The 2018 Toyota Prius “Remains A Hybrid Benchmark,” Toyota is quick to remind us. This is not just marketing puffery or corporate bragging. The little guys are amazingly fuel efficient, and since they were pretty much the first to market, they’re the yardstick against which other hybrids are judged.
And good on Toyota for not resting on their laurels. They’ve updated the Prius with all the modes of the day – comfort, convenience, safety etc. – but have also upped the drivetrain.
Performance & Efficiency
The latest version of Toyota?s Hybrid Synergy Drive has a 1.8-liter four-banger and two motor/generators with an electronically-controlled planetary-type CVT. There’s shift-by-wire tech to select, er, “gears” via the dash-mounted shifter. Regenerative braking recovers kinetic energy, turns it into electrical power, and stores it in the battery pack. In this, the fourth-gen Prius, the hybrid components are smaller and lighter than before. The battery is now a lithium-ion unit, replacing the outgoing nickel-metal hydride battery, and is small enough to fit under the rear seat. The 2ZR-FXE 1.8-liter engine is more than 40 percent thermal efficient and quieter than the previous gen?s plant.
Add all this up, and the 2018 Toyota Prius Two Eco gets you an EPA-estimated 58 city / 53 highway / 56 combined, which is pretty staggering.
The 2018 Toyota Prius has a 0.24 coefficient of drag (Cd), among the lowest of current passeng...