Used Toyota Prius Saloon 2000 - 2003 review

Car manufacturers are always keen to prove how green they are and usually this means unveiling yet another concept car that is never going to turn a wheel. Back in 2000, though, Toyota put considerable amounts of money where its mouth was and made the electric/petrol hybrid Prius.

Under acceleration the Prius uses a combination of its 1.5-litre 58bhp petrol engine and a 40bhp electric motor. At cruising speed, it relies on the petrol engine alone, using excess power to recharge the battery, which is also recharged under braking. Then, at very low speeds it runs on its electric motor alone, producing zero emissions.