Toyota introduced the original 2001 Prius to the U.S. in Y2K, nearly a dozen years ago. Since then, Japan's behemoth automaker has sold a cool two million of its shovel-nose gas-electric, with half that tally being consumed in the United States. In Los Angeles, the Prius is conspicuously common and comprehensibly cool -- about as ubiquitous as a Hollywood wannabe yet as special as a Hollywood star. That it took Toyota well over a decade to give its haute hybrid a sibling brings one thought to mind: What took so long?


I spent a weekend with the Prius' new big little brother, the Prius v, and came away trying to convince my wife she needs one. Toyota says the v stands for versatile, although van seems more apropos. At 181.7 inches long, 69.9 wide, and 63.0 tall, the v is slightly smaller than the original 1995 Honda Odyssey, a vehicle that, while not a huge sales success, set Honda down the path of minivan greatness.

Both the Prius v and Gen 1 Odyssey have four conventional doors (slide this, modern haulers) and share comparable anteater profiles. The v is 17 years the Odyssey's junior, and although its style is reminiscent of the Honda's, its performance is a remarkable sign of progress. Consider the following: The 3500-pound Odyssey had a 2.2-liter four-cylinder and four-speed auto good for 140 horsepower, could get from 0 to 60 in 10.3 seconds, and ran the quarter mile in 18.3 at 76.9 mph. The 3400-pound Prius v, in contrast, uses a 1.8-liter four (plus electric motors) paired to a CVT to dispatch 134 horses, go from 0 to 60 in 10.2, and run the quarter mile in 17.6 at 78.2. I know what you're thinking: Those are such similar stats, so where's the progress? In a single word: Efficiency.

In 17 years' time, Toyota has figured out how to build a vehicle of Odyssey mass and speed that is 115 percent more fuel-efficient. Think about that: For every 10 gallons of gas the Odyssey drinks, the Prius v sips just 4.7. That equates not only to significantly less fuel usage on the front end, but also a monumental emissions reduction on the back end. Over a 15,000-mile period, the Prius v would burn through about 356 gallons of gas (at a cost of roughly $1300) and emit around 3.45 tons of CO2. The Odyssey? Make that 765 gallons (around $2800) and 7.43 tons.

Even compared with a modern mini minivan such as the 2012 Mazda5, the Prius v deserves LEED certification. At 42 mpg combined, the Toyota flips the Mazda's combo of 24, essentially doubling efficiency and halving emissions. Ford's upcoming C-Max van was going to come stateside with a standard gas-only engine. But with the Prius v's arrival, Ford is switching to solely gas-electric.