Is Four-Wheel-Drive Hybrid A Sensible Buy?

FIRST DRIVE Is four-wheel-drive hybrid a sensible buy?

- Alex Ingram

The Toyota Prius has become a hugely popular hybrid since it made its debut in 1997. With good reason, too: it hardly ever goes wrong, it’s easy to drive and should be really cheap to run.

And now the biggest name in hybrid tech benefits from a refreshed exterior and minor cabin tweaks in order to stay competitive against its main rival, the Hyundai Ioniq.

There’s a new model joining the range, too. This is the Prius AWD: the first hybrid Toyota outside the firm’s SUV range to come with four driven wheels. The extra drive is supplied by a 5.3kW motor and inverter mounted on the rear axle, and is engaged at all times below 6mph to provide smoother traction when pulling away from a standstill. From six to 44mph it engages only when the sensors detect front-wheel slip, and the rest of the time the car operates in FWD mode.