The Toyota Prius braved the storm of early derision to become the petrol-electric engineering benchmark. JAMES DISDALE celebrates 25 years of the hybrid pioneer

PHOTOGRAPHY JACK HARRISON

First-gen Prius’s mix of ICE and electric feels surprisingly modern

Taxi! It’s the reductive cry of many when a Prius hums into view, Toyota’s pioneering hybrid hatchback having become the ubiquitous Uber for a generation of ride-hailing devotees. Yet as the petrol-electric model celebrates its quarter century on sale in the UK, does the incredibly efficient and relentlessly reliable Prius deserve to be seen – and appreciated – as more than just a default choice for hard-nosed mini-cabbers?

The obvious answer is yes, of course it does. In fact, the Prius is perhaps one of the most misunderstood and occasionally divisive cars to have hit the roads in the past 25 years. When it landed on these shores in 2000, diehard petrolheads quickly named it the ‘Pious’ – a swipe at early adopting owners who were evangelical about its tech and fuel-savings. Yet it was also an unlikely Hollywood pin-up, with eco-friendly A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio choosing the Prius to scoot between studios.

Either way, over five generations it has become as familiar a sight on our roads as white lines and temporary traffic lights: more than six million have been sold to date, making it the world’s most popular hybrid. Those sheer numbers mean Toyota’s engineering brilliance is often overlooked, so it seems an ideal time to get one of the first examples together with the latest version and perhaps reappraise this dual-fuel pioneer.

As is the case today, environmental concerns were very much in the headlines when the Prius first appeared in its native Japan back in 1997, with the result that manufacturers were keen to develop cars that minimised their impact on the world’s resources. The European approach was to remain faithful to internal combustion engines, installing them in lightweight, low-drag bodies, and the Audi A2 is perhaps the most obvious example. In Japan, however, petrol-electric hybrids were the order of the day.