Get home, go to reverse into the garage and all you see is blobs. I had reversing sensors fitted as well. £150 well spent.

[nespresso]

I have owned a Toyota Aurus Hybrid for nearly a year.

Best:

1. Very easy and relaxed driving, particularly in town. Suspension is set up very well for UK roads.

2. I love the way it pulls away from lights. The electric and petrol motors work together with the CVT transmission to accelerate smoothly without the power dips experienced with regular transmission/gears. It always brings a smile to my face :-)

3. Excellent hifi/media/bluetooth system.

4. Keyless entry and start. I also like the way it senses the key approaching so illuminates the interior in readiness (yes, it's gimmicky, but I like it).

Worse:

1. To blend petrol and electric motors it sometimes revs when you aren't expecting it. For the first month or two it was off-putting but now I rarely notice it.

2. It isn't a Lexus :-)

[easydriver]

I agree with the above, except back in the last century the advice was never to put a car in a garage wet - that it encouraged rust. I never have. I have seen some early rusting cars which were always garaged.

[cviclark]

Best:

Lack of noise or effort. On the Prius the HUD. Fuel consumption if fitted with sensible tyres ( not 17" LP). On Auris Excel TS the cab materials, load space and hidden space in the back under floor and build quality DAB radio and camera, general comfort. folding mirrors.

Worst:

On Prius: no folding mirrors, trim material, parking rear wiper in the middle of the rear window. On both fuel consumption on 17" wheels with LP tyres. on Auris lack of clarity on speed indicator (too small, increments too close, hidden by steering wheel). Doubt 12v Battery capacity high enough to sustain being left for a couple of weeks unused.

Lack of understanding of hybrids and technical ability from Toyota GB.

[Joseph D]

I agree with the above, except back in the last century the advice was never to put a car in a garage wet - that it encouraged rust. I never have. I have seen some early rusting cars which were always garaged.

It shouldn't be a problem as long as the garage is properly ventilated. It must be 100 times worse to leave your car out in the rain all night.

[cootuk]

best: the planetary drive system to give gearless acceleration

worst: still has the standard engine - would prefer all electric with a decent range

[Grumpy Cabbie]

You don't have to rag a hybird to get it upto speed. A lot of drivers (not saying this applies to the op) who are used to manuals are used to flooring the car between gears to get the car upto speed in a reasonable time. With an auto or hybrid you rarely have to floor it to get there. If you floor the Prius/Auris hsd the car will be noisy but press the accelerator down 3/4 of the way you will accelerate just as quickly and much quieter. Use Power mode and you barely have to press the accelerator to get there.

I have never hung around and other than rapid overtaking on the motorway at speed, I have never know my Prius to be noisy.

[RK123456]

I had a Prius Plug on a 3 day test drive with a view to choosing one as my next compay car, as per my review in February, I hated it and chose an Avensis diesel tourer instead but for what it's worth, my views on the Prius Plug In are:

Best features:

Low emissions 49 g/km = low company car tax payable, 5% of list price of car.

Rear facing reversing camers, to make up for poor visibility due to spoiier in middle of rear windscreen.

Worst features.

Gutless petrol engine, replace it with a torquey diesel.

Automatic transmission, replace it with manual transmission, I can't get on with automatics.

Floor mounted parking brake, replace it with either a proper handbrake or Avensis style parking brake.

Fragile alloy wheels, my work takes me off road on farm tracks or into quarry sites, a normal car will usually cope with this but I always choose a car with steel wheels because I believe alloys are too fragile and prone to be damaged and those fancy alloys on the prius plus that come complete with wheel trims are too much of an unknown quantity.

[johalareewi]

Gutless petrol engine, replace it with a torquey diesel.

Toyota hybrids have a very torquey electric motor.

Automatic transmission, replace it with manual transmission, I can't get on with automatics.

The very nature of the Toyota HSD makes a manual gearbox impossible.

Floor mounted parking brake, replace it with either a proper handbrake or Avensis style parking brake.

Normal style handbrakes are available on other Toyota hybrids.

However, the floor mounted handbrake isn't anything to do with being a hybrid.

