Without a doubt my test of the Toyota Prius plug- in hybrid electric car. This car is perfect for everyday driving — commuting, shopping, whatever — and have a sheltered place to plug it in for a full recharge, which takes about 3 hours on a standard 110v household outlet. Once past its EV-only range, the car reverts to normal Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive gas-electric operation.

According to Toyota:

There’s been some chatter about the EPA’s EV-only rating of 11 miles for this car, which is partly a function of the EPA test procedures, and also the size, weight and cost of the lithium-ion battery pack.

I agree with this assessment from Toyota. However, their testing was still not the Green Living Guy test. Bottom line off one week, I got 98 Miles per gallon equivalent. I would have gotten more but my 220 charger stopped working because I accidentally got some humidity in the charger. Therefore, I had to charge only on a 110 volt; which reduced my total number of trips all EV.

I pushed the car up and down hills. Particularly in Briarcliff, there is Long Hill Road. That’s a perfect test. I drove it forever out of range at times when traveling to other parts of the County which are more than the 12.4 Miles of range that I got with the car.

So this is a tough, efficient hybrid EV.