With the 2010 Prius, the magic number is 50

• By STEVE WHEELER
• Advocate Wheels editor
• Published: Apr 10, 2009

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The 2010 Toyota Prius takes no prisoners when it comes to gas mileage. It is rated to get you 50 miles per gallon in combined city and highway mileage. And if you really try hard, it can get way better than that.

Some very smart PR people at Toyota invited journalists to test their skills at driving the 2010 Prius in a challenge to see who could coax the most mileage out of the third generation hybrid along a selected route.

I managed to get 68.6 miles per gallon from the new Prius — and I was not the winner. Another journalist posted 72 mpg, but I suspect he must have conspired with a tow truck operator somewhere along the route.

Of course, these are not real world figures. All of the drivers coasted whenever possible, we tried to accelerate with feather feet and we probably never went faster than 50 mph, all of which was probably a great aggravation to other motorists behind us.

But with Prius, it’s all about the mileage. More than 1.2 million Prius vehicles have been sold worldwide, and the little car is pretty close to being a hybrid icon.

New for 2010 are a host of technological features — many borrowed from Lexus — and some subtle exterior differences designed to provide more headroom and better aerodynamics, and thus better mileage.

There are three driving modes on the new Prius, and if you’re into saving gas, you’ll want to be familiar with them.

In the EV mode, the Prius goes up to about 25 mph for about a mile on battery power alone, using nary a drop of gasoline. The ECO mode provides improved fuel economy and is the choice for stop and go traffic. The PWR mode is for maximum power, which in the case of the Prius is a combined 134 horsepower, or 24 hp better than the previous generation.

Actually, maximum power is delivered whenever you stomp on the gas pedal, regardless of which mode is selected.

There is an available solar roof on the Prius, which surprisingly isn’t used to charge the battery. It is used to run a fan that keeps the cabin cooler when it is parked in the summer heat. Anybody think this “solar powered ventilation” would be helpful in our 90-degree plus summers?

And get this, the Prius also has a remote start for the air conditioner. Use the key fob to remotely turn on the A/C, and it will run for three minutes to cool the car before you get in. Because the air conditioner is electric, the engine does not have to be running for the A/C to work

Other gee-whiz technology includes dynamic cruise control to keep a set distance between you and the car in front, a lane keep assist feature that beeps and applies gentle torque to the steering wheel when it senses that you are wandering from your lane, and an intelligent parking assist system that can help parallel park the car for you. So is the Prius starting to sound a little more like a Lexus?

The Prius’ exterior also was modified for 2010 to provide more head room for front seat passengers. The tallest point of the roof has been moved nearly four inches toward the back of the vehicle. It doesn’t make the car taller, but it does mean more headroom, Toyota engineers say.