My 2002 Toyota Prius (Sparky)

The Toyota Prius is one of the new Hybrid vehicles on the market. I bought mine in September 2002 and have enjoyed every minute of it. Usually the Prius is able to get about 52 miles to the gallon in the city and 48 miles to the gallon on the freeway. My gas mileage has not been that good, mostly because of the winter and most of my trips are less then 10 miles or 10 minutes. The car hardly ever warms up to operating temperatures. I still get about 40 miles to the gallon anyways. It sure beats the 1987 Nissan Sentra that I gave up for my Prius, the best it got was on the freeway and I squeezed out 32 miles to the gallon.

The Prius is a complex car that has been thoughtfully designed. The Prius combines an electric motor with a highly efficient combustion engine. The Prius incorporates a new type of transmission that does away with the conventional 'gears' and uses a sun and planets type transmission. This reduces problems that are often faced in conventional transmission since there is no changing of gears. The set-up allows for a smooth transition from high torque to high revolutions per minute. The design also allows for the electric motor and gas engine to work together effectively or allow the electric motor to propel the car without the gas engine running. For more information about how the Prius works visit Graham Davies web site. He put together a very informative web page that is easy to understand and has many illustrations to help in understanding the concepts of the Prius.

Those who have purchased the Prius have loved it, and I am one of them. The cost for the Prius is almost the same as the Camery which is the only Toyota vehicle that is close to what the Prius offers in features (except for the Hybrid components of course). John's website also has a lot of wonderful general information about the Prius.

Pictures of Sparky

Back to Home Page Last Modified 11 Apr 2003