Fragile alloy wheels, my work takes me off road on farm tracks or into quarry sites, a normal car will usually cope with this but I always choose a car with steel wheels because I believe alloys are too fragile and prone to be damaged and those fancy alloys on the prius plus that come complete with wheel trims are too much of an unknown quantity.

Alloy wheels are nothing to do with the car being a hybrid.

[cviclark]

With over 50 years of driving experience an having owned over 20 cars of different types and makes I do not understand why anybody buys a manual car. I once tried to follow a colleague in a new Capri Ghia auto across London driving a new Capri S (tartan seats, black go faster stripe) manual. Couldn't keep up with him. The fact is an Auto is always in the best gear, point and squirt. No more manual racing or rally cars prove the point. I tried an Auris 1.3 manual with a 6 speed box and hated it across town. Fine on the motorway but hopeless in the city. I loved my Lexus is200 but again in the city it was not as good as an auto and while the straight 6 may have been smooth and quieter under acceleration, it was not as smooth as Prius . As a fleet manager we had more problems with clutches than autoboxes. I have not heard of any reliability problems with the HSD CVT system and in PWR mode my old Gen3 Prius would regularly out accelerate my neighbours Golf diesel joining a motorway,up hill,from a slip road. The gen 2 was poor on the same slip. but my new Auris is good.

I get cross when I read reports from motoring press (Chris Evans) who do not read the manual and do not use power mode. Time it up to 60 HSD,s are not slow and you are never in the wrong gear.

[Chris Dance]

The Prius is the best car I have owned I had the Gen 2 and now a Gen 3. I often leave other vehicles standing at traffic light without floooring the accelerator. The foot brake is no problem I have got used to it. My car is only noisy on very rough roads. I will never buy another manual control, the automatic gearbox on the Prius is great. As for diesel cars I hate them, My neighbour has a diesel car and he prefers his daughters petrol Yaris. We all know what a prat Chris Evans has been in the past so how he can give a true assessment of a car I do not know. I wish I had retractable wing mirrors on my 2011 model. My son works at Nissan and he tells me all their new cars have provision for fitting a spare wheel as an added extra. It is a shame Toyota do not do the same. The Plug In has no facility for a spare wheel just the dreaded "Gunge". At the present time I am getting 60 MPG. on the Prius.

[RK123456]

If we're going to split hairs.

Toyota hybrids may have a torquey electric motor but when I tested the prius plug in, I found it to be seriously lacking in acceleration, most of my driving is on motorways and I need to be confident that I will be up to 70mph at the end of the slip road to join the motorway safely, the prius plug in didn't give me that confidence.

OK, so a manual gearbox is impossible, the thread topic is "Best & worst features of hybrid cars" the automatic gearbox is a feature of the prius, I don't like it so in my opinion, it is one of the worse features.

I realist the floor mounted handbrake isn't anything to do with it being a hybrid, but this is a Toyota forum and the prius is only available with a floor mounted handbrake which I dislike, so in my opinion, it is one of the worse features.

I agree that alloy wheels are nothing to do with the car being a hybrid but when a toyota prius plug in hybrid is only available with alloy wheels and alloy wheels are not suitable for my car use due to their fragility, again in my opinion, the lack of steel wheels is one of the worse features.

As this is a toyota forum, I believed that it was to discuss toyota hybrids.

Again, it is very easy to say what you dislike about something, that is more useful if you then suggest how you think that can be improved.

As a side issue on driving mix, I heard that the best was to see if a hybrid is suitable is to look at your average speed. If the average speed is less than 30mph, hybrid is the way to go, between 30 and 40 mph, borderline, over 40mph, hybrids will be no more economical. My averave speed between fills is nearly always in excess of 40mph and sometimes nearer 50mph, but most of my driving is on motorways.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

lol I'll race you off the slip road if you want :)

The Prius has superb acceleration from 50 - 80 mph. I've driven hundreds of cars from Vauxhall Corsas to Lamborghini's to Mercedes S600's and I have to say the Prius is nippy in the mid band for a 1.8. The electric motor acts like a turbo and it shifts. Overtaking is easy and quick and quicker than the 2.2 Avensis I've driven. That to me had torque but was just too narrow a rev range needing me to drop down and floor it.

