First Drive: Toyota Prius+

Although it looks like an estate, the Toyota Prius+ is actually a seven-seat MPV

Toyota has launched two new family cars with the arrival in Ireland of the all new Toyota Prius+ and the new Toyota Verso, both of which we got to take for a quick spin at their Irish launch in Dublin yesterday.

The Japanese company also introduced a new Toyota Verso-S Luna Grade.

Toyota believes the introduction of the new MPVs ‘represents an exciting step change in the segment in terms of design aesthetic, performance and affordability’.

The Toyota Prius+ is a good looking car, whose estate shape hides that it’s actually a seven seater MPV. In fact, the Prius+ is the first seven seater full hybrid to reach the Irish market.

Just one trim is available in the Toyota Prius+ but there are options within that.

Styling in the 1.8 Hybrid test car was beautiful with a light aqua coloured interior, plush upholstery, a double glove compartment and plenty of chrome.

It also had a SkyView glass roof over the front and second row of seats.

I liked the tiered theatre style seating which sees each row of seats slightly higher than the one in front. Seating combinations are also flexible, with the option to lower or raise as required.

Two interior colour options are available in the Toyota Prius+ – this is the dark grey

The boot is very large with the third row of seats lowered, however that boot space is sacrificed to accommodate seven occupants.

The test car was also full of technology, including Head up Display, a very handy device which projects information such as your speed onto the windscreen; a rear reversing camera; cruise control; hill start assist; touch screen infotainment unit, and climate control air conditioning.

The dashboard had the now familiar hybrid layout with the fully digital instrument panel centralised, rather than directly in front of the driver. The Toyota Prius+ also has the Electric Vehicle, Eco and Power drive option.

I am a city driver so I’m always interested in what the latest hybrid has to offer. I stuck to city and suburban routes for my brief spin in the Toyota Prius+ so most of my driving was in traffic in either the EV or Eco modes and I found them to be quite serene.

Power, as you’d expect, added extra poke. I’m looking forward to taking the car for a longer test drive in the coming months.

Toyota puts fuel economy in the Prius+ at 4.1l/100km and says it has C02 emissions of 96g/km, giving an annual road tax of €180.

The Toyota Prius+ is priced from €34,995.

Visit the Toyota Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.