It is easy to become over-enthusiastic about a new piece of technology and proclaim it as the way forward in motoring. The car industry is too complex these days to be quite so predictable.Having got that disclaimer out of the way, I'm happy to say that the Toyota Prius is without doubt the most impressive car I have driven this year - possibly the most impressive I have driven at any time.You wouldn't think so to look at it. When the mood takes it, Toyota can really push the boat out in terms of styling, sometimes very successfully (the MR2), sometimes more controversially (the Celica). Something seems to have gone missing in the case of the Prius, whose rear end in particular brings to mind the word "frumpy".But this is a side issue. The most important thing about the Prius is that it is the first full four-seater on the UK market to use hybrid technology, producing power through both a 1.5-litre petrol engine and an electric motor whose batteries are almost constantly being regenerated, either by the engine or by the effect of slowing the car down.The two power sources are changing state all the time. Either of them may at various times be switched off, ticking over gently or working at full steam. You might think this could easily become very complicated, and you would be absolutely correct, but it is all done automatically and is of no concern whatever to the driver.In fact, the driver has a very easy time in the Prius. Instead of a conventional manual or automatic gearbox the car uses a CVT transmission, which of course means that gear changing simply doesn't enter into your consciousness. If you want to go, you press the throttle, and if you want to stop, you press the brake. Couldn't be easier.The only thing that ever happens to remind you that clever work is going under the bonnet is that on some occasions the car becomes completely silent. That's when it decides it does not need the engine at all, and will use the electric motor on its own. It's most obvious in city driving, when the engine cuts out at, for example, a set of traffic lights, and may not cut back in until the car has accelerated right across the junction.This can cause a certain amount of bemusement among pedestrians, who are apt to stare quite hard at a car they can see but not hear (and it's always worth checking that the ones who are looking the other way actually know you're there). On a lighter note, the Prius's greatest party trick is to be driven silently round an empty car park before a chosen audience of admiring friends.I did this several times. On one of these occasions, a not very car-conscious onlooker asked, "but what's the point of not having the engine running?"The point, as everyone else patiently explained, was that when the Prius is running on the electric motor alone, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions both fall to zero. A dashboard display can be set to show the average fuel consumption you have achieved over every five-minute period in the last half hour. In city driving, and quite often out in the country if you there are a lot of downhill sections, the display can easily go off the scale, which represents an average of over 100 miles per gallon. Visits to petrol stations are a very rare occurrence - Toyota reckons on a range of about 560 miles per tankful, which I can easily believe.Feeling smug yet? Well, hang on, because the energy in the battery is free. All cars produce energy when they brake, but virtually all of it is heat which is immediately lost to the outside world. The Prius captures this energy in its batteries, and it is put to use again next time the electric motor switches on.All very clever, of course, but only if you would actually want to live with the thing on a daily basis. This is possibly where the Prius scores most highly, because as well as being undeniably ingenious it is also very practical. It's comfortable, there is plenty of room for passengers and luggage, the performance is quite adequate (the engine and motor combined produce a respectable amount of urge on full throttle) and the handling is not bad at all, though the car does feel top-heavy when cornering at speed.Strangely, the best part of the driving experience is the ride quality. This is so good that I occasionally wondered if Toyota had brought in a team of French consultants to work on it, since smooth riding over bumps is one of France's great contributions to motoring. But on reflection I can't think of any current French car which rides quite as well as the Prius does - or indeed any other car from any country. If it were completely conventional in all other respects, the ride would be one of the Prius's biggest selling points.If you're considering whether this is the car for you, you have to balance the very low fuel costs with the list price of over £16,000, and also second-guess whether hybrids will become popular enough over the next couple of years to prop up the secondhand selling price.It may also be that hybrid technology will improve to such an extent that this car will quickly seem antiquated, but for the moment I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending the Prius as one of the most fascinating and appealing cars of any type currently available.Second opinion: One of the most intriguing things about the Prius is that, because of the electric motor taking over at times, the urban cycle fuel consumption of 61.4mpg is 6mpg better than the extra urban figure, and also better than the combined. And it's very pleasant to drive a car able to shut down its engine when sitting in a traffic queue. As far as the price is concerned, you have to bear in mind that there's a £1000 rebate from the Powershift programme. As an alternative to buying outright, Toyota GB also offers a Prius One contract hire and service deal, which is well worth considering. This is not a car to try to service yourself, because that hybrid power system needs careful treatment. But it works amazingly smoothly, and when you put your foot down there's more mid-range acceleration than the bare figures suggest. The B position on the selector provides more engine braking than the standard setting, and, although the ride is very impressive, the Prius handles pretty well, without being any kind of sports saloon. Excellent passenger space in a well thought-out and well equipped interior, but the styling is nothing special, and I wish the wheels and tyres filled the wheelarches. Ross Finlay.