TEST DRIVE: The Chevy Volt vs. The Plug-in Prius

Inhabitat just had the chance to take both a Chevy Volt and a pre-production prototype of the Plug-in <a title="Toyota: Prius" href="http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/" target="_blank">Prius</a> for week-long test drives so we thought a face-off was in order! The <a title="Inhabitat: plug-in hybrid" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=plug-in+hybrid" target="_blank">plug-in hybrid</a> is similar in many ways to the <a title="Inhabitat: Chevy Volt Test Drive, Laura K. Cowan" href="http://inhabitat.com/test-drive-inhabitat-lives-with-the-chevy-volt-for-a-week/" target="_blank">Chevy Volt</a>, but there are some important differences that will affect which one you want to buy. The Prius is designed for city stop-and-go driving, which will help recharge its 13-mile battery range. But if you drive the vehicle above 60 miles per hour, such as on the highway, the car switches to the gas engine for power, and the battery range is quickly run down. The Volt, by contrast, is designed to go 37 miles on one battery charge regardless of the speed you travel, and does better on high-speed roads. However, because the Prius is designed for city driving, you can get as much as a third of a mile of battery range recharge from braking gradually at a stoplight, whereas in the Volt the regenerative braking doesn't seem to do much of anything to increase your battery range. So, Prius for the city, Volt for the exurbs. But what else is different between these two very unique vehicles?

The Volt and the Prius have similar aerodynamic shapes, with the same long rear hatch. But only the Volt has an exterior light to help you find your way to and from the vehicle in the dark. The Volt also has a handy night light mounted on the charger, so you can see your way to plug it in at night.

The rear hatch opening on the Volt is extra long. This makes for good looks but a rather warm ride for backseat passengers, who have to deal with sun coming in the hatch window over their heads.

The Volt cockpit uses touch buttons on flat gray plastic surfaces. This looks great until you need to find a particular button. There are far too many. The interior is much more refined than the Prius's, however, and the ride in the cabin is much quieter.

The Volt will tell you how far you can go on the battery and the gas tank separately, while the Prius just gives you a traditional fuel level indicator plus a range of the battery alone. Neither car used more than a few gallons of gas after a week of hard driving.

Chevy's navigation system is a little sub-par, but the sound system is far superior to the Prius. The Volt also gives you more ways to obsessively monitor what your car is doing in EV mode.

Both cars come with push button start, but the Volt button pulses blue. Just another nice touch.

Your plug-in Prius will probably come with a lot less badging than our prototype, which visually shouted at pedestrians not to pass it by without a glance.

The Prius is still rocking that same rear hatch it has had for nearly 10 years. The hatch floor is simpler than the Volt, however, and is a little higher up.

A reusable shopping bag holds the charging cord in the Prius, while in the Volt the hatch floor opens to reveal a tire-patching kit and the charging cord coiled neatly around itself.

The Prius cabin is simple and spartan, except for a blinged-out electronic gear shifter and power button.

The Prius display is one-color and shows a monitor that tracks EV mode, "Eco" mode, and regular engine-powered acceleration. The Prius feels like it has adequate power in all modes except the latter.

The gear shifter just needs to be flicked forward and backward to change gears. Unfortunately Toyota thought it necessary to put a garbage-truck backup beep on this cute little car, so you will probably drive forward as much as possible.

The Prius also beeps when it turns on, which is less sophisticated than the spaceship power-up noise the Volt uses when turning on. Still, you have to remember you're getting the same fuel economy in a car half as expensive, so a lot of the little touches may be worth sacrificing to get a PHEV at half the price.