The latest Auris Hybrid is a high specced family estate, British built, well-priced and a great value all rounder.

When the car first arrived I wasn’t that convinced but after a week with the car, it grew on me more and more. It looked good, it was comfortable, light and easy to drive with an effective hybrid system and without the range anxiety of a full electric car.

In the week I had the Auris Hybrid I covered quite 500 miles in some of the worst wet weather we have had in years. The hybrid version of the Auris Touring is powered by a petrol electric combination of a 1.8 litre 4 cylinder petrol engine and a powerful electric motor. CO2 emissions for the hybrid are 92 g/km, enabling no road tax and real benefits for company car drivers. The car can go up to 1.25 miles on pure electric mode. OK, this is not a lot, but it enhances the economy around town and is quite satisfying.

Running in near silence for even just a mile, is surprisingly calming.

The Hybrid system is very easy to get used to. The electric CVT transmission takes a bit of time, yes it is an automatic, but there are some differences as there are no defined gear ratios hence the term CVT, Continuously variable transmission. For the techies read more on Wikipedia. On longer journeys the Auris Hybrid is a quiet, comfortable long distance car, its sporty nature is a bit hard to find, performance is adequate combined with an acceptable ride even when fully loaded.

It is not difficult when driving sensibly to achieve very good fuel consumption around 55mpg to 67mpg. For the best results keeping a lighter foot helps, reading the road, keeps the revs low. This however does not mean you need to drive really slowly to do well. Keeping a reasonable pace actually improves the economy. This car can quite happily go at speed on the motorway using the cruise control and still return very acceptable mpg.

The model tested was the ‘Excel’ top trim model, satnav was an extra at an additional £650 and the sharp looking Island Blue Metallic added another £495. The rear load space is class leading, cleverly managing the battery position, space is the same as the non-hybrid model. With 530 litres with the seats up and 1658 litres with the seats down. The Easy Flat seat system is worth looking at, this makes folding the seats and loading quick and stress free.

The Auris Hybrid may not the most exciting car on the road, but everything it does, it does very well, with great, easy to achieve, fuel economy and low running costs.

After getting to know the car more, it becomes a sensible high-tech solution. Driving it more and more you really do get into the ‘hybrid’ way of thinking. A few ‘What ifs’ and ‘buts’ about the system, come to mind, you start to understand and question the technology as you drive it. Why isn’t the battery a bit better? Why can’t you go further on EV mode? Why does the EV mode only work up to 20 mph? Would it be better if it was a plug in hybrid ?

Dont’ get this review of the Auris Hybrid wrong, this is a very good family car. Certainly as hybrid tech develops all of the above questions will be answered and then ‘hybrids’ will only get better and better and still Toyota will be right at the cutting edge of the technology. However, you would be unhappy buying this Toyota hybrid car now, with its proven lower economy, lower emissions, the Auris Hybrid is well specced, well built and safe with a Five Star NCAP crash test rating. Cheap to run, with Toyota’s renowned reliability. It offers class leading load space and a lot of necessary extras included, heated seats, park assist, reversing camera, panoramic sunshine roof and more.

Car Reviewed: Toyota Auris Hybrid Touring Sports Excel 1.8 CVT

Price: The Auris Hybrid Touring Sports range starts at £21,095. This car tested was £24,390 with ‘Excel’ trim further options included Touch and Go Navigation £650 and Metallic paint £495

0-62mph: 10.9 sec
Top speed: 112mph
Fuel economy: Combined 70.6mpg, Urban 72.4mpg, Extra Urban 72.4mpg
Emissions: CO2 92g/km
Hybrid System Hybrid Synergy Drive output 134bhp
Engine 4 cyls, 1798cc, petrol
Gearbox Electric CVT
Power 98bhp @ 5200rpm
Torque 142 Nm @ 4000rpm
Electric Motor Power Max Voltage (v) 650 Max Power 80bhp Max torque 207 Nm