Et tu, Clarkson? Top Gear names Toyota Prius its "City Car of the Year"
Jeremy Clarkson seems to hate anything that greens up or in any other way adds an eco label to his cars – and some environmentalists don't exactly appreciate the television host either – so it's with some amusement that we learn that the Top Gear team has named the Toyota Prius the "City Car of the Year." Turns out, the Prius really can appeal to almost everyone.
Clarkson was not specifically quoted in the Prius praise piece – remember, this is the guy who called Honda's Insight "Biblically terrible" and pretended to run out of energy in a Tesla Roadster – but his mates said the 2010 Prius gets "awesome numbers" of 60 mpg (U.S. gallons, as measured on the UK scale) and emits just 89 grams of C02 per km. And all this from "a proper family five-door hatch." BBC Top Gear Editor Conor McNicholas even called the third-gen model "something quite ground-breaking."
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius
[Source: Toyota]
PRESS RELEASE:
TOP GEAR NAMES PRIUS TOP OF THE TOWN
UK's favourite hybrid wins City Car of the Year award
Prius has gained an unlikely new admirer with Top Gear choosing the Toyota hybrid star as its City Car of the Year.
The Top Gear award is another sign of the broadening appeal of the latest generation of Toyota's world-conquering hybrid. New Prius has been in very high demand in the UK, attracting more than 4,000 customer orders since going on sale in August.
Announced in the special awards issue magazine on now sale, Top Gear praised the technology of the new Prius and the "awesome numbers" of 72.4mpg and 89g/km for "a proper family five-door hatch".
"You have to admire the Prius. It's a testament to Toyota that it has refined this car over three generations to arrive at something quite ground-breaking," said Conor McNicholas, BBC Top Gear Editor.
The Top Gear awards are selected by the TV, magazine and online teams, reflecting the most exciting and innovative cars to be launched in the last 12 months.
Thanks to its full hybrid technology, Prius is ideal for slow moving city traffic. It has the ability to run purely on electric power for certain distances, reducing both fuel consumption and tailpipe CO2 emissions to zero. There is perhaps no better place to put that performance into practice than in the heart of London, where Prius remains exempt from the congestion charge.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
why not the LS2LS7? 4:28PM (12/04/2009)
It'd be my green car of the year. It's very efficient and at US prices it's a steal, the interior is good for a $24K car too, and the seats fold down!
And it turns and stops well (not good at acceleration though).
It's too bad the batteries don't last forever, but I guess you can't have everything.
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GoodCheer 4:50PM (12/04/2009)
"It's too bad the batteries don't last forever"
Have you seen data of battery failures/replacements? My understanding was that the batteries have been holding up exceedingly well, far beyond the expectations Toyota had at the outset of the design. I've heard there are Prius taxis with hundreds of thousands of miles on original packs. I'd be very interested to learn otherwise.
downtoearth 5:17PM (12/04/2009)
> It's too bad the batteries don't last forever, but I guess you can't have everything.
Forever? No.
For about 340.000 miles (550.000 km)? Yes.
342.000 miles/550.000 km Toyota Prius I:
http://john1701a.com/prius/owners/jesse4.htm
300.000 miles/480.000 km Ford Escape Hybrid:
http://www.hybridcars.com/fleets/taxis-show-hybrid-battery-durability-25167.html
All these vehicles run on original batteries.
Hybrid batteries are oversized for very long life span. Only a tiny fraction of their total capacity is used to perform hybrid action. Even a 80% depleted battery still allows the car to achieve factory mileage. The batteries last as long as hybrids themselves.
GoodCheer
> My understanding was that the batteries have been holding up exceedingly well,
> far beyond the expectations Toyota had at the outset of the design.
You heard it well.
> I've heard there are Prius taxis with hundreds of thousands
> of miles on original packs.
See above.
why not the LS2LS7? 4:06PM (12/05/2009)
From a green perspective, consumables are bad.
But yes, the batteries last far more than enough for me, I believe they go about 200,000 miles. A normal car is still usable at 200,000, it finds a use somewhere if it's not with the original owner. This car is ready for scrap or a large new battery back at a price that's probably too high for the current owner to stomach.
It's a downside, and that's all there is to it.
Snowdog 5:12PM (12/04/2009)
The 2010 Prius would be my pick as well. I wouldn't buy one, because I really like manual shifting, but the engineering totally impresses me, as do the results.
HSD power coupler is nearly an ideal solution, it actually lowers the mechanical complextity compared to a normal transmission. It is just orbital gears. Extremely robust.
The ICE has no accessory belts at all. This means much lower parasitic losses and greater reliability.
It has incredible fuel efficiency compared to anything remotely close in size. A Jetta is quite a few mpg behind on the highway(which should be diesel strength), burning diesel which has 15% more energy content and where the hybrid is likely seldom engaging (to say nothing of the City where the Prius completely walks away).
Not the car for me, but I am more impressed by the 2010 Prius than just about anything else this year.