I'd also go as far as saying that the Prius is the smoothest car NEXT to a Merc S600L for acceleration, though the Merc pips it higher up the speed and its suspension pips the Prius too over bumps and rough roads, BUT the Prius is probably a good second for ride comfort. Seriously.

The best car for acceleration and comfort I've driven was an AMG63, though the quickest affordable car was probably a Subaru Turbo, but the suspension was way too hard. The Prius was best for smoothness, with Lagunas a close second. A VW Golf 2.0 diesel was the most fun for a small manual car. When somebody else is paying I like a V8, but diesels were too problematic in town use.

So I'd say poppy ***** to anyone who says the hybrid is slow over 40 mph. It isn't and I've surprised many an Audi A4 owner who tried burning me off :)

[Ten Ninety]

Based on experience of a 2010 Auris and 2010 Prius:

Best features:

• Exceptionally smooth drivetrain which makes for very relaxed motoring
• Reliability, relative to complex turbo petrols/diesels.
• Outstanding fuel consumption if you are prepared to drive it in the 'right' way. Even on those silly 17" wheels ;)

Worst features:

• Poor suppression of road noise inside
• Questionable quality of interior design and construction
• Image associated with Guardian-reading eco-loons

[RK123456]

Ref "I'll race you off the slip road if you want."

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly intended to choose the prius plug in as my next company car back in March. I got one on a 3 day extended test drive in February, the car was handed over to me but the various modes weren't fully explained. When I finally drove the car on day 1 with my wife a passenger, I was so unused to the transmission (it's 20 years since I drove an automatic and that was a courtesy car while mine was in for service) that I found driving the prius plug in highly stressful, I will go as far as to say that we drove 10 miles to a supermarket, went shopping and I was dreading driving the car back home as I found driving an automatic so alien to me. I even took a deour via our local toyota main dealer and went in to ask them what I was doing wrong or if there was anything wrong with the car!

My main motivator for wanting a prius plug in as a company car was the low company car tax, 5% versus 13% plus is a big financial incentive. The prius plug in with its electric motor may pull like a freight train in the correct mode but I didn't get round to discovering that pulling power, driving the prius gave me the feeling that I wasn't in control of the car, the best way I can describe driving the prius is being on a fairground ride that you can't control. On day 2 of my test drive, I had to make a 220 mile round trip, bad weather was forecast. I had originally loaded my things into the prius intending to use it for the journey, I was in bed worried about driving the prius, so late at night, I transferred all my things into my Avensis and decided to leave the prius on my drive for the remainder of the test period.

When I originally visited my toyota dealer to choose the colour for my Avensis (before considering a prius), a salesman started talking to me and did a fantastic job selling the prius plug in to me, he convinced me that it would do everything I wanted it to do. When I finally got on on a test drive, within 5 minutes of driving it, I had an overwhelming feeling of disappointment, like the little boy who has his heart set on a train set for Christmas and on Christmas Day, he doesn't get a train set.

I admit that I do have a problem driving automatics, I have driven manual cars for 35 years and in that time, I have driven an automatic for 10 miles on 1 day 20 years ago. If I am so keen on reducing my company car tax liability when my car is due for remewal in March 2017, and if there are still considerable tax advantages in driving a hybrid at that time, it may be a good idea for me to have one or two driving lessons in an automatic car to try to overcome my aversion to driving automatics. Maybe I should have had a driving lesson in an automatic before I had the prius plug on a 3 day test in February, I may have loved it and chosen one as my company car.

[Cyker]

Yeah, they are surprisingly quick off the mark the HSDs; The problem is they give like, zero feel, so you really can't gauge how fast you are accelerating like you can in, say, a diesel where the torque is strong and very noticeable. My D4D gives a nice feeling of torque right up to about 4-5k-ish where it starts to tail off.

I think it is because the acceleration is very instant, but unlike other cars doesn't really build - If you push down the accelerator, you get a very smooth and rapid rise of acceleration to that point, then that's more or less it, whereas in a normal car you get some acceleration, then more and more as the engine revs up.

It's hard to describe if you haven't driven one before

But to be honest, you don't buy a HSD for driving dynamics; They are more for people who just want to get from A to B with the minimum fuss. If you want a driver's car, a CTS or GT86 would be much more suitable

I know what you mean about automatics - I really dislike automatics and consider them more suitable for americans and the elderly :P

It's the feeling of a lack of control more than anything: In a manual, the car does not move unless you make it. In an auto, you have to force it to NOT move otherwise it keeps trying to creep forward at idle speed.

Some practice in an auto is worth it if you're unused to them as, for instance, you approach low-speed manoeuvres in the total opposite way you do in a manual!

In a manual you are feeding in power at very low levels via the clutch to make the car move; In an auto you are doing the opposite - using the brakes to restrain the engine to stop it jumping forward to idle speed.

Try and move a car 1cm forward, pause, then 2cm forward, then 5 cm back smoothly - It is MUCH easier to do this smoothly and accurately in a manual than an automatic. Autos will usually overshoot or *****, esp. if it has decent brakes.

[kithmo]

Autos Rule, they are sooooooo relaxing to drive.

Why do this all the time--> ??

[timberwolf]

Cyker, if you ride the foot brake pedal on an Automatic even with a large, powerful petrol engine V8 5l, you can achieve fine control omoving forward or reverse, which I think is a similar concept to riding the clutch pedal in a manual.

That being said, a regular Automatic with a fluid clutch had a very different feel from the Toyota HSD. The Toyota Hybrid in the Prius setup is designed to coast/glide much better than a regular automatic (regular auto gave you more engine braking and something that very Automatics from a long time ago did not have and driving such as merging on highways required dancing between the gas and brake pedal).

[Sagitar]

We shouldn't get the standard Prius and the plug-in confused.

The standard Prius has a claimed 0-62 time of 10.4 seconds. The plug in is significantly slower at 11.3 seconds. The gross weight of the plug-in is 35 Kg more than the standard Prius - all those extra batteries.

I bought mine because most of my mileage is local and I can make significant use of the Battery. I have done less than 400 miles in it; all short, local journeys. The performance has been exactly as I expected. I will be doing some longer journeys over Christmas and it will be interesting to see how it performs.

If I was driving mainly longer distances on motorways I would have stuck with the T Spirit. When I bought the T Spirit back in 2009 I considered a small diesel but rejected the idea because I anticipated trouble with particulate filters given my driving pattern. Having driven the T Spirit for four years and seen how well it performs on motorways, I wouldn't now consider a diesel at all.

On the question of auto-boxes, I have to say that the Prius is the easiest car to drive that I have ever owned. I'm sorry that RK123456 found it difficult, but I think that is more likely to be about lack of familiarity and practice than it is about the car. Lack of engine braking may be disconcerting at first, but of course it is one of the characteristics of a "normal" car that makes it inefficient. So getting rid of uncontrolled engine braking and substituting regenerative braking is a positive step towards better economy, even if it does mean that we have to learn new driving habits.

[Joseph D]

As a side issue on driving mix, I heard that the best was to see if a hybrid is suitable is to look at your average speed. If the average speed is less than 30mph, hybrid is the way to go, between 30 and 40 mph, borderline, over 40mph, hybrids will be no more economical. My average speed between fills is nearly always in excess of 40mph and sometimes nearer 50mph, but most of my driving is on motorways.

You heard wrong - but this is one of those "old wives tales" particularly regurgitated by the motoring press and uninformed "Joe Public"'s et al.

I actually find I get mixed result in the so called around town perfect scenario. My experience is that I do better on the motorways and A/B roads. I think what confuses people is that a hybrid will do better around town than standard car, and so that is all they think it is good for. However a hybrid will do better in distance runs also when compared to a standard car of comparable size and in my experience a distance run will generally improve my tank average MPGs.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Ref "I'll race you off the slip road if you want."

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly intended to choose the prius plug in as my next company car back in March. I got one on a 3 day extended test drive in February, the car was handed over to me but the various modes weren't fully explained. When I finally drove the car on day 1 with my wife a passenger, I was so unused to the transmission (it's 20 years since I drove an automatic and that was a courtesy car while mine was in for service) that I found driving the prius plug in highly stressful, I will go as far as to say that we drove 10 miles to a supermarket, went shopping and I was dreading driving the car back home as I found driving an automatic so alien to me. I even took a deour via our local toyota main dealer and went in to ask them what I was doing wrong or if there was anything wrong with the car!

My main motivator for wanting a prius plug in as a company car was the low company car tax, 5% versus 13% plus is a big financial incentive. The prius plug in with its electric motor may pull like a freight train in the correct mode but I didn't get round to discovering that pulling power, driving the prius gave me the feeling that I wasn't in control of the car, the best way I can describe driving the prius is being on a fairground ride that you can't control. On day 2 of my test drive, I had to make a 220 mile round trip, bad weather was forecast. I had originally loaded my things into the prius intending to use it for the journey, I was in bed worried about driving the prius, so late at night, I transferred all my things into my Avensis and decided to leave the prius on my drive for the remainder of the test period.

When I originally visited my toyota dealer to choose the colour for my Avensis (before considering a prius), a salesman started talking to me and did a fantastic job selling the prius plug in to me, he convinced me that it would do everything I wanted it to do. When I finally got on on a test drive, within 5 minutes of driving it, I had an overwhelming feeling of disappointment, like the little boy who has his heart set on a train set for Christmas and on Christmas Day, he doesn't get a train set.

I admit that I do have a problem driving automatics, I have driven manual cars for 35 years and in that time, I have driven an automatic for 10 miles on 1 day 20 years ago. If I am so keen on reducing my company car tax liability when my car is due for remewal in March 2017, and if there are still considerable tax advantages in driving a hybrid at that time, it may be a good idea for me to have one or two driving lessons in an automatic car to try to overcome my aversion to driving automatics. Maybe I should have had a driving lesson in an automatic before I had the prius plug on a 3 day test in February, I may have loved it and chosen one as my company car.

If you really want to own an automatic you could take a couple of driving lessons with an Automatic Tutor, this is what my wife did when she bought her IQ2 automatic, she only needed 2 one hour lessons.

I was like you, I only drove manual cars for more then 40 years, but after having driven my hybrid now I would never go back, it's so much more relaxing.

[RobMagpie]

+1. I too only drove manual cars for 30 years, but would never go back now.

The plug-in does not have the power button but in 17 months of driving I have never had a problem with lack of power when needed.

[RK123456]

I don't really want to own an automatic.

I will consider any car that will do the job and cost me the least.

The car is a company car so whatever I choose I have to live with for 4 years.

The only reason I considered a prius plug in because of the considerable company car tax advantages, for example:

Prius Plug In cost to me in company car tax and private mileage £5,939.40 for 4 years.

Avensis 2.0 D4D T2 Tourer cost to me in company car tax and private mileage £9989.60 for 4 years.

As you can see, driving a Prius Plug In would have saved me £4,050.40 in 4 years, or £1,012.60 per year, or £19.47 per week. That is a big motivator for choosing a hybrid car. In 3 years time when my car is due for renewal, the company car tax system may have changed and cars with different fuel types may be taxed differently to how they are taxed today.

[barrycoll]

as an Observer for the IAM, and taking folks out regularly for instruction based upon Roadcraft, The Police Drivers handbook, I find that people with autos, always manage a lot better, a lot quicker.

..and the Prius has the Ultimate Smooth pseudo gear box...

getting pupils to be in the right gear for the speed of the car is a problem, eg dont change into 2nd when approaching a line of stationary traffic.....using the handbrake , and not riding the clutch on a hill start is a problem

the mechanics of a smooth gearchange in a manual car defeat a lot of people....trying to get pupils to slow the gear change by counting "one thousand, two thousand", as the gear goes into neutral, and then into the next gear, is always difficult....trying to get pupils to double de clutch on a down change, or at least bring the revs Up, so that the engine does not act as a brake as the next gear is engaged, is very difficult....trying to get that left foot off the clutch pedal when turning sharp left/right rather than coasting, is always a favourite

getting pupils to de-clutch before starting the car, so that the starter motor doesn't have to turn the gear box, is difficult...etc etc etc

and yet, the Prius or any other torque convertor/dry clutch auto does nearly all these things for a driver, giving more time for Observation, and Car Positioning, and correct Speed stc

sorry about this rant, but I always find the cri de couer that autos are too difficult, very very strange indeed