2016 Toyota Prius, car review: New global platform debuts on fourth-gen hybrid hero

The TNGA platform has many more tests to come – but it’s come through its first with flying colours

Driving the new Prius is a significant thing to do right now. Not because this is the fourth incarnation of a car that’s come to be thought of as the definitive hybrid, but because it’s the first on Toyota’s new TNGA platform.

What this means is that it had better cut the mustard. Because if it doesn’t, the mustard will remain uncut by a huge proportion of Toyota’s vehicles over the next few model cycles.

Your family itself gets more room to relax in, too

So we’re looking for more interior space, as packaging starts with the platform. And we want to experience a level of handling that moves the game forward.

The Prius gets off to a good start. It’s not just the architecture that takes up less space, it’s the hybrid part of the powertrain – featuring a battery that’s both smaller, lighter and quicker-charging. And the consequence is a bigger boot space for your family’s luggage – 502 litres is an increase of more than 10% on before.

Toyota Prius

Price: from £23,295 
Engine: 4 cyls, 1797cc, petrol plus electric motors
Power: 121bhp 
Torque: 105lb ft 
Kerb weight: na 
0-62mph: 10.6sec 
Top speed: 112mph
Fuel economy: 94.1mpg (combined) 
CO2 70g/km: 9%

Your family itself gets more room to relax in, too, and the glasshouse around them now lets in more light so it feels bigger and airier all round. And from the driver’s seat, the dash has a studied sparseness that comes across rather nicely.

From the outside, the Prius doesn’t look as different to the previous model as it actually is. Those new underpinnings mean it’s wider and longer, though – but lower in terms of both roof height and centre of gravity.

Combine this with what Toyota says is a 60% increase in rigidity, and you should be looking at a tidy suite of dynamic skills – especially as they’ve also brought its suspension up to date.

From what we’ve seen so far, the Prius delivers on these promises. It’s still a family car whose aim is to get you around in a bubble of electric calm, not to bring out the F1 fantasist in you, but first impressions are that it feels tidier dynamically and in particular more confidence inspiring when you get on the brakes.

It’s a more powerful vehicle, too, which is always nice. The familiar 1.8-litre petrol engine has been wound up to 97bhp, and it’s coupled to a motor with 71bhp – not epic figures, but with the two elements blending so well you can’t see the join the result is a good, usable sweep of acceleraton.

So it’s a Prius that takes a step forward as a Prius, and a Toyota that takes a step forward as a Toyota. It’s expensive enough to get you thinking about the conventionally powered alternatives, for sure, but the bottom line is that this is the best Prius yet.

Actually, of course, the bottom line is that so far, it seems Toyota’s future is safe and sound. The TNGA platform has many more tests to come – but it’s come through its first with flying colours.