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downtoearth 5:38PM (12/04/2009)
Snowdog
> HSD power coupler is nearly an ideal solution, it actually lowers
> the mechanical complextity compared to a normal transmission.
> It is just orbital gears. Extremely robust.
Exactly. It is like a differential, only inverse. It will last forever, as any differential does. Most drivers actually don't even know what differential is. Why? Because it never breaks down. There is nothing in it to break down.
At the same time, it offers continuously variable gearing. And is very inexpensive to manufacture and maintain. Well, it's a perfect transmission. Ticks all the boxes.
> The ICE has no accessory belts at all.
> This means much lower parasitic losses and greater reliability.
There is more.
Prius ICE has no high revving turbos to fail. No variable turbo vanes to clog and burn off. No expensive, fragile high pressure fuel pump and direct injection. And because it runs Atkinson cycle and is limited in rev range, its thermal and physical loads (thus wear) are dramatically decreased.
That's why hybrids do 300.000+ miles without any engine overhaul at all.
Because its a gasoline engine, it's very clean. Atkinson cycle helps burning off pollutants even more. No need of unreliable and expensive particulate filters or NOx traps or AdBlue. Just a simple catalytic converter.
That's why Prius defeated 850+ cars in German ADAC EcoTEST. Notably, diesels mostly occupy last 400 places.
> It has incredible fuel efficiency compared to anything remotely close
> in size. A Jetta is quite a few mpg behind on the highway(which should
> be diesel strength), burning diesel which has 15% more energy content
> and where the hybrid is likely seldom engaging (to say nothing of the City
> where the Prius completely walks away).
Exactly. That's why you see tons of frustrated diesel propaganda with:
- scammed inflated Euro-fuel-economy-test-cycle MPG numbers in headlines without notice;
- quoting highway numbers only, hiding combined mpg;
- concealing vehicle awful complexity and high ownership costs;
- concealing dirty emissions of Euro diesels;
- concealing that it takes more foreign oil to produce diesel than gasoline;
- serving vague subjective marketing statements (like fun to drive);
- comparing much smaller diesels to larger, more powerful hybrids and pretending everything is fair;
European car makers suffer from terrible sunk costs of diesel development. They cannot sell these inefficient failures anywhere else. Europe loses tons of energy and money by reconfiguring its refineries and importing excess diesel fuel.
They lost the battle of efficiency. They will lose it even more terribly when Toyota Prius Plug-in and Chevy Volt (two cars perfectly complement each other) start to rule.
That's why they now rely on lame, cheap, aggressive diesel propaganda. It's futile anyway.
EVdriver 8:05PM (12/04/2009)
Snowdog and downtoearth: Excellent posts, thank you.
EVsuperhero 5:18PM (12/04/2009)
Some customers of mine had a Prius that had 250k miles on it. Something went wrong with it and the dealer said it would be $8k to fix so they traded it in and bought a new Prius. The lady couldn't tell me what went wrong with the Prius after 250k miles so I don't know what took 8 grand to fix.
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paulwesterberg 5:38PM (12/04/2009)
I suggest that top gear adopt my new formula for scoring cars:
GramsC02perkm/10 + zeroto60seconds + PriceinThousandsofDollars = lowest car wins
This formula emphasizes price, and a balance of low emmisions & max acceleration.
Audi A3 1.6L for europe: 99/10 + 11.4 + 27 = 48.3
Audi A3 2L for europe: 115/10 + 7 + 27 = 45.5
Tesla roadster: 0/10 + 4 + 101 = 105
Prius: 89/10 + 9.8 + 24 = 42.7 for the win!
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paulwesterberg 5:44PM (12/04/2009)
of course top gear could use 0-100kmh in seconds and cost in thousands of pounds.
tarmacblog 6:05PM (12/04/2009)
@ downtoearth.
Surprise surprise. The word "diesel" crops up, and you yet again take the opportunity to talk about them just to talk trash about them, even though it's completely unrelated to the article. I notice that you've made another comment about diesel somehow being different in it's origins from gasoline, when the whole lot comes from crude oil, and is extracted using exactly the same process. So clearly your arguement is weak, as well as ridiculously tired.
You seem to also be implying that diesels are somehow inferior in terms of the distance they can cover. I urge you to have an internet search and you'll find plenty of modern VAG turbodiesels that do massive mileages - many taxis here in the UK are diesel Skoda Octavias and several reach well over 200k miles, often more. Why are they chosen? Because they're reliable and cheap to run.
You've clearly never, ever driven a diesel, let alone a modern one.
Re: Those high mileage figures, that's very impressive indeed.
Certainly enough to make the people who created those surveys about
hybrids having a really short lifespan look a bit stupid. If a tiny
little Prius is getting that many miles under it's wheels I'd call
that quite an achievement.
Re: Top Gear - the magazine has always been fairly independant from
the TV program so it doesn't surprise me that they've voted a car
that Clarkson probably hates with a top award.
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Chris M 3:04AM (12/06/2009)
Actually, I have driven a diesel, owned one for a few years, and greatly prefer the Prius.
ambush 8:28PM (12/04/2009)
I can't believe that no one has pointed this out yet, but "Et tu" is the correct spelling.
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Ralph 2:37AM (12/05/2009)
Why must there always be a 'Hybrid vs. Diesel arguement? Both technologies have their pluses and minuses and some will prefer one over the other.
Although I'd prefer a MKVI Golf TDI if I needed to replace my current gas burner, that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate what Toyota has achieved with the Prius.
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Snowdog 5:54AM (12/05/2009)
If I had to choose between currently available hybrids/diesels on the market, I would also pick a Golf TDI (You can get a manual transmission).
But I am more impressed by the Prius, and I would rather burn gas (All stations near my home are gas only).
The Golf TDI I would consider for my next car if it didn't START at $25K Canadian. Not to mention VW dealers will not negotiate and will try to add extra on top.
There are a great many cars I can get into for $20K Canadian equipped as I want them. I am even considering a Honda Fit, that has everything I want for a little over $17K Canadian.
All hybrids/diesels are just too big of a price leap for me. I would imagine the CRZ (sporty hybrid with a MT) will likewise start at $25K+, taking it out of the running as well.
So my next car will be a regular gas burner again.
But when I consider cars that technologically impressive, the Prius is the one that stands out in the high mileage crowd. It is an engineering masterpiece that delivers in the real world.
Joeviocoe 2:40PM (12/05/2009)
Here we go with the Hybrid vs. Diesel argument
@downtoearth
It's not propaganda, it is hard facts. Not that diesels are better than hybrids. Because there is no single comparison.
When I looked at fueleconomy.gov in 2005 to see what I could buy that was over 40 MPG, I had three options. Diesel was cheaper than gasoline at the time too.
The GEO Metro... yuck, no way, Volkswagen TDi pre-2006, or the Toyota Prius.
1) Strictly mileage: The TDi matched the Hybrid on the highway. Yes, this is before the EPA changed the emissions standards in 2006. That's why Volkswagen did not sell diesels in the U.S. in 2007 or 2008. When VW brought the TDIs back, they were cleaner but less fuel efficient, especially on the highway. In city driving, of course the Hybrid spanked the diesel.
2) Emissions: Duh... diesels are dirtier than a gas guzzler of similar MPG. Even after you clean them up with Urea, DPFs or NOx traps. But guess what, you cannot put E85 ethanol into a Prius. That limits the hybrid to the normal gasoline emissions. But you can get biodiesel and stick it into a older TDi without problems. You can make BD easily too.
3) Costs: I could not find a cheap used hybrid anywhere. But plenty of used VW TDIs on the market. Sure the maintenance costs more, but the price difference up front between a newer hybrid and an older TDI made the choice easy. TDIs were cheaper up front. And I could do much of the maintenance myself. Also, diesel was cheaper than gas at the time.
4) Performance: I won't be vague or subjective. Low end torque! It will rip the face off any Prius driver. Sure HP is lower throughout the entire RPM range, but the lift off is amazing.
Basically, my older model TDI has 268,000 miles which I expect could reach 400,000 before it is done. It gets great mileage even when running on a renewable, cleaner fuel (Biodiesel). I can make the fuel at home. And I don't sacrifice great performance.
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Snowdog 9:27PM (12/05/2009)
And you have a soot buggy. Seriously. I can smell >2006 Jettas before I see them.
They don't just pollute more, they pollute horrendously more.
Modern 2008+ diesels deserve some respect for the great clean up job that was done, they finally deserve to be on the roads.
But the old ones are best reserved for selfish folks who think the environment is their personal trash can.
I hate the smelly smog rats.
Snowdog 9:47PM (12/05/2009)
Typo... I can smell the 2006 and before TDIs..
Slow, smelly, polluting, exactly what is disliked about old diesels. The don't deserve mention.
New diesels are cool with me, now if they could only get one closer to $20K...
Joeviocoe 6:38AM (12/06/2009)
You would smell nothing but french fries with my car! And the emissions are less than a gasoline car. Less carbon dioxide, less carbon monoxide, no soot, about the same NOx levels.
-Biodiesel FIXES the "dirty" part of the problem.
"slow"???
-It will whip any Prius on the road. And many comparable gassers off the starting line.
Less HP doesn't mean slow. The low end torque makes up for that quite nicely.
Diesels haven't been slow since they were naturally aspirated.
-Turbos FIX the "slow" part of the problem.
So if you haven't got anymore "dislikes" about the pre-2006 TDIs, then your done.
Snowdog 9:51AM (12/06/2009)
Biodiesel does NOT fix the emission problems.
Diesels main emission problem is NOx. NOx actually INCREASES with Biodiesel.
It does decrease some other emission components compared to High sulfer diesel, but less so compared to ULSD that is at pumps today.
Reviews consistently show the 2006 TDI getting 0-60 in 11 seconds. That is slow in my book.
Performance is derived from HP not torque.
Maybe you can address the stench by running on fryer grease (limited to a handful of people) but it is still slow and still polluting.