Putting the oil companies and their ubiquitous gas stations out of business is the dream of many drivers enslaved by the pumps as a necessary evil to getting on with life as we know it. When the Toyota Prius arrived, many rejoiced in at least the notion that they didn’t have to be as dependent as before and could get twice the fuel economy as most.

Today the 2016 Toyota Prius is here, the fourth generation of the car most iconic of high-mileage hybrids and the one that has sold the most around the globe. It’s all-new from the ground up with not a bolt and screw overlooked and has the styling and driving poise to prove it.

Getting the brand’s newest and most bold design brushes, the new Prius continues its drive to be unique with not only its shape but now an expressive palette of cues, creases and sculpts that make it unmistakable from about anything else.

Our Prius Two ECO had less of the flash than you might expect with the top trim grades. Its wheels are 15-inch with wheel covers, yet they are still alloys underneath the aerodynamically designed shrouds. You can get larger and sexier wheels further up the grade scale however.

Inside, the cabin is fresh as can be as well with a significant bump in material quality. The dash design is futuristic just as before but now has a more symmetrical layout with an accentuated center pod. Familiar is the joystick gear selector and center mounted instrument cluster.

New is a dual color screen component to the instrument cluster that’s customizable and much easier to read than before. The touchscreen infotainment system even on the base grade was fun to use though it lacks the feature content techies will want.

Seats here are a diamond patterned cloth which we liked, feeling sturdy and comfortable. The seats themselves while manually adjustable were nice to sit in all day and offered plenty of range for fitting. Rear seat passengers will enjoy more space than before and a high enough seating position to be comfortable.

The rear cargo area like before benefits from a 60/40 split fold down rear seat that gives more space, though not a flat floor. There’s now much more space than the old Prius at 27.4 cubic feet in the Eco. It is slightly less on models with the Nickel Hydride battery pack.

For reasons not entirely clear, models with the smaller and more efficient Lithium Ion battery such as our Eco are missing the spare tire, getting only a can of sealant and an air pump – useless if you get more than a small puncture. We’re told it’s for weight savings.

16-Toyota-Prius-ECO-20Under the hood for 2016 is an entirely new 1.8 liter Atkinson Cycle engine that has been redesigned for more efficiency, mated to the latest generation of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive continuously variable transmission or CVT.

It has a redesigned transmission, new electric motors, and a more compact drive control unit that we’re told all result in better refinement, better performance and better efficiency. Horsepower is now 121. Power in driving around didn’t feel that much lacking however, though this has never been a sports car by any stretch.

We can say that major strides have been made in the areas of noise, vibration, and harshness. This is without question the quietest and most refined Prius to date with regard to the powertrain. Noise levels are way down, especially under full power. Engine start and stop transitions are so seamless you often need to energy monitor on to know what is happening.

16-Toyota-Prius-ECO-3Fuel efficiency was one area that we didn’t see an immediate improvement however. As tested our Prius Two ECO is rated at 58 mpg city, 53 mpg highway and 56 mpg combined. In our week of 50/50 city and highway we could only muster up 49. This is about the same as we have achieved with the last generation Prius.

One thing of note is that with this being the ECO that’s rated at four more mpg than the other models at 56 combined, there are no differences in the engine or drivetrain, just a more efficient battery.

Oddly though, the Prius Four and Four Touring have the same Lithium-Ion battery yet they’re rated at the lower 52 mpg combined. The only effective difference between the ECO and them is 70 pounds of weight savings afforded by the elimination of options like power seats and larger wheels.

16-Toyota-Prius-ECO-10Greatly improved is the handling and driving character. The 2016 Toyota Prius rides on the new Toyota Global Architecture which is a chassis platform nearly all new compact cars and crossover SUV’s will share going forward.

For Prius this means a new double wishbone rear suspension in addition to greatly improved chassis stiffness, steering feel and overall refinement in ride. Like the powertrain, the level of quiet at speed is far and above the last generation Prius.

Steering feel and its overall willingness to please the driver is much improved. It’s still not a canyon carver, but it no longer acts insolent and dead to the world when asked to turn a corner or take a curve at speed. It almost likes it.

Our 2016 Toyota Prius Two ECO priced out at $25,535 which represents its MSRP of $24,700 plus a destination charge of $835. There were no options. As tested we feel it offers a decent value as the quality level is well on par with cars costing a lot more, though feature content was less than comparables at price.

The question becomes do you spend up for the ECO over the standard Prius Two. Given our own testing didn’t quite achieve near as promised mpg and the feeble differences mechanically between it and the others, we have a hard time recommending it.