"How do you know when the world is ready for a new idea? Ready to change the way it thinks? The way it works? The way it lives? The answer is, you don't know. You can't know. What matters, is that there's someone with the initiative to conceive it, the will to execute it and the courage to bring it forward."

The major selling point and I guess the whole point of the Prius in the first place is its amazing fuel efficiency and extremely low emissions. It delivers a class-leading fuel consumption of just 4.3 litres/100km and is also the first car in the world to comply with the latest and strictest European, US and Japanese emissions regulations at the same time. In essence it is the only truly 'green car' commercially available in South Africa.

One of the major concerns of any potential Prius buyer is a 'perceived' lack of power; it is after all driven in part by electricity. I took the car for a spin and personally didn't have any problem with the Prius's power at all and taking a quick look at the figures (above right) and you'll see that it more than holds its own when compared to others in its class.

The drive itself was a bit strange but this is always the case when getting used to any new vehicle so I wasn't too concerned about that. The Prius' transmission is automatic and after I managed to get my left leg to stop misbehaving I found it to be very comfortable and relaxing. The interior is very spacious and airy and the dash has a typical Japanese space age feel. The only let down I felt was the view out through the rear window which was a touch narrower than I'm used to.

If you're not convinced yet that this is a good car then now's a good time to take a quick look at the numerous awards that the Prius has scooped up in the last couple of years. Here are just a few; 2004 Family Car of the Year award from British magazine TopGear, International Engine of the Year, 5-star rating in the European New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) for vehicle safety and perhaps most impressively 2005 European Car of the Year.

Toyota are also offering an 8-year or 195,000km service plan so you can be rest assured that your revolutionary set of wheels will be well looked after.

In all I thought that the Prius was a great car and one I'd highly recommend to anyone with an ecologically concerned heart beating inside them and the appropriately sized wallet in their pocket.

Being ecologically aware no longer means that you have knit your own jumpers, grow your own vegetables and avoid deodorant at all costs. No, you can now be the very essence of cool whilst caring about the environment, indeed you can be the envy of the road.