Looking for a great conversation starter? Try “Prius”. It’s not easy to make a box with four wheels, four doors, and four seats so polarizing. It seems that everybody has an opinion about the Prius, but few people talk about what it’s like to actually drive the thing. I mean, isn’t it still a car? It seems to be made of metal, plastic, and glass like every other car on the road. But what if the truth is much more insidious? What if driving one of these things makes you into a smug jerk? What if it makes you part of the Hollywood elite? What if it subliminally brainwashes you into voting Democratic? What if the radio only tunes in to NPR? Curiosity got the best of me; I had to find out.

Fortunately, a small company called Fox Rent-A-Car lets the hy-curious rent the Prius for pretty reasonable rates, and they have a location in San Diego. The rental car experience there was nothing to write home about; dingy facilities, long lines, slow service. But it was a means to an end; it put the key-fob to a white Toyota Prius in my hands. Soon I was on the road in this techno-greenie-geek-mobile.

Here’s something I never thought I’d say: Commuting to work in rush-hour traffic was actually fun. I’ve never felt so involved in driving so slowly. My senses were heightened, my mind was focused, and my eyes kept darting to the big LCD on the dash. The display lets you access the climate controls, stereo settings, and other options, but I cared about none of that; my intrigue surrounded two equally nerdy displays. The first is straight off the Starship Enterprise. It’s a block diagram of the car’s systems (engine, motor, battery) with a series of color-coded pulsating lines to tell you where the power is being directed. The second display is more Harvard Graphics; it’s a bar chart that shows average fuel economy and power regenerated over the last 30 minutes, plus distance traveled and cumulative fuel economy. When combined with careful driving, these displays make for lots of miserly fun.

The Prius is kind of like an arcade game on wheels; it takes skill, strategy, and dexterity and to get the ultimate high score (measured in MPG). It all comes down to the way you use the gas pedal and the brake, and how much you pay attention to what’s happening around you. Traffic, stoplights, corners, and the grade of the road are hugely important. Going down a hill, slowing, or stopping? Gently apply the brakes and the car uses the electric motor to slow you down, putting otherwise wasted energy into your battery. On a road with a very slight decline? Modulate the gas just right and you’ll coast along using zero power. Stuck in stop and go traffic? Just ease off the brake after stopping and the car will silently creep forward on electric power. On a fairly flat stretch of open road and not going to fast (<50 MPH)? Modulate the gas pedal just right and the Star Trek display lights up all yellow; now you can maintain speed or even accelerate slightly on battery power alone. These tricks add up to some pretty impressive scores, and just like that, my commute was fun again.

Despite the feeling that I was sometimes driving slower than usual, I kept up with traffic just fine and didn’t seem to piss anyone off with my altered driving habits. But the best part was that I averaged 52 MPG over my 40 mile route trip commute, plus I didn’t even listen to NPR while doing it. Okay, well, maybe a little...

To make my hybrid experience more interesting, I decided to also test the car out on a camping trip to the San Jacinto Mountains. The car was a shoe-in for SoCal traffic, but windy roads at 6500 feet? I had images of low battery indicators and long lines of traffic behind me. Things would be interesting indeed.

On Friday afternoon we loaded up the car for our trip. The Prius is an incredibly accommodating car when it comes to simple tasks such as getting in and out or loading and unloading. With the key in your pocket, you can unlock and lock the car just by touching the door handle. You can also start the car without the key by using the “power” button on the dash. Why don’t all cars do this? I loved this feature. I also loved the folding seats, large hatchback, and relatively tall cargo area, which make loading a weekend’s worth of camping gear a breeze. No need to fuss with the rear headrests when folding the rear seat; it’ll fold flat with them in place, no matter how far back the front seats are. Not so in every other car I’ve owned. I can also sit behind myself in this car, something uncommon given my 6’4” frame. The space isn’t perfect though; the Prius forced me to follow the Japanese custom of removing shoes while indoors, as my legs wouldn’t fit comfortably under the steering wheel otherwise. (Yes, despite urban legends to the contrary, driving barefoot is perfectly legal in most places, including California.) With shoes off I found the car to be comfortable for long trips, though the seat was a tad squishy for my tastes, and it lacked adjustments for height or lumbar support. The steering wheel also didn’t telescope. These ergonomic foibles, added to the the burden of taking on and off my shoes, did displace some of the car’s features and conveniences.

Cruising around 70-75 MPH up Highway 15 towards Riverside, the car was comfortable and quiet. Power was never an issue, even when merging on to the freeway or passing. But long stretches at high speed aren’t the best application of the Prius technology; the car seemed to average “just” 45 MPG at 70-75 MPH. There’s no doubt that diesel technology has a strong mileage advantage on the freeway; VW expects the 2008 Jetta diesel to easily trump the Prius’ highway fuel economy with 60 MPG freeway.

Snaking up Highway 74 from Hemet toward Idyllwild, I kept a careful eye on the battery indicator. While the charge did drop considerably going up the mountain, it was never completely depleted, and I never noticed any drop in power output. What I did notice was the note of the 76-horsepower internal combustion engine, which sounded a bit like a blender on frappe at times, especially at full throttle going uphill. Average mileage for the trip from home to the campground was 40 MPG. Not bad considering the 6000 foot elevation change.

The car isn’t fast, but if you drive it sanely it doesn’t disappoint either. I found that if I really needed to pick up some speed to pass or merge, the Prius would respond by force-feeding a large portion of the battery’s charge into the electric motor. The motor only has 67 HP, but it makes up for that with its whopping 295 lb-ft of torque, which can really be felt when you floor it. The suspension decent as well; body roll was minimal and steering feel was light but accurate.

We arrived to Dark Canyon Campground to find that we had a lousy spot in a crowded campground. To make matters worse, we were camping right next to some of the rudest campers in the world. They woke us up early by shouting and talking loud, and then proceeded to listen to rap music as we ate our breakfast. They didn’t think twice about walking right through the middle of our camp spot—I’m talking directly between our tent and picnic table—on their way to and from the restroom. Argh! We quickly got fed up with this behavior, so we decided to pack up our things, load up the Prius and hit the road.

Fortunately we didn’t have to drive far to find a campground that was nearly empty and a campsite at nearby Fern Basin Campground that was very private and pleasant. Our second evening camping was bliss; just the noise of birds, the wind through the trees, and our campfire at night. After an incredible night’s sleep, the next morning was much the same; quiet and peaceful. It’s hard to imagine a place that’s only 20 miles from the scorching desert of Palm Springs being filled with giant cedar and sugar pine trees, huge granite boulders, and cool, crisp mountain air. It’s certainly a wonderful escape from the ant-farm that is Los Angles and, more and more, San Diego.

During the drive back down the mountain, the efficiency of the Prius really shined. I used no gas at all for miles and miles at a time. It didn’t take much coasting downhill to fill up the battery, and when it was full the car automatically used engine braking to keep acceleration in check. You can also put the funny little shifter into “B” to force the car to engine brake when decelerating, but I never found a need to use this mode. Over the 83 miles from the campground back to home, I averaged an impressive 62 MPG. Average fuel economy for the whole trip was 47 MPG.

All this talk of fuel economy gets us closer to the controversy and criticism surrounding the Prius. My time with the car allows me to address some of this.

One common criticism is that the fuel economy figures for the car were grossly over-inflated. There is a small amount truth to this; the original fuel economy estimates published by the EPA for the Prius were 60 city and 51 highway. My driving showed that the actual economy was about 10-15% below these figures; 52 city and 47 highway. For 2008, the EPA has revised their test standards and now states that the Prius should get 48/45/46 city/highway/combined MPG. These numbers are still respectable, and seem to be easy to beat if you use the tools the car gives you.

Another criticism of the Prius has to do with cost. The MSRP of the 2007 Prius with the same options as the one I drove is $23,370. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out it would be ridiculous to spend this much just to save on gas. If you need a new car and mileage is your only concern, there are plenty of more economical cars to choose from, even within Toyota’s lineup. You can get a base-model Toyota Corolla CE for $14,405 MSRP that, according to the revised EPA estimates, gets 28/38/31city/highway/combined MPG. Assuming 15,000 miles per year and $3.25/gal of gas, it would take over 17 years in the Prius to recoup this difference in cost. But the Prius has way more features than a base Corolla, stuff like alloy wheels, automatic transmission, auto climate control, smart key entry, trip computer, greater passenger and cargo space, not to mention important safety features such as ABS and side airbags. So say fuel economy and all of these features are important to you. A Toyota Matrix is a little closer in terms of hatchback practicality. Equip one as close to the Prius as possible, and you get a price of $19,860, but you’re still missing the trip computer, auto climate control, and smart key entry, though you did gain a sunroof. Mileage falls to 25/31/27. Now you’re looking at less than 5 years to recoup the costs of buying the more expensive Prius. Not bad, especially considering people have always been willing to pay more for “high performance” cars because these cars are more fun to drive. The Prius is truly a high performance car, just not in traditional terms, and it was much more enjoyable to drive in traffic or on city streets than just about any other car I’ve driven. That’s got to be worth something.

Finally, there is the battery. Some would have you believe that the battery is going to wear out after 50,000 miles and cost $8,000 to be replaced. The fact of the matter is that the Toyota has a 8 year / 100,000 mile warranty for the battery and other hybrid components. If you live in California, you’re in luck: the state requires the battery warranty to be extended to 150,000 miles. What about when the battery’s toxic chemicals being dumped into a landfill when all is said and done? Well, Toyota has that covered too; a battery recycling program is in place.

After a few days with the Prius, I started to get attached to the darned thing. It’s cute and eager like a puppy, while being helpful and considerate like a best friend. It’s hard to fault a car that opens the doors for you, saves you money on gas, makes mundane driving more fun, and is super convenient for hauling stuff around. Sure, the the styling is Corolla-meets-Aztek, and you’re not likely to set any records at the Nordschleife, but all in all it’s a great car for anyone who has to deal to lots of traffic on the weekdays and likes to get out on the weekends. It turns out that it is easy being green.

Idyllwild campground information from Recreation.gov:
Dark Canyon Campground
Fern Basin Campground

Prius Rental in San Diego:
Fox Rent-a-Car