Has the Toyota Prius range become irrelevant?

[kypez]

Maybe I was too quick to condemn the Prius. Some good points raised by others here. I never liked it as the battery seems too small to be meaningful and the petrol engine was just weak. And the generation it inspired was a bunch of weak cars with undersized electric motors, weak petrol engines all in the pursuit of fuel economy. The GM EV1 was a better first step but GM sold their soul and that car could've actually been part of something really amazing around the same time the Prius came to market.

But, outside of the enthusiast, I accept what some have said in that it did start the conversation so has a place in automotive history.

[Crazy Dazz]

The Prius was ALWAYS a ****ers' car.

At the time it debuted in Australia, Honda had a better option, the Hybrid Civic. It was superior in every way to the Prius, except that it lacked the ****er factor.
The Mistake Honda made, was being honest and practical. They gave people a choice. IIRC in those days you could get a base Civic for around $20k on special. So it didn't take a genius to figure out that Paying the extra $10K+ for the Hybrid version just didn't make sense. And worse, your neighbours would never know you were saving the planet.

And yes, the Prius itself is now well and truly last season's fashion. Buying one now just means you're behind the times. The trendy set have now realised that it's also possible to save the Dolphins by buying Porsche Hybrids, etc, so they're much happier.

[danzvtil]

Having a prius used to mean you were advertising the fact you were a forward thinking eco warrior, now we have Tesla.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by kypez

Maybe I was too quick to condemn the Prius. Some good points raised by others here. I never liked it as the battery seems too small to be meaningful and the petrol engine was just weak. And the generation it inspired was a bunch of weak cars with undersized electric motors, weak petrol engines all in the pursuit of fuel economy. The GM EV1 was a better first step but GM sold their soul and that car could've actually been part of something really amazing around the same time the Prius came to market.

But, outside of the enthusiast, I accept what some have said in that it did start the conversation so has a place in automotive history.

Perhaps but its objective was to be economical.
not a $$$ performance car that happens to be economical like yours.

either way whether it be worn batter or not 1st gen Prius at 15 years old are worth the same or less than a 15 year old corolla which cost less in the first place. Id like to see a cost of ownership comparison