Engines of Change - New York Times Magazine

Engines of Change

I have seen a new Toyota Prius up close. I have touched it and smelled it and, without even needing to pull the key or ''fob'' from my pocket, where the car can sense it just fine, pushed its gigantic iBook-like starter button and driven it for miles and miles, fast and slow. I have been awed by the dreamy blue-green digital dashboard gauges, which seem so very far away from the steering wheel as to be reachable by only an N.B.A. player. I have, in one trip, with the two back seats down, easily hauled two air-conditioners and a 37-pound bag of dog food in the hatchback, The Prius isn't small, the way it used to be.

I have wowed the kids in my son's soccer car pool who are getting close to driver-permit age and who instantly developed hopeful first-car crushes on the Prius. I have -- despite stern warnings not to -- tried to drive the Prius while at the same time watching the irresistible dash-embedded computer screen, which, with its bright cartoon representations of the engine and bar graphs displaying fuel efficiency, gives you the sensation of being a game-show contestant.

I have been quizzed by spectators; when you are spotted getting out of the spaceship-like Prius -- which all but shouts: ''Look at me! I am consuming more and I'm consuming less: more on my car and less on my gas!'' -- it is not unusual to fall victim to all manner of unsolicited commentary. (Go driving in one of the other available hybrids -- the Ford Escape, the Honda Civic or one of the two General Motors hybrid pickup trucks, the Chevy Silverado or G.M.C. Sierra -- and no one gives you a second glance.) In one instance, I was accosted by an excited stranger wanting to conduct an on-the-spot inspection and discuss Prius attributes and minutiae, which he'd read about in detail, dreaming of owning one himself someday.

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