The bottom line is, after driving my Prius for over 2000 miles, I can’t imagine any car under $50K that would excite me this much, and I’m not even an environmentalist.

This gas-electric hybrid car is a breakthrough in technology, packaging and marketing. It would take several pages to describe it so I won’t even try. Please check out the details at http://www.prius.toyota.com/. I will concentrate on my personal opinions.

The decision to buy this car was an easy one: it has no competition! I want to save more, pollute less, but don’t want any inconvenience associated with cars using pure electricity or alternative fuels. I don’t want to worry about recharging the battery or looking for special fuels during long trips. I’m too lazy to change my driving habits to save the world (so sue me). The only other alternative is Honda Insight, a two seater with manual transmission only. Like I said, no competition :-) Besides, the Insight is only ULEV (ultra low emission vehicle) and the Prius is SULEV (super ULEV), just a hair under ZEV (zero emission vehicle).

The Prius is also a great value. Since the production is limited (by Toyota standard) and it has no real competition, Toyota can probably double the price and sells just as many units. In fact, Toyota is losing money on every Prius it sells. How much loss is open to debate (and cost accounting); I’ve heard anywhere from $8K to $20K. When you've figured in the LONG list of standard features and the federal tax credit and/or deduction, the Prius is in the same price range as the Corolla. In other words, you get a better car, very high mileage and extremely low emissions for free! There are also all kinds of incentives being pushed on the state level, like tax credit, sales tax waiver, HOV lane waiver, etc.

As a high-tech worker, I know all about avoiding the ‘bleeding edge’ of technology. But I feel comfortable with the Prius. It’s been sold in Japan for three years now. It's even used as taxi cabs there. The entire hybrid system (including the NiMH battery) is under an 8-year/100K-mile warranty. The rest of the car has standard Toyota warranty. You also get free maintenance and free roadside assistance and loaner for the first 3 year/36K miles. There is NO special maintenance for the hybrid system. The dealers chosen to sell this car must have technicians specially trained for it. My dealer claimed that the dealer and the US headquarter only have 5 hours to diagnose any potential problem before they are required to “fly someone in from Japan”. I’m not sure I believe that but at least they thought about it.

By the way, the Prius is greatly enhanced for the US market. A lot of reviews, opinions and even specs out there were based on the Japanese version or US "preproduction models". Production cars were not available until August 2000.

Likes: Where do I start? Read the highlights on the Toyota web site. It’s all true. The interior is surprisingly roomy. There’s more room in the back seat than in my SUV (I told you I’m no environmentalist). The doors open wide; the windows go all the way down; the seats are slightly elevated than in regular cars; the visibility and entry/exit are excellent. On the other hand, the exterior is surprisingly compact, and it turns on a dime! It’s perfect for the city (and not too shabby for crowded suburban malls either, thank you very much). Even my wife who has never parallel-parked in her life is willing to give it a try now :-)

The handling, ride and performance are all top notch. The brakes are excellent but have two distinctive stages (due to regenerative braking) so it takes a little practice to get the right feel. The continuously-variable (infinite-speeds) auto transmission is a real treat. The marriage of hybrid power and the planetary gear system is truly a model of engineering elegance. Some may think green cars are light-weight toys. At 2765 lbs the Prius is actually a little heavy for its size. But not to worry, the 258 lb-ft of torque makes it a fun car to drive. Come to think of it, what other $20K sedans have that much torque anyway?

One Prius ad has this slogan: “Ever heard the sound a stoplight makes?” This is no exaggeration. As you come to a stop, the car appears to be completely dead. No vibration, no sound. If you hear any engine noise it's probably from other cars around you. The Prius engine knows when to take a nap. A smart car doesn’t idle. The mileage ratings of 52 city and 45 highway (yes the city is higher) are very conservative. My car exceeded those ratings even during the break-in period. A fellow Prius owner had this bumper sticker custom-made: "My car sips gas. Your car sucks!"

I've saved the best for last: the centrally-located computer screen serves as an excellent educational tool for the kids in the backseat about energy, environment and even a little math! They cheered wildly whenever they see the kinetic energy flowing back to the battery and the gas mileage going through the roof. With any luck, they just might grow up with a healthy disdain for senseless consumption. How do you put a price on that?

Dislikes: Some interior trim pieces are out of character. They appear to be econo-box quality. The first batch of Prius doesn’t have a lot of options. Even things that are described in the owner's manual (like side airbags, cruise control and GPS navigation) are not yet available. They should be available next year, though. The rear seat back doesn’t fold down. The door-ajar indicator doesn’t indicate which door is ajar, and there’s no trunk-ajar indicator. The keyless remote doesn't open the trunk. There's no factory side molding. The center armrest is too low. Toyota claims the rear spoiler has real functions but I don't buy it. It doesn't look too gaudy but I'd rather not have it.

The 'user interface' can use some reprogramming. Some functions shouldn't be buried two levels down on the touch-screen display, like the one to shut down the display! This is worse than having to click the Start button to end your Windows session :-) Audio functions are too reliant on the touch screen, and the preciously few real buttons are partially blocked by the oddly placed 'shifter'. If you tend to switch channels madly while weaving in and out of fast traffic, you shouldn't be driving this car -- or any other car for that matter, but that's an unrelated epinion.

There are several very active Prius forums on the Internet, including Yahoo, eGroup and Edmunds. The one at Yahoo is frequented by Toyota’s Prius program manager and a senior engineer. This is probably the first mass-production car that’s marketed, sold and supported via the Net. Come join the revolution! As one fellow Prius owner’s license plate reads, let’s REVOLT!