Dear Diary - My First Day With My Prius Hybrid
It's official. I am now an Ambassador for the Toyota Prius which means I get to drive a brand new Generation 3 Prius around and tell people how fabulous it is. At left is Giltrip City Toyota GM Graham McMullan handing over the keys. What a lovely, trusting man.
So here is day one of my diary as I discover the joys of hybrid ownership, and maybe help people understand what they are about.
First up, embarrassing as it is to admit, I'm a girl. So despite the fact that the two best features of my Prius are:
- 3.9l/100km. That's a lot of kms for $6
-89gm/km CO2 emissions compared to 162gm/km for the equivalent sized car, I have spent most of the day getting off on the fact that never again will I have to fumble in the bottom of my handbag for my keys while my hands are loaded down with shopping. You just sidle up, stroke the handle and it opens. Likewise locking it. Of course men are more likely to want to have an actual key and penetration thing happening but I love it. Hosking on ZB this morning posed the possibility that I might lock the keys inside should I leave my handbag in there, but I realised (too late to say it on the radio) that with the handbag and keys inside I can still stroke and open because the keys are still in range. Duh.
I'm also driving quite slowly because the way the hybrid works is that it constantly switches from the petrol engine to the battery powered electric engine and there's a gauge which tells you when you are driving to the maximum eco conditions. So naturally I'm crawling all over town trying to keep it in that range.
Tomorrow - some serious parking practice. Get this...it parks the car for you. Hands off the steering wheel and let it squeeze into the spot for you. Can you believe it!
First up, embarrassing as it is to admit, I'm a girl. So despite the fact that the two best features of my Prius are:
- 3.9l/100km. That's a lot of kms for $6
-89gm/km CO2 emissions compared to 162gm/km for the equivalent sized car, I have spent most of the day getting off on the fact that never again will I have to fumble in the bottom of my handbag for my keys while my hands are loaded down with shopping. You just sidle up, stroke the handle and it opens. Likewise locking it. Of course men are more likely to want to have an actual key and penetration thing happening but I love it. Hosking on ZB this morning posed the possibility that I might lock the keys inside should I leave my handbag in there, but I realised (too late to say it on the radio) that with the handbag and keys inside I can still stroke and open because the keys are still in range. Duh.
I'm also driving quite slowly because the way the hybrid works is that it constantly switches from the petrol engine to the battery powered electric engine and there's a gauge which tells you when you are driving to the maximum eco conditions. So naturally I'm crawling all over town trying to keep it in that range.
Tomorrow - some serious parking practice. Get this...it parks the car for you. Hands off the steering wheel and let it squeeze into the spot for you. Can you believe it!
