The name of the hybrid automobile is Toyota Prius. Thousands of competent and skilled engineers showed their expertise in the manufacturing of this Toyota model. First of all it was introduced in the Japan market in 1997, and then in 2001 it was exhibited for unique performance in the world. It had been so popular among the people that up to 2003, about 160000 cars had been manufactured for sale in its native country, Japan, North America and Europe. Toyota had sold out 504700 models of Prius Cars until April 2006. The manufacturers improved its efficiency with ever new generation of Prius. Its latest generation could travel 20 miles on electricity alone.
According to drivers of America, the average of Prius is 47.6MPG. The EPA numbers according the officials are 51 MPG on the highway and in the city, it is 60MPG. The mileage of Prius depends extremely upon temperature. It average mileage falls to 39miles/Gallon under the temperature below 40 F. the mileage of Prius increases to 48 miles/Gallon if the temperature is more than 60F. As of for Li-Ion batteries are concerned, their efficiency drops as the temperature falls. Therefore, the Prius is more reliable than any other cars running on the road. In the beginning there were some faults in the edition of 2004-2006 as reported by the drivers. Toyota concentrated on this point and removed these for coming generations. It has one fault in its steering efficiency and one in its software glitch that brought about its functioning of the gas motor to stop. Thus Toyota launched a campaign to repair these models. To avoid even a bit electrolyte leakage, the terminals were resealed on high voltage battery. This fault continues in the models of 2005 and 2006, but the later models were free from this fault, and it began to be used with confidence.
Via http://wikicars.org/en/Toyota_Prius
