Toyota turns back on Prius as hybrid mileage champ, emphasizes performance

The 2016 Toyota Prius gets better gas mileage than the previous generation, 54 mpg in the city and 50 mpg on the highway. The engine and electric motor produce a total of 121 horsepower. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I have yet to meet a car that is as fast as my Tesla Model S in a stop-light grand prix -- that sprint from zero to 30 mph or 40 mph.

It certainly wasn't the 2016 Prius that was next to me at a light near Route 80 in northern New Jersey the other night, when I blew off his doors.

But I figured the young driver had seen the Toyota TV ad with bank robbers getting away in the redesigned Prius, first shown during the Super Bowl, and thought he owned a really fast car.

LOL.

How trite, I thought when I first saw the ad.

Now, Toyota has turned its back on the environmental benefits of more than 15 years of producing the world's most popular gas-electric hybrid.

Just about every automaker tries to appeal to the boy racer in prospective car buyers, ignoring women altogether.

Aren't you sick of seeing Mercedes-Benzes, Audis and BMWs in lurid slides or Nissans and Lexus sedans racing across sun-baked desserts?

Now, you can add the Prius to that list, and that's a sad development.

Did Toyota ruin one of the most distinctive designs since the Volkswagen Beetle?

These views of the 2016 Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid, from Consumer Reports, show the designers didn't completely abandon cues from the 2010-15 Prius, one of the most recognizable shapes on the road.

This three-quarter rear view of the 2016 Prius is especially evocative of the old model.

The 2016 Prius now bears a strong family resemblance to Toyota's Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Many Prius owners are disappointed Toyota didn't develop an all-electric version of the world's best-selling hybrid or a completely new EV. 

The 2010-15 Toyota Prius looks fresh six years after the wraps came off. We still have a red 2010 Prius, one of four Toyota hybrids we bought starting with a burgundy 2004. 

The futuristic, second-generation 2004-09 Toyota Prius in silver, the most popular color. The 2004 model -- as groundbreaking as the air-cooled, rear-engine VW Beetle -- introduced the hatchback design that continues in the 2016 Prius. 

Toyota brought the first Prius to the United States in 2000, one year after Honda imported the Insight, a two-seater with rear fender skirts. But unlike the Insight, the Prius was a full hybrid and could operate at times on its electric motor and battery.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON