/ 10 May 2005

Goodbye to being a road pariah

The very first moment I spotted the unusual but striking Prius Toyota, I knew I was in for a good ride. After driving one, I know there is another world of transportation out there and it does not start with the words, ‘Beam me up, Scotty”.

The Prius’s hybrid technology combines electric and motorised power to create a lean, green (and clean) driving machine. The technology comes with more trinkets and gadgets than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and techno junkies get a high from just looking at it.

Greenies love the Prius’s buy-me promo that says you can travel from Jozi to Tokyo and give off the same amount of emissions as a 115ml bottle of nail-polish remover. Though I was impressed with this green-mobile’s futuristic good looks, it was the hidden qualities that won me over.

Prius may be all about enviro-sensitivity and possessing techno-gadgets to tinker with while you are driving, but those are only one part of the deal. Owning a Prius will instantly rocket you to political correctness and increase your road karma. This is especially good if you have been driving a petrol-guzzling sedan or a havoc-wreaking 4×4. Your status as road pariah will vanish and people will think you have turned over a new, unpolluted leaf.

There is no denying the fact that the Prius is the new ‘in” car. If you manage to get hold of one, you can instantly join the automobile status of Hollywood A-listers — Cameron Diaz and Leonardo di Caprio each own one. But honey, this car is so exclusive it cannot even be bought. You have to rent it monthly and only 12 dealers in South Africa actually stock the car.

In the new millennium, being ‘in” is all about being eco-friendly, politically correct and ultra chic, with a touch of irony for added spice. It is not easy juggling all these demands.

For example, your café-culture friends will disapprove of your small hatchback because it does not fit into their martini-sipping, Prada-stilettoed lifestyle. But if you go out and buy a German gas guzzler, your Greenpeace buddies will be livid because you could probably feed a small child for a year or plant a new rain forest with the amount you spend on petrol each month.

The Prius offers you the best of both worlds: eco-sensitive yet on the cutting edge of the latest technology and fashion trends. Imagine your friends’ faces matching the colour of their green Gucci camisoles when you silently pull up alongside your regular breakfast café. A few bitter buddies may even whisper that you have become a bunny-hugger and that they would bet their priceless Gucci sunglasses that you will be wearing Birkenstocks next.

But you can always sneer at their (faux?) fur coats and 4x4s while muttering that soon 4x4s will be banned from everything except a pavement, and anyway V8s are so last season, darling!

Then imagine your Greenpeace pals’ oohs and aahs as they inspect the Zen-like interior. Their faces will light up like a nuclear station when you recite the Prius’s fuel efficiency and low emissions. Then pointedly steer the conversation towards their old VW kombi when asked about the Prius’s price and ask them about the fuel consumption of their daisy mobile.

At first glance, the Prius’s electric speedometer and touchscreen may look a bit daunting, but it proved amazingly easy to operate and it provides useful information such as the current fuel consumption and which motor is being used.

The air-conditioning system is also operated on the touchscreen. Even when you stop, the air-con assisted by electronic batteries will continue to blow refreshing eco-friendly air into the interior.

All these features transport you into an auto-nirvana while navigating through peak-hour traffic. With no noise and with the effective climate control, it’s hard not to experience a Zen-like moment while glancing around at the polluting, noisy drivers shouting and cursing while spreading bad road karma.

For a while I convinced myself that this car was mine, even if only for a test drive. Crashing back to reality was the worst. I love my little hatchback to bits, but driving a Prius was like floating in a sensory deprivation tank. Tranquil. Still. Calming.

When it was time to leave my little Zen automobile sanctuary, I cast one last glance at the vehicle before returning to reality and coping with noise and pollution again. Facing the masses, I started to chant my calming mantra, ‘Ohm— Ohm